The Good Daughter

Prologue

"Hey, are you okay?"

She loomed over him, as if assessing whether he was dead or not. The man grunted as he lay on the cold, snow-covered ground. It was heaven on his burns, but he knew this was punishment for his crimes. He had committed so many that he wasn't even sure why he was burned and cast aside like some sort of trash – he wasn't even certain whether he had the use of his legs or not.

The young girl, no older than seven years of age, simply stood there. The sight of his injuries didn't horrify her, nor was she deterred by his silence. She was just curious. His eyes were wide open but unfocused. They were green – a very odd colour that she had never seen before. No one she knew had green eyes.

The girl waved her hand in front of him, but only one eye seemed to follow her movements. He wondered for a brief moment why a child would be out in the middle of these abandoned woodlands in the midst of a scathing winter, but on second thought, she probably wondered the same about him.

He tried to stand for a moment but was forced back down onto his back. He growled in frustration and that was when he realized he only had the use of one eye. The girl seemed to take a timid step back as she studied his movements. It was then that he realized that this child was no ordinary child – she was a shifter pup, probably from the wolf pack that was one of many on these lands.

"What's your name?" she asked.

His reply was gruff and resentful. "None of your business."

Her stare was deadpan as she mumbled, "You're human."

He chuckled darkly as fire escaped his fingertips, melting the ice that surrounded him. "And you're a disgusting beast, now get away from me!"

An expression that didn't suit a child flashed across her face as she snapped, "I like human's, but I don't like you!"

She obviously ignored the way the way his arm lit up in flames as his anger became more profound. "No one likes me anyway, girl."

"You're not a normal human if you can make fire dance," she said, watching carefully as the flames seemed to dance around his body, giving him strength.

His bad attitude instantly died down as he averted what little vision he had and muttered, "I can make a lot of things dance at my command."

She smiled, her blue eyes lighting up as she held out her hand, beckoning him to take it. "Can you show me?"

The man, broken and bruised, didn't know why he chose to take the child's hand, but the second he did, he found strength returning to his body. She was warm, and she didn't seem scared as flames rode up her arm. She smiled as they tickled her skin. She wasn't writhing on the ground, burning to death as all the others had before from his touch.

"Perhaps..." his small smile looked to light up his face, and she knew he would be okay.

Voices in the distance caught both their attention. Just as he turned to see who had come to finish him off, he instinctively – and for reasons he himself will never be able to justify – put a wall of fire as a barrier in front of the girl.

He didn't have time to react as a giant wolf ran through his barrier, untouched by the scathing flames, and when he looked back, the child was gone. Although impaired in one eye, he could still see the figures drawing ever closer as he wondered where the child – and the black wolf – had vanished.

"Kato!" came a soft, relief filled voice and he was suddenly toppled over as a smaller woman jumped into his arms. He winced noticeably as his burnt leg and arm hit the snow. "Oh, Kato, I'm sorry!" she apologized.

He grunted as he pulled the woman to him, cuddling her in the snow. "How'd you find me?"

The man that followed chuckled as he set his sights on his old friend. "We were hunting down this black wolf and he led us here, of all places."

Kato swept his dark hair out of his eyes and looked back into the distance. "He did, did he?"

With gaze set in the direction the girl had disappeared, he barely noticed when the woman in his arms asked, "What's wrong?"

Kato chuckled darkly as he shook his head. "I think I was just saved by a wolf in sheep's clothing."

*******

"You led them here, didn't you Daddy?" she asked, watching the reunion from a safe distance. She clutched to her father's dark fur, ready to hop on to his back if trouble were to stir.

'They were simply a distraction so that I could safely get you away,' he stated, his tone dark and wary as he thought of the harm that could have come to his daughter.

She smiled. "He would have died if he fell asleep out there. I like him."

Her father nudged her onto his back. 'Not that one Rowynn,' he warned.

She huddled onto his back and gripped his fur as he took off into a sprint. "Why not?"

Jack grumbled low as he answered, taking her home as quickly as possible.

He never did answer her.