First timeline Kloff knew about Aeroc's affections and mocked and flaunted his relationship with Raphiel to make him jealous and somewhat ridiculize him for having feelings like that for another alpha. FT.Kloff was very prejudiced about alphas being together and denied his feelings and attraction towards Aeroc. But he really loved him that's way it's very hard to digest how he could have done all the things he did and never feel a hint of remorse. Not until the end of his life while Aeroc lived with the guilt as he should until he died.
Kloff love is mixed with hate for Aeroc and for himself. It's very complex and imprinting in this universe really is a very dangerous thing.
Please do spoil. I read the novel spoliers and it was Kloff's regression unless that person was wrong. You see everyone keeps saying he did not love Rapiel but one wouldn't go that far to destroy someone else just bc he cared for Rapiel. This can be interpreted as such bc he rapes Aeroc but not confirmed. He rapes Aeroc bc he has very complicated feelings of wanting revenge, yet also dominating him. and winning. I never said he didn't love Aeroc, I just mean its possible for him to have loved Rapiel and yet still develop attraction and twisted love/affection for Aeroc. There's pletny of ppl who would prob rape and impregnate just to "gain back" the child they lost.
I know the whole point is that he is prejudiced and his mixed feelings and behavior towards Aeroc showed that. However I find it very hard to believe or understand the imprinting and omegaverse rules as I've said before. There is very little explanation of how this world works and how imprinting works. How is the imprinting dangerous. Others have replied and said Kloff is just an aggressive person and that has nothing to do with imprinting. Beats me bc its never explained or even hinted strongly at.
“There's pletny of ppl who would prob rape and impregnate just to "gain back" the child they lost.” I definitely disagree with this, the only time someone would do this is if they had sexual motivation, which Kloff had. Most people (99.9%) would simply torture and kill the people involved, not rape them.
It is confirmed Kloff does not love Raphael because he says it himself. In the third timeline, Kloff only remembers a “vague freshness” about Raphael and feels guilty since he feels he played a part in his death. He tries his best to stay away from Raphael, and focuses his time and energy on seducing aeroc since their first meeting was absolutely horrible in the third timeline. (Kloff thought it was still the first timeline and attacked aeroc when he saw him, saying a bunch of crazy things).
The third timeline is Kloffs regression. With aeroc being the narrator with no memory, and kloff being the ml with his memory.
While it's true that it has being barely mentioned as it is, there has been hints of the subject of imprinting and how that affects both alpha and omega, being the alpha's the ones who suffers more disadvantages. Maybe it's a novel spoiler but in the next timeline the consequences of imprinting will be more obvious.
Why I say it's dangerous and presents disadvantages on alphas? Because, like in many other works, the bond is for life and the fall from the bond will inflict more psychological and physical changes, like Kloff coughing up blood or his unstable behavior. Not to mention his constant hallucinations, his growing obsession for revenge and make Aeroc's life hell but at the same time he longs for Aeroc. His intensified hate and lust for him are always in conflict too His mental health deteriorated everytime he saw some kind of rejection by FT. Aeroc because of the imprinting and he mostly acted violently because it was easier for him to act on spite and anger than recognizing that he is actually attracted to his wife's murdered.
I'm not undermining that he could be feeling like that because of grief and trauma but second timeline actually shows flashbacks of FT. Kloff, his feelings and thoughts, and they were all connected to Aeroc and how he truly felt about him; call it love, hate, guilt, etc. ST. Kloff doesn't believe in those dreams being more than just that but he recognizes the intensity of those emotions as something he couldn't explain well and that it kept attracting him to Aeroc, until he had a conversation with Martha about bonding which marks the beginning of him (and us readers) being aware of that aspect of the relationship.
And because that bond is for life, if the omega dies before the alpha and the symptoms are that extreme, it gets very difficult for the alpha to go on with his life. Later it will be mentioned that, for many, imprinting is like a curse. He only survived for his children and when they rejected him, the deterioration of his mental health finally got him hallucinating and killed.
The rules of omegaverse changes depending on the author and while imprinting doesn't fully justify Kloff's or Aeroc's actions, it did amplified them enormously. I hope that this subject gets cleared when the third timeline drops because it's gonna explain a lot about the first one and everyone's actions.
About this... 'There's pletny of ppl who would prob rape and impregnate just to "gain back" the child they lost.'
While there has been cases where rape had anything to do with sexual motivations or desire, like power dynamics or like in times of war is about control and cultural imperialism; raping someone is a decision, and action where one part abused their power in this very violent and particular way, resulting into a traumatic, damaging experience. It is a crime even if it's inflicted into another criminal.
If Kloff took that decision was because he wanted to inflict as much damage as he could to Aeroc. He tricked him since the beginning, he turned into an omega against his will and forcefully impregnated him and never let him see his children. He abused him and violated him again and again until Aeroc went suicidal. One can say he really took his time to plan his revenge and make Aeroc suffer like he said was suffering but the original motive got lost in the process. It was no longer about Raphiel but for himself and his conflicted feelings for Aeroc.
That's actually been researched and a lot of the times, rape is not with sexual motivation but rather power and dominance. I cant say much for the third timeline as it is not out yet. I know it is a Kloff's regression but I guess I would pose the possibility that technically these are alternate timelines and what they feel in each one is not necessarily exactly how they felt in the other timelines, unless it is a direct flashback.
Yes I saw the very little lore that Martha dropped about the omegaverse. The question still remains as to how much does the bond/imprinting affect Kloff's aggression. I've heard some argue it is bc of the bond/imprinting that makes him that aggressive and heard some argue that he is originally just an aggressive person.
"I guess I would pose the possibility that technically these are alternate timelines and what they feel in each one is not necessarily exactly how they felt in the other timelines, unless it is a direct flashback." It's not even a flashback; it's a regression, meaning "return to original state". The Kloff in timeline 3 is the same Kloff who decided to torture and rape Aeroc.
"That's actually been researched, and a lot of the times, rape is not with sexual motivation but rather power and dominance." I got confused between motivation and desire. I guess this is more a matter of opinion, but for me, Kloff had sexual desire for Aeroc, while also wanting to inflict harm and dominance all at once. You hear Kloff saying things like “How are you so beautiful to be a devil” and stuff like that, talking about his outward appearance not matching his insides as he's rapeing him and inflicting harm. To argue that he did it to “gain back his child” is severely flawed.
“There’s plenty of ppl who would prob rape and impregnate just to ‘gain back’ the child they lost.” You cannot “gain back” a specific child by impregnating someone else; a new pregnancy creates an entirely different child with a different identity, genetics, and circumstances. It further misunderstands both grief and sexual violence: grief does not cause rape; it is not a coping mechanism for loss. Even if someone is traumatized, trauma does not explain, justify, or predict sexual violence. There is also no known documentation of someone rapeing and impregnating someone because they killed their child; there is, however, parents killing their child's killer. Kloff’s decision to rape was purely for selfish reasons, nothing else.
The raping and impregnating to gain back a child is a direct quote from Kloff himself. Ppl who are twisted will want to "gain back" a child which like you said is impossible. My point wasn't whether that was a logical reasoning but rather a direct quote and one of the reasons he went on to abuse and rape Aeroc. I was arguing that it was more complex than just him lusting after Aeroc which as you said, he hated him, yet was attracted to him as well. I wasn't pointing out that he ONLY raped him to gain a child out of him. And I misspoke but when I mean plenty of ppl I wasn't necessarily thinking of real life but rather fiction world--tv shows, books, manga, etc.
And actually Idk your credentials on dictating coping mechanisms for grief but grief can come out in many forms. For example, ppl can become more sexually promiscuous as a coping mechanism when there is grief involved. I won't say I have done a ton of research but grief and trauma can do so many things to ppl that we don't fully understand.
Some things are a direct flashback like one of these recent chapters and that was what I was referring to. Idk what the actual 3rd timeline is. One could argue whether a person is the same person bc they have the same memories or are they diff people bc of the choices they make. Just a philosophical rhetorical question that anybody can have an opinion on but doesn't have a concrete answer on.
"For example, ppl can become more sexually promiscuous as a coping mechanism when there is grief involved." That is a common thing; no one argued it isn't. However, what is not normal and should never be normalized is treating ‘grief’ as a reason for someone raping or be sexually violent toward another person. While someone might claim they committed rape because they were grieving, that explanation does not hold up morally, psychologically, or legally. Grief may explain changes in personal behavior, but it does not explain, justify, or excuse sexual violence against others, and it certainly would not be accepted as a defense in court. Tho you could argue its yaoi logic, im still calling bowl when kloff claims to rape aeroc out of "grief".

According to Someone's summary of novel spoilers, it was never really revealed how Aeroc came to lose his entire empire and riches but slightly hinted at. But here we see Kloff planned it all AND Wolflake was the catalyst. BRO he aint better than Kloff. From what I understand in an AU, Wolflake is supposed to be with Rapiel but like bruh. He not only told Kloff what happened but ALSO gave him his own servant to help him exact revenge.
I get it, Kloff is an asshole but that doesn't make Aeroc an angel. And to those who said he didn't love Rapiel and used Rapiel as an excuse. It lowkey aint looking like that in this POV chapter. He admits he mocked Aeroc while in the relationship but he's wholeheartedly more focused on revenge and making Aeroc suffer. Its slightly more complicated than that but everybody just keeps saying he only loved Aeroc and he did only to dominate Aeroc, which isn't entirely true. Why is there no nuance when ppl are reading?