Claimed by the Alpha I Hate – Episode 09
Daisy had barely crossed the settlement square when a familiar voice stopped her. “Look who decided to show her pathetic face here again after abandoning our pack.” Mila stood near the training hall with two friends, unchanged except for the confidence with which she occupied public space.
The sight of her pulled Daisy backward six months—to sour liquid in her hair, fake ears, and Scott’s hands on someone else. But the woman who returned from the cabin had spent every morning learning what to do when cornered. Daisy set down her bag and faced them.
One of Mila’s friends nodded toward Daisy’s grandfather. “Her grandpa used to be a rogue wolf, way before we were even born. Maybe running away is in the family.” The insult was designed to make his past sound like a stain inherited through blood.
Daisy felt her grandfather tense beside her. He had warned her to keep her head down, and she knew he would endure the insult if it kept her safe. That knowledge made silence impossible.
Mila tilted her head with false sympathy. “Is family a sensitive topic now? Since, you know…” She let the reference to Vera’s death hang unfinished. Her friends laughed softly, pretending cruelty became harmless if the ugliest words remained unspoken.
Grief struck Daisy, but it no longer left her defenseless. “At least my mother stayed to defend her pack,” she said, “unlike your Alpha.” The square quieted around them. Everyone knew Scott had fled when Blackwood came, though few of his remaining supporters dared say it aloud.
Mila’s face tightened. “Are you talking about my mate?” She emphasized the claim as if Scott’s cowardice could be excused by possession. Even absent, he remained the prize for which she had humiliated Daisy.
“The one who rejected you?” Mila continued when Daisy did not answer. “You don’t get to speak about him.” She stepped closer, expecting Daisy to retreat as she always had before.
Daisy held her ground. The rejection still hurt, but it no longer controlled every breath. Scott had abandoned Eastwind after calling her weak. Whatever humiliation belonged to that history was his now.
“Oh, Daisy,” Mila said, looking her over. “Just because you practiced at Pee-Paw’s cabin doesn’t make you any more of a real wolf.” Her gaze settled on the calluses across Daisy’s hands. “You’re still as weak and useless as you’ve always been.”
Daisy’s fingers flexed. She could disarm Mila before either friend moved; her grandfather had trained her to recognize the opening. Yet striking first in front of Blackwood guards would make Daisy appear to be the threat, exactly as Mila wanted.
“If I’m so useless, why do you still need an audience to face me?” Daisy asked. The answer drew a few startled looks from nearby pack members. Mila’s friends shifted, no longer certain how amusing the confrontation would become.
Her grandfather touched Daisy’s arm in warning. They had been back less than an hour, and already attention gathered around them. Daisy took a slow breath, but Mila mistook restraint for fear.
Mila reached toward Daisy’s shoulder, perhaps intending to shove her as she had countless times before. Daisy adjusted her stance automatically, prepared to catch the wrist and turn the momentum against her. The months at the cabin lived in her muscles even if no wolf lived beneath her skin.
From the command building, Nolan had seen the confrontation forming. By the time he crossed the square, Daisy was surrounded, with her grandfather attempting to prevent an escalation. Nolan recognized Mila as one of the women he had warned at the solstice.
Anger moved through him with immediate, personal force. Blackwood rule prohibited infighting, but rules were not the only reason he quickened his pace. The idea of Mila laying hands on Daisy awakened the same fierce instinct he had tried to explain for six months.
Mila’s hand moved closer. Daisy prepared to defend herself, refusing to offer the crowd another image of her helplessness. Before either woman made contact, a man’s command cracked across the square.
“That’s enough!” Nolan’s voice stopped everyone in place. Daisy turned and recognized the dark-haired stranger who had once stepped between her and these same bullies. She did not yet know that the man approaching her was also the Alpha she had sworn never to forgive.