Claimed by the Alpha I Hate – Episode 36
Nolan dismissed the patrol as soon as they returned to the mansion. He entered his office without looking at Daisy and locked the door behind them.
The name Klaudius remained between them. Daisy had finally learned who her father was, only to discover that the truth carried Nolan’s deepest hatred.
“Tell me,” she said. “No more protecting me with half the story.”
Nolan stood before the map of vampire territory. One red marker had been driven deeper than all the others, its label worn from years of handling.
“Klaudius ordered the attack that killed my parents.” His voice was controlled because anything less would become a roar.
Daisy felt the words through the bond as images Nolan could not completely contain: smoke, blood, a ruined home, and a younger son arriving too late.
“Were you there?” she asked.
“I found them afterward.” Nolan touched one scar beneath his collar. “The vampires left enough survivors to carry the warning. Klaudius wanted every wolf territory to understand his power.”
Daisy sank into a chair. Her father had not merely been a secret vampire. He was responsible for the grief that shaped Nolan’s life.
“Did you know about me when we met?” She needed the answer even though she feared it.
“No.” Nolan turned toward her. “If I had known at the solstice, I don’t know what I would have done. But I know what I would do now.”
Daisy waited. His pause felt like a blade suspended above the bond.
“I would still protect you.” The certainty did not erase the hatred in his face. It proved only that love and revenge had become enemies inside him.
“I’m his daughter.” Daisy forced the words into the room. “Whatever he did is in my blood.”
“Blood is not guilt.” Nolan had said the same to the council. Saying it now cost him more.
Daisy crossed to him and reached for his hand. He allowed the touch, but the images in the bond grew sharper.
She saw Klaudius as Nolan remembered him from reports and nightmares: a ruler who treated lives as pieces on a board. Nolan felt Daisy’s horror and knew it was not loyalty to her father.
“Lucien wants us divided,” she said. “That’s why he told me here, in front of you.”
Nolan agreed, yet strategy could not immediately repair what the name had opened. He needed space to master a rage Daisy should never have to fear.
When he withdrew his hand, Daisy understood the gesture but still felt abandoned. Klaudius had entered their relationship without crossing the mansion walls, and his first attack had landed exactly where Lucien intended.