Born of a Broken Warrior

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

I have always known what I was destined to do. Some individuals spend their whole lives looking for meaning, following something they can't quite describe, while others never find it. But I was never one of those folks. From the day I was born to two Wächter, the strongest fighters in our pack, my path was obvious. I was supposed to fight. I was meant to be a Wächter.

My parents were intended to be together. They were two parts of the same soul, united by something deeper than decision. Most werewolves desire to find that one person who makes them whole. Some people, on the other hand, perceive it as a weakness and break up with their partners as soon as they meet them. But for most people, including my parents, the link makes them stronger. They couldn't be stopped while they were together.

As Wächter, the strongest and most talented fighters in our pack, my parents had one task above all else: to keep our Alpha, Alpha Alaric, his mate Luna , and their son Adolf, the future Alpha, safe. When a competing pack attacked, thinking they could take over our Alpha and take over, everything changed. That was the day my mother died. She died protecting our Luna and her child. I was just five years old.

My dad battled just as hard. He fought off five of the eight wolves sent to murder him while guarding our Alpha. He stood his ground and wouldn't fall till rescue eventually came. But when my mother died, the relationship between them dissolved, and something inside him snapped too. He thought about it for a second. That was enough. One of the wolves jumped on his back and tried to pull him down. When that didn't work, it bit into his spine and crushed it.

Werewolves can heal from practically anything, even broken bones, cuts, and bruises. But certain injuries can't be repaired. One of them is a broken spine.

My dad changed after that day. Most wolves would die if they lost a mate, but he lived on for me. He stayed, he put up with it, and he did his best to raise me. I know he loves me. But the man he used to be with perished with my mother. He lost everything in a single moment: his companion, his strength, and his standing as a warrior.

And at some point, he lost himself too.