Oops… I Went Into Heat and My Alpha Daddies Claimed Me

The mansion felt unusually quiet when I returned.

Perhaps it was because so many things had happened today that I could barely think about external factors.

I had barely stepped inside when Vera descended the staircase carrying a small overnight bag. "I was hoping I’d catch you before you disappeared into your study actually."

"I thought you were leaving tomorrow."

"I am." She smiled. "But there never seems to be a convenient time for goodbyes so I thought I’d say it today."

For a moment, neither of us spoke, then her smile softened. "You’ve carried quite a lot on your shoulders lately, sounds worse that Dane won’t help you for a while."

"I’ll manage alone."

"I know you will." She adjusted the strap on her bag before continuing.. "I’ll keep checking in, whether you like it or not."

A quiet laugh escaped me. "I expected nothing less."

Her expression became more serious. "And take care of Nadia."

"I intend to."

"She’s hurting about something. Not sure what."

I stiffened and cleared my throat. "Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that."

Vera stared at me for a moment longer than necessary. "Sure you will."

"I’ll talk to her tonight."

Vera seemed satisfied with that answer. "Good." She reached out and briefly squeezed my shoulder.

After watching her disappear down the hallway, I stood there for another moment before making my way upstairs to my daughter’s bedroom.

Nadia’s bedroom door wasn’t locked.

Surprising.

For the past several days, every attempt I’d made to speak with her had ended the same way— with silence on her side of the door or a quiet request to leave her alone. Seeing it slightly ajar felt like an invitation that she was ready to talk.

Slight progress, I guess.

I knocked gently.

"Come in." Her voice was low.

I walked in slowly. She sat on the window seat with her knees drawn up, a mug of untouched tea resting on the table beside her. The curtains had been left open, revealing the estate below, though it was obvious she hadn’t been looking at the view for a long time.

She turned when I entered. "How’s Dane?"

"Doctor Fenn said he’ll recover. Same as when you were there."

She relaxed slightly. "I’m glad." She looked back out of the window.

No one spoke again, but I just stared at her, wondering how to bring it up. "I’ve been trying to find the right time to speak with you," I said eventually.

"There isn’t one."

"No."

"There probably never will be."

I walked further into the room and stopped a few feet away. "Nadia..."

She sighed. "If you’re here to tell me everything happens for a reason, please don’t."

"I’m not. That would be shitty."

"If you’re here to tell me I should move on..."

"I’m not here to tell you how to feel."

That finally made her look at me and I saw disappointment in her eyes. And goddess, that made me hate myself more.

"I owe you an apology." I sighed.

"You’ve already apologized."

"I know I have."

"And it didn’t change anything." Her voice sounded tired.

"No." I nodded slowly. "It didn’t."

She folded her arms across her chest. "So why are you saying it again?"

"Because one apology isn’t enough. I should have told you the truth myself." I held her gaze. "You shouldn’t have heard it from pieces of a conversation. You deserved honesty from me."

A bitter laugh escaped her. "Honesty?" She repeated the word as though testing how it sounded. "Do you know what hurts the most?"

I remained quiet.

"It isn’t that I kept saying to myself, ’You’ll understand one day.’" Her eyes met mine again. "It’s that the two people I trusted most never gave me the chance to understand anything."

The words made me burn with guilt and I just listened quietly.

"I would walk into a room and the conversation would stop." She laughed quietly, though there wasn’t any humour in it. "I kept wondering if I’d done something wrong."

Her fingers tightened around the sleeve of her sweater. "And all that time..." She swallowed. "My best friend was carrying my father’s child."

The room was silent.

"I found out after everyone I called family seemed to know." She shook her head. "Can you imagine how humiliating that felt?"

"Nadia..."

"I kept replaying every conversation we’d had." Her voice cracked. "Every smile. Every time she hugged me." She pressed a hand against her forehead. "I kept asking myself if she looked at me and felt guilty."

"I don’t know, Nadia."

"Or if she pitied me."

"I don’t know. But you know she loved you. She truly does. She would never hurt you."

"Or if everyone else was watching me like I was the only fool who hadn’t figured it out."

"I don’t know."

A tear escaped before she could stop it. "I hate that those thoughts even exist."

I took a slow breath. "I failed you. I thought I was protecting everyone by waiting because I didn’t understand anything. Sometimes, I don’t feel like the fearless leader everyone knows. I feel helpless sometimes and I didn’t want to drag anyone else into it, not until I knew what was going on. But I was wrong and I hurt you instead."

Another long silence followed.

"I know you probably don’t believe this right now..." I continued.

"I don’t." She cut me off.

I took a deep breath. "...but hurting you was never something I wanted."

"I believe that."

Her answer surprised me.

"I know you didn’t wake up one morning and decide to hurt me." She wiped at her eyes. "But intentions don’t erase what happened."

I gave her a nod, careful not to say any other thing.

She stared down at her hands. "I miss her. I miss Keisha so much that it makes me angry." She laughed through her tears. "Isn’t that ridiculous?"

I said nothing.

"I’ll see something funny and instinctively think about telling her." Her shoulders trembled. "Then I remember..." She couldn’t finish the sentence.

"I don’t know how to look at her anymore. I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know who I’m angry with half the time." She stared at me.

I listened without interrupting and when she finally grew quiet again, I spoke. "I’m not asking for more than you can give tonight, Nadia. But I am asking you to forgive her one day. I can’t watch this... Tension between you two. It’s hurting you both."

Her eyes filled with tears again. "I can’t."

"Nadia—"

"I can’t even promise I’ll be able to."

"You don’t have to promise."

She searched my face for several seconds. "I loved the life we had. Now every time I think about it..." She shook her head.. "It feels like I’m mourning people who are still alive."

My chest tightened painfully. "I wish I could take that pain away."

"I know you do." She closed her eyes for a brief moment before speaking again. "I just..." She inhaled slowly. "I need time."

I nodded. "I’ll give you all the time you need."

And I would. It didn’t matter how long it took, I was going to fix my relationship with my daughter. And fix hers with Keisha’s. I was going to fix everything.