Claimed by the Alpha I Hate – Episode 43
Vera’s possessions consisted of one sealed box recovered after her death. The archive log showed it had been transferred to the council vault, but no signature authorized the move.
Nolan, Daisy, and Elias entered the vault to find the outer lock untouched. Inside, the shelf assigned to Vera stood empty.
“Vampire magic,” Daisy said. Cold residue coated the metal, faint enough that only her returning senses detected it.
The theft made her mother’s death feel immediate again. Vera had guarded Daisy’s identity for eighteen years; whatever remained in that box might explain why she died.
Security records showed Mila near the archive the previous afternoon. Nolan ordered her brought to the council room.
Mila denied touching the box. She claimed she had been delivering supplies and accused Daisy of using supernatural senses to manufacture evidence.
Marcus supported her. He warned that allowing Daisy to define invisible traces gave her power to condemn any wolf without proof.
Daisy understood the danger in his argument. “Then don’t take my word alone. Check who changed the transfer log and who had access to the vault.”
Nolan ordered a full audit. Until it was complete, Mila’s movements would be restricted but she would not be imprisoned.
“You always choose her,” Mila told him. “Even when your own council sees what she is.”
Nolan looked toward Daisy. “Yes.” The single answer silenced the room.
Daisy felt the declaration through the bond. It was not a formal claiming ceremony, but it carried the weight of one.
Marcus demanded to know whether Nolan intended to make a vampire hybrid Blackwood’s Luna. The title awakened old fear in Daisy.
Scott had rejected her because she could not fit his image of a Luna. She would not accept the role merely to prove him wrong.
“If I ever stand beside Nolan,” Daisy said, “it will be because we choose each other—not because a council needs a title.”
Nolan accepted the boundary publicly. “Her place is hers to decide.”
Mila watched the exchange with open hatred. Everything she had pursued through status, Daisy received by refusing to chase it.
After the hearing, Nolan asked whether Daisy could imagine choosing him without the title. She answered by taking his hand.
“I already am,” she said. The bond warmed between them, strong enough to weaken another layer of Lucien’s seal.
Across the territory, Mila met a hooded messenger and surrendered a key copied from the council vault. The stolen box was already on its way to Lucien.