Claimed by the Biker king

Chasing the Light

Two months later…

Dahlia Moon had always known she wasn’t built for a small life.

Even now, standing under flickering stage lights that buzzed louder than the crowd, she held onto that belief like it was the only thing keeping her steady.

This wasn’t what she had imagined when she left. There were no sold-out arenas. No screaming fans chanting her name. No spotlight that felt like it belonged to her. Just a cramped stage, a faulty microphone and a room full of strangers that barely looked at her.

But she was here and that had to count for something. Giving up had never been an option. Not when she had walked away from everything.

From him.

She tightened her grip on the microphone, her voice steady even as her heart threatened to betray her. She poured everything she had into that last note, letting it stretch, letting it ache. Carrying every ounce of doubt and determination tangled inside her heart.

For a brief second, the noise faded and things felt real. Then the song ended. The illusion had shattered as quickly as it had come. She swallowed hard, forcing a smile as she stepped off the stage and ignored the way her chest tightened.

This wasn’t her dream, but she would get there because, somewhere deep down, beneath the exhaustion, there was still that voice that whispered to her to prove him wrong.

Killian.

His name alone still held power to knock the air out of her lungs. She pushed it down like she always did. Like she had been doing since the day she left. Her manager’s voice pulled her back as he handed her a bottle of water. His expression was far more optimistic than she felt.

“There was someone from the label here tonight,” he told her, “Told you they’d show up. He left his card. Wants to set up a meeting.”

Dahlia stilled for a second. Hope was dangerous. She had learned that quickly.

Still, she nodded, “We’ll see how it goes.”

If things didn’t work out, she’d find another way to get there. Social Media, small gigs, anything that kept her moving forward. Going back was not an option. Not when she had so much to prove. Not when failure meant facing everything she had left behind.

Even if it sometimes felt like she made the biggest mistake of her life.

Back in the small town she once called home…

Nothing had changed. The same quiet streets. The same worn-down buildings. The same feeling that time moved slower here, like the world outside didn’t quite reach them.

Killian stood at the edge of the Iron Saints’ lot. A cigarette burning between his fingers, forgotten long before the ash dropped to the ground. He didn’t notice. His gaze was fixed somewhere far beyond the horizon like he was waiting for something that wasn’t coming back.

Or someone.

“She’s not coming back.”

Hawke’s voice cut through the silence as he stepped up beside him. Older, wiser, carrying the kind of understanding that came from watching too many people leave. Killian didn’t respond. They both knew who Hawke was talking about.

“She has always been that stubborn,” Hawke continued, “That girl would rather struggle out there than to come back and admit she aimed too high.”

A faint smirk pulled at Killian’s lips, but there was no humor in it. Because, yeah, that pretty much summed up who Dahlia was.

He took a slow drag from his cigarette, the burn grounding him in a way nothing else did. “I don’t blame her for it.”

Hawke studied him for a moment before nodding, “Still takes guts. Not too many people chase something like that.”

Killian exhaled slowly, watching the smoke disappear into the evening air, “She took the light with her.” He admitted quietly.

The words slipped out before he could stop them. Before, he could pretend it didn’t still matter to him.

Hawke let out a low chuckle and clapped him on the back, “You’re being dramatic, boy.”

Maybe he was. But Hawke didn’t know what he knew. Didn’t have moments that haunted him, like those little moments when it had been just the two of them and Dahlia sang just for him. Her voice soft and real and meant only for him.

Killian had known it then. Had felt it every time she looked at him like she was leaving. He watched as Hawke walked back to the clubhouse. The noise of the others drifting out into the night. Life moved on like it always did, but Killian stayed where he was.

Staring out the road that led out of town. The same road she had taken two months ago. No matter how much time passed, no matter how much he tried to bury it, there was one thing he couldn’t shake. He didn’t just lose her.

He lost the only future he had ever wanted.