Claimed by the Alpha I Hate – Episode 13
“Mate?” Daisy repeated. The word belonged to a life she had buried six months ago, along with every promise Scott had broken. Hearing it beneath the moon, spoken by a man whose name she did not know, felt both impossible and terrifyingly right.
Nolan stood close enough for her to feel the heat of him in the cold night. His usual control had thinned beneath the force of recognition. “But that’s impossible,” Daisy whispered, though the bond pulsing between them rejected the denial.
She had accepted Scott’s rejection. The severing pain should have closed that part of her forever, or so she had always believed. Nothing in Eastwind’s teachings had prepared her for a second connection, much less one stronger than the first.
Nolan breathed in, and his eyes darkened. “You smell divine,” he said, the words rougher than his earlier teasing. “Like you belong to me.” His wolf pressed against his control, driven by an instinct to claim and protect the woman standing before him.
Possession should have angered Daisy. Instead, warmth swept through her, answering the certainty in his voice. The strange hunger that had frightened her inside the house now focused entirely on him.
“I feel it too,” she admitted. “Our bond.” Saying it made the connection more real. It moved beneath her skin like a current, drawing her forward even while reason urged caution.
Nolan lifted a hand but stopped before touching her face, offering her the choice his instincts wanted to ignore. Daisy watched that small act of restraint. Scott had treated her bond as a burden; this stranger looked shaken by the gift of it.
Yet an unanswered question remained between them. “I don’t even know your name.” Daisy searched his expression. He knew who she was, knew where she lived, and enforced Blackwood rules, while she possessed nothing but the memory of his kindness.
Nolan’s hand settled lightly against her cheek. “I’ll show you who I am.” It was not the direct answer she expected. He had delayed the truth once, and some part of him still feared what would happen when she connected his face to the name she hated.
The touch sharpened every sensation. Daisy heard the quickening of his heartbeat and wondered how it could sound so clear. She should have questioned the unnatural acuity, but the bond left little room for anything beyond the man before her.
Nolan leaned closer without closing the final distance. “You want to know me?” His breath warmed her skin. The question carried more than a request for a name; it asked whether she would step toward the connection neither of them had chosen.
“Yes.” The answer emerged before caution could reshape it. Daisy was tired of being unwanted, tired of allowing fear to decide where she belonged. For one reckless moment, she wanted to trust the way this man had defended her twice without asking for anything.
“Then ask for it.” Nolan’s voice dropped. The command sent a shiver through her, but his hand remained gentle, giving her space to retreat.
Daisy’s pride resisted. She had begged Scott not to reject her and promised herself she would never plead for affection again. But this was not the same humiliation. Nolan was waiting for consent, not demanding surrender.
“Please,” she said. The word trembled between them. Nolan’s gaze held hers, intense enough to make the rest of the settlement disappear.
“Please what?” he asked. “What do you want?” His wolf wanted the answer spoken, while the man needed to know the desire belonged to Daisy and not only the bond.
She placed a hand against his chest, feeling the rapid beat beneath her palm. “You,” she confessed. “I need you.” The admission startled her, yet she did not take it back.
Nolan bent toward her as moonlight silvered the empty path, giving Daisy one final heartbeat in which to turn away. She did not. His mouth met hers, and the new bond flared through them with a force that erased the cold, the curfew, and every sensible question she meant to ask. The truth of his identity remained unspoken beyond the rush of instinct; for that suspended moment, Daisy knew only that fate had offered her another mate—and that she was kissing him instead of running away.