ALPHA BIKER WHO CLAIMED HIS BROTHER'S MATE

50

MAYA’S POV

It was the fourth day since the incident.

I sat by the edge of the bed, watching his chest rise and fall peacefully. His color was finally returning, but he was still silent. He hadn’t said a word to me. This morning was the first time his eyes opened, but even then, his throat had been dry of any words.

I’d wanted to scream at him. I wanted to rain down every fear, every ounce of anxiety, and every bit of anger I’d suppressed while taking care of him. But seeing those eyes finally track my movement across the room made the anger in my heart simmer down into relief.

"Drink this," I whispered, bringing a bowl of the healing soup Delinda had helped me prepare. It was made with herbs she had gathered.

After I made him drink the soup, he fell into another deep sleep. The herbs were to help his healing, and the wound was almost gone.

I stayed by his side all day, refusing to let anyone who had called to see him in. I was the only one allowed to see the Alpha this vulnerable. Seeing him in the media was the last thing I wanted.

The night began to approach, and the goddess made an appearance as the moon. A low groan broke the silence between us, and I looked up from my book to see Rafe bracing his arms against the mattress, his muscles twitching as he forced himself into a sitting position.

"Maya..." his voice was raspy. He winced, clutching his side where the bandages were set. "What happened... last night? After the attack?"

Last night? That meant he had no memory of being fed that soup.

I set my book down slowly, my eyebrows shooting up.

"Last night? Rafe, you’ve been knocked out cold for four nights."

He froze, his hand tightening on the sheets.

"s**t," he hissed, the word trailing off into a pained breath. He shook his head as if trying to clear the fog. "Four days? Dammit. Where’s Jax? What did he find out about the miners? Did they come back to our lands?"

I let out an incredulous scoff. I couldn't help it.

"Rafe, are you being serious right now? You almost lost your life. You were rotting from a poisoned blade, and the first thing you can think of is a group of dirt-diggers at the border?"

He looked at me, his gaze hardening despite his exhaustion.

"What else should I think of, Maya? I am the Alpha. My life is the pack’s life. If they strike, we lose—"

"If you die, someone else takes everything!" I snapped, standing up so I could tower over him for once. "Think about your f*****g life first, Rafe! You have to be alive to save people. You’re no use to the Iron Fang as a corpse."

He pressed his lips into a hard, thin line, a muscle jumping in his jaw. He let out a dismissive scoff, looking away from me, but I could tell the logic stung. He hated being reminded of his mortality.

"And if you really must know," I added, crossing my arms over my chest, "I handled it."

His head snapped back toward me so fast I heard his neck crack. "What do you mean, handled it?"

"Three days ago, Jax and Stone showed up here looking for you. Since you were busy playing dead, I gave them orders on what to do."

"You gave orders to my Beta and a Gamma?" His voice rose an octave, and his eyes bore into me with disbelief.

"Relax," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "I didn’t send them into the mines to get slaughtered. I told them to lay low, build structured traps, and reinforce the borders in silence. I told them to make the miners think we were weak and unbothered so we could capture them when they inevitably overstep."

Rafe stared at me for a long beat. I expected an explosion—a lecture on how an Omega shouldn't interfere with MC warfare—but instead, the tension in his shoulders seemed to ease out. He let out a long, shaky breath and sank back against the headboard.

"You told them to wait," he muttered, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Deception. Not a bad play." He looked at me with a new wave of curiosity, then tried to swing his legs over the side of the bed.

"Where do you think you’re going?" I demanded, moving to block him.

"The outlands," he grunted, his face turning gray from the exertion. "I need to go see them. I need to see the layout of these traps and how they're planning to secure the borders, or how they have secured it so far."

"No. Absolutely not. Delinda said you need a week, Rafe."

"I'm not going there to fight, Maya," he rasped in a weak tone. "I just want to see. I have my official quarters and a crib there; it’s not like I’ll be sleeping on the dirt. I can pass the night there. I just need to feel the ground under my feet."

I glared at his stubborn frame, and I let out a sigh. If I didn’t let him go, I knew he would probably jump out the window or something.

"Fine," I pointed a finger at his chest. "But only if I am there with you. And I mean with every single step you take. One wince, and we’re coming right back. Understood?"

"Understood, Luna Maya."

**

The drive to the outlands was tense. I kept my hands at ten and two on the steering wheel, my eyes darting periodically to the passenger seat where Rafe sat. Every time I hit a small bump in the road, he would stiffen, his fingers digging into the seat.

"Make a stop at Jax’s house," he grunted as we approached the cluster of residential cabins.

"Rafe, you should be heading straight to your quarters to rest," I protested, but he gave me a cold look.

I pulled up in front of Jax’s place. Before I could even put the car in park, Rafe was fumbling with the door handle. He stepped out, and for a second, I thought he was going to face-plant into the gravel. He caught himself, and limped toward the front door.

I was out of the car in a flash, trailing behind him.

He knocked on the door. A moment later, the door creaked open, and Jax’s wife, Sarah, stepped out. Her eyes widened when she saw the Alpha standing there.

"Alpha Rafe? Luna Maya?"

"Where’s Jax?" Rafe got straight to the point.

"He isn't here, Alpha. He went out with Gamma Stone hours ago," she explained, her expression clouded with worry. "They’ve been working non-stop because of the danger. Jax said they had to leave the residential part of the outlands to keep the work on a low. They didn't want any eyes on what they were building."

I stepped forward, placing a supportive hand on Rafe’s lower back.

"Thank you, Sarah. We’ll let you get back to your evening." I looked at Rafe, and he nodded.

As we walked back to the car, I shot Rafe a pointed look.

"Can you see now? Everything is under control. They are doing exactly what I told them to do. Can we please go to your cabin now?"

"Fine," he muttered.

We reached his official quarters—a rugged, masculine cabin that smelled of his cologne. Rafe immediately went to his study while I went to the room to unpack our little luggage and change.

When I returned, I saw him behind his desk. He had been dialing Jax since I got into the shower, and he hadn’t stopped.

"Rafe, enough," I said, walking into the study. "It’s late. They’re likely in a dead zone. How do you expect them to pick up with no service? You’re indisposed; you have to trust your Beta."

He didn't look up, his brow furrowed as he stared at the silent phone.

"They should have picked up. Jax always picks up."

"Come to bed," I said in a low voice.

Then he finally looked up at me. The phone fell from his hand onto the desk as his dark eyes fixed on me, tracking the movement of the nightgown against my skin. The exhaustion in his face was replaced by a hunger that shifted the air in the room. He looked like he wanted to devour me right there on the desk.

My heart skipped a beat as I realized where he was heading.

"No," I said firmly, crossing my arms over my chest to cover as much as I could. "Don't even think about it, Rafe."

"Maya..." he started, his voice dropping low.

"I mean it," I countered, stepping back. "You are still weak, and your stitches are fresh. s*x is strictly off the table. You need to sleep, and—"

"What about you? Haven’t you been s*x-starved for the past four days?”