Claimed by the Alpha I Hate – Episode 73
The first snow of winter covered Eastwind on the anniversary of Daisy’s rejection. A year earlier, she had prayed for a wolf and a future Scott would publicly accept.
Now she stood on the same platform as Blackwood’s Luna, wearing Vera’s pendant and Nolan’s chosen mark.
The pack gathered for the Winter Solstice celebration. This time, no one was displayed as entertainment or measured by the timing of a shift.
Daisy opened the ceremony by honoring those lost during the invasion and the war with Klaudius. Vera and Nolan’s parents were named together.
She announced a sanctuary for wolves, hybrids, and others rejected by their packs. Eastwind would become the refuge Daisy once needed.
Applause rose through the courtyard. Even former skeptics recognized that strength had entered their territory through the person they once dismissed.
Nolan joined Daisy after the announcement. He did not present her as something he owned.
“This pack follows Luna Daisy because she earned its trust,” he said. “I stand beside her because she earned mine.”
Daisy corrected him with a smile. “We earned each other’s.”
Her grandfather laughed from the front row. Elias attempted to hide his amusement and failed.
Music began, and Nolan asked Daisy to dance where the old ceremonial vows once destroyed her life.
“Is that an Alpha order?” she asked.
“A request from a man hoping his mate says yes.”
Daisy placed her hand in his. “Then yes.”
They moved beneath the solstice lights while the completed bond carried warmth between them. Daisy had not been rescued into happiness. She had fought for the right to define it.
Later, alone beneath the moon, Nolan promised that no title, enemy, or bloodline would make her face the future without a choice.
Daisy promised to remind him of those words whenever his Alpha instincts became unbearable. Their kiss sealed a future built from partnership rather than possession.
Beyond Eastwind, the restored vampire throne room glowed with crimson light. Lucien sat beneath Klaudius’s recovered crown and named himself the new lord.
Mila knelt beside the throne, bound by a jeweled chain to the ambition she once mistook for freedom. A hooded stranger entered and offered Lucien an alliance against the powerful Alpha and his hybrid Luna.
Lucien smiled toward the distant territory. In Eastwind, Daisy and Nolan watched the moon together, unaware of the next shadow gathering—but whatever came, Daisy Storm would never again face it as the girl who believed she was powerless.