Her Daughter

HD ~ Chapter Twenty-Five

"This is the only way!"

Nick stood up and came to stand in front of me. "It's not. You think it is because it's how you solved things in the past, but it's different this time. You're fighting our daughter's mate. If you kill him, it will hurt her."

"She'll be fine," I said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah?" he asked sarcastically. "Were you fine when I almost died?"

I froze and closed my eyes. When I thought back to then, I could still feel the pain felt as I watched Nick lay in that hospital bed. Nothing was worse than seeing your mate like that, but it was different for us. Nick never tried to hurt people I loved.

"You can't compare the two," I said softly as I opened my eyes to look at him. "You were everything to me. You changed me and showed me compassion. I needed you."

Nick took my hands in his. "It's the same for her. He's unlocked a part of her that no one else could. She's found an inner strength that she never believed she had. She is finally becoming who she was meant to be, but you don't see that because you're so angry at who her mate is."

I took my hands from his grasp. "He wants to destroy us."

"You don't know that."

"He said it less than a week ago!" I practically shouted.

"Because you goaded him into it," Nick argued back.

"He sent a goddamn ransom letter!"

"That was over a month ago. Things have changed since then," he said, desperately trying to make me see his reasoning in this. "We don't know what his intentions are anymore, but I don't think he'd want to do anything to hurt Felicity. Maybe we should just try setting up a meeting-"

"-and jeopardize the safety of our people?" I asked. "No. Words don't solve problems. Actions do."

I turned to leave the room. I felt as if everyone was against me. They didn't understand the pressure I was under. Every pack in our world watched my every move. Everyone was looking for some sign of weakness to prove that I wasn't capable of leading a pack.

Men rarely supported the decisions I made in the beginning. When I reached out to enemy packs in the past, they turned their nose up at me and said they wouldn't be an ally to a female alpha. When I put up the wall, other alphas said it was unnecessary. I was being overly cautious and fearful.

Now the men in my own family were doubting me. It hurt more than other male werewolves, but it fueled me even more to prove them wrong. The world had already been against me once. If I was on my own once again, then so be it. I wasn't afraid of the consequences. In time, they would understand just as they did before.

Before I made it out of the room, Nick spoke up again. "This isn't you, Clarity. You're making a mistake."

I ignored every word and every instinct telling me to go back and fix things with my mate. This needed to be done. Maybe one day, they would understand. This was bigger than just Felicity and her mate. If I didn't prove that a female alpha could stand up to males and hold her own, then I would be letting archaic traditions take over our world. I worked too hard for that to happen.

_______________

As the sun rose higher into the sky, I ran towards the clearing where I planned to have this battle take place. My son and brother flanked me on either side while the rest of the men I brought with me ran behind us. While I ran, I sent up a silent prayer to the spirits that I was making the right decision and asked for a sign if I wasn't. With my conscience as clear as it would be, I set my eyes forward.