Page 69 of Claimed By Prince Daddy

Ember’s upper lips peeled back. “You just want Melodina. Not me.” She bared her fangs at me. “You can’t have her,” she growled.

“Momma…?” A small voice croaked.

Both Ember and I whipped our gaze toward the bed. Melodina’s eyes were fluttering open. Ember rushed to sit beside her on the bed. She smoothed a hand down her dark hair.

“I’m right here, sweetheart,” Ember told Melodina, her tone soothing.

Melodina smiled through her tears. She reached out and hugged her mother tightly around her waist. Ember returned the embrace.

“I missed you, Mama,” Melodina cried, fat tear droplets slipping down her ruddy cheeks.

Ember’s eyes filled with tears. “I missed you too, Mellie. You’re safe now. It’s all over.” She pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “No one will hurt you ever again.”

My chest swelled with emotion as I watched mother and daughter reunite. A knot lodged inside my throat; though I swallowed, it wouldn’t disappear.

“That bad man, the one with the long white hair,” Melodina said, “he took me because he said his land needed me. H-he took me to that room and hurt me really bad. I was hurting in a weird circle on the floor.”

Ember shushed her daughter. “There’s no need to talk about it,” she said softly. “Just focus on resting and getting better, okay honey?”

Melodina stiffened. I raised a brow as the child slowly pulled away from Ember, a frown creasing her small brow. “Mama, the fairies do exist. That man showed me a unicorn outside and his pointed ears. Fairies are real.” Her lower lip trembled. “Why did you lie to me?”

Ember’s face twisted as if she’d been run through by a sword.

“Sweetie, I-I never meant to lie to you,” Ember said, her voice tight with sadness. She reached a hand for Melodina, but her daughter shrank back, her frown deepening. Ember’s eyes widened in shock. She lowered her hand. Ember blinked, licking her lips, then added, “I never told you of your heritage because I was trying to protect you.”

Melodina’s chest heaved as she fought for breath, her breathing quickening. “He said I’m a fairy too, Mama! Or fae is what he said.” She pointed at her mother. “And I saw you turned into a big dog!” Her eyes popped wide.

I would have smirked, having found the scene amusing, if it weren’t for Ember’s stricken expression and my daughter having a panic attack. I moved to comfort her. That’s when Melodina’s gaze swung to me. Her eyes were questioning as she cocked her head, her tears ebbing. Her breaths slowly began to even out as she assessed me, her blue eyes—a mirror image of her mother’s—narrowing slightly.

“You’re that man that was in the room with me,” Melodina said, blinking up at me. Her eyes slowly widened in realization. “You saved me from the weird circle! Who are you?”

I stared at my daughter in open astonishment. I was still reeling from the fact that I was conversing with my daughter, my five-year-old daughter, who I was meeting for the first time. I stepped forward till I stood right in front of her, staring down at her—my lips parted.

Then Ember heaved a weary sigh. She looked at Melodina. “This man is your father, Melodina.”

Melodina’s head whipped toward her mother. Her body froze, unnaturally still. She gaped at her mom. Then a fresh stream of tears spilled down her cheeks in rivulets. “Y-you said my Papa was dead,” she gasped with a sob.

Ember’s own tears rained anew. “I-I’m so sorry, Mellie. Please know that I couldn’t tell you about your father for your protection!”

A knot of anger festered inside my chest at Ember’s words.

Does she really think I posed a threat to my own daughter?!

Ember placed a hand on Melodina’s shoulder, but the child tore away from her contact. Melodina shrank in on herself, her shoulders shaking with her sobs. The child obviously felt betrayed and hurt by the lies her mother had told her all these years. Ember’s hand hovered in the air, her fingers quivering as she stared at her daughter—as if lost, unable to piece together the damage she’d caused.

Ember’s hand slowly sank to the bed. She slammed her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip hard. A flicker of guilt flared inside me but was shortly extinguished by anger and hurt, especially for my daughter’s tears. I sat on the bed next to Melodina. As soon as the bed dipped under my weight, Melodina clung to me, her small arms wrapped around my waist, her tiny fingers digging into my sides. I held her close to me, whispering soothing words to her in the language of the Fae. The foreign tongue seemed to calm her, for her crying lessened.

“Melodina, we have to go home,” Ember told her daughter. “Once you’re rested, we’ll leave.” Her gaze held mine, determination glinting in the deep blue of her eyes.

I opened my mouth, a wicked retort on my tongue, when Melodina said, “I’m not going home!”

Both Ember and I stilled.

“What did you just say?” Ember asked, her brows raised.

Melodina turned her head to face her mother—her eyes blazing. “I said I’m not going home. I want to stay here and be with Papa! To learn more about Papa!”

Horror washed over Ember’s face. I allowed a wicked smirk to tug at my lips. Ember glared at me, but before she could say anything else, I looked at Melodina and said, “You can stay with me. You and your mama. We can all be a big, happyfamily.” I cupped her cheek, smiling down at her. “How does that sound?”

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