Claimed by the Alpha I Hate – Episode 20
Daisy left the medical room beneath Blackwood guard, though Nolan walked beside her rather than ahead. Pack members gathered at a distance, their whispers following her across the settlement. Yesterday they had called her wolfless. Today the word vampire carried even greater disgust.
“Where are we going?” she asked. Nolan had refused to explain until she was dressed and steady enough to walk. The small bag in Elias’s hand suggested this was more than a change of rooms.
“My home,” Nolan said. “You can’t remain in an unsecured house while the pack is frightened and we don’t know who else sensed your awakening.” His mention of an outside threat chilled Daisy more than the hostile crowd.
“I’m not moving in with you.” She stopped in the path. “My grandfather can protect me.” The cabin had once been safe, and she trusted its worn walls more than any place belonging to the Alpha.
Nolan turned to face her. “Your grandfather trained you, but he cannot guard every entrance alone. If vampires discover what you are before we do, they may come for you.” He did not add that Blackwood wolves might pose an equal danger.
Daisy looked toward the house she shared with her grandfather. He stood outside speaking with Elias, worry carved into his face. His silence about her identity still hurt, but she could not ask him to defend her against an entire pack.
“This isn’t permanent,” Nolan said. “You will have your own space, and guards will remain outside. Until the investigation gives us answers, my mansion is the most secure place in Eastwind.”
“Your mansion?” Daisy followed his gaze beyond the trees. The former Alpha residence had been expanded under Blackwood control into a guarded estate overlooking the territory. She had expected Nolan to occupy a military headquarters, not a house large enough to dwarf the pack hall.
The mansion represented everything Daisy distrusted about powerful Alphas: distance from ordinary pack members, guards at every approach, and rooms built to remind visitors who ruled them. Yet she also noticed patrol lines crossing the grounds with disciplined regularity. Nolan’s wealth had been turned into a fortress rather than a stage.
Her grandfather approached and pressed her bag into her hands. “Go,” he said gently. “For now, he’s right.” Daisy searched his eyes for the truth he had withheld, but this was not the place to demand it.
“You knew something was happening to me,” she whispered. His flinch confirmed it. “When I’m safe, we’re going to talk about everything.”
He nodded, grief and fear mingling in his expression. “Everything I kept from you, I kept because I wanted you alive.” It was not an explanation, but Daisy heard the love inside it.
Nolan’s mansion was quieter than she expected. Dark wood, high ceilings, and broad windows made the house elegant without erasing its owner’s severe taste. Guards controlled every entrance, and the surrounding forest offered no easy approach.
No trophies from the Eastwind invasion decorated the walls. Instead, maps, patrol schedules, and shelves of worn books filled the rooms they passed. The details did not fit Daisy’s image of a beast who conquered for pleasure, but one orderly house could not absolve him of her mother’s death.
A member of the household staff took Daisy’s bag, but she immediately reclaimed it. Too much of her life had been decided by other people. She would carry what remained hers.
Nolan led her upstairs to a large bedroom connected to his private suite. “You’ll stay here.” The location allowed him to reach her quickly if her powers returned—or if an intruder crossed the mansion’s defenses.
Daisy studied the connecting door. “You said I would have my own space.” She could feel his presence through the bond even from several feet away. Sleeping one door apart would make ignoring that connection impossible.
The bedroom contained fresh clothes, water, and heavy curtains that could block the sun. Daisy could not tell whether the preparations were considerate or whether Nolan had already begun treating her like a vampire. The thought made her touch her teeth again, checking for fangs that were no longer there.
“You do.” Nolan’s gaze followed hers. “Lock it if that makes you feel safer. I won’t enter without warning unless you’re in danger.” His promise was careful, built around the trust she had accused him of lacking.
“And what happens when your pack decides the danger is me?” Daisy asked. Nolan stepped closer, stopping before the bond could turn proximity into another mistake.
Voices drifted faintly from the grounds below, where guards were already doubling the watch. Nolan’s position could not silence fear forever. If Daisy lost control again, defending her might cost him the loyalty on which Blackwood’s order depended.
“Then they answer to their Alpha.” He left her in the room, but the finality of his protection remained. Daisy stood amid the luxury of the mansion, trapped between suspicion and an unwanted sense of safety. For the first time since returning to Eastwind, she would sleep beneath Nolan Fenrir’s roof—with only one unlocked truth separating hatred from desire.