Claimed by the Alpha I Hate – Episode 64
Klaudius fought with the strength of centuries. Even weakened, he moved faster than Nolan’s wolf could track.
Daisy used the bond to warn Nolan before each strike. Together they became a single defense Klaudius could not easily penetrate.
He turned on Daisy, accusing her of betraying her own race for the son of an enemy.
“Both races are mine,” she answered. “Neither belongs to you.”
Klaudius seized her wrist. Blood magic raced toward her heart, attempting to command the inheritance they shared.
Vera’s pendant burned against Daisy’s skin. Her mother’s protection met her father’s control.
Daisy saw a memory held inside the magic: Vera refusing to reveal her daughter’s location while Klaudius’s agent raised a blade.
The attacker wore Lucien’s crest.
Shock weakened Daisy’s defense. Klaudius had ordered Vera’s death, but Lucien had arranged the hand that carried it out.
Nolan tore Klaudius away from her. The vampire lord struck him across the chamber.
Daisy followed the memory through the blood connection. Klaudius possessed power taken from every vampire sworn to him.
She understood the weakness: those bonds depended on submission. They could be released by someone sharing his blood.
Daisy placed both hands against the floor and called to the stolen power rather than fighting it.
“You don’t belong to him,” she said. The words echoed through the castle.
Red light rose from the walls and flowed away from Klaudius. His face changed as centuries of borrowed strength abandoned him.
Vampires throughout the castle felt invisible chains break. The civil battle paused in stunned silence.
Lucien’s expression shifted from satisfaction to alarm. Daisy had not transferred authority to him; she had made obedience a choice.
Klaudius fell to one knee. Nolan stood, injured but unbroken, between him and Daisy.
“This is for my parents,” Nolan said, then looked to Daisy. “And for Vera.”
Before he could strike, Scott rushed into the throne room with the poisoned silver blade aimed at Daisy’s back.