ALPHA BIKER WHO CLAIMED HIS BROTHER'S MATE

16

RAFE’S POV:

The air in the narrow corridor grew heavy, saturated with the scent of Jalen’s fear and the scorched-earth heat of my own rage. I felt Maya behind me. She was trembling badly, her fingers clutching my shirt so hard I could almost feel the tension of her knuckles against my spine.

That touch was the only thing keeping me from tearing my brother’s throat out right here on the deck. The fact that he had still tried to touch her burned horribly through my veins. He believed my threats were empty.

Jalen spat onto the metal floor, his eyes darting between me and Maya. He was trying to project strength, but his scent gave him away; he smelled like a f*****g coward.

“Take your b***h and go home, Rafe,” Jalen hissed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He tried to straighten up, his right hand covering his crotch. “She’s not worth the trouble. She came onto me in there, attempting to crawl into bed with me. You need strength to reject this kind of demon. You should have let them banish the b***h. She’s a disgrace, and she’ll bring nothing but shame to your name—just like she did to mine.”

My chest vibrated with a growl as I glared at the lying bastard. I didn’t need to ask Maya if he was lying. The way her hand dug into me was a silent plea not to believe him—and I did not.

“You’ve always been a poor liar, Jalen,” I said, my voice dropping. I took a slow step forward, forcing him to shrink back against the doorframe of the kitchen. “If she had truly come onto you, you wouldn’t be chasing her down the hall like a rabid animal. You’d be gloating. Instead, you look like a man who just got his ego crushed by an Omega.”

I saw his jaw tighten, his wolf clawing at the surface of his skin, desperate to lash out. I didn’t give him the chance. I stepped into his personal space, the sheer pressure of my Alpha aura pinning him where he stood.

“I am a guest in your territory,” I said, leaning in until we were eye-to-eye. “So I understand, partially, why you’d be desperate enough to try and reclaim what you were too stupid to keep. But let this be your first and final warning, brother. If you ever lay a hand on her again—if you even breathe the same air as her without my permission—I will forget we share a father.”

Jalen’s eyes flickered, the yellow light in them dimming as the reality of my threat sank in. He knew I didn’t make idle promises. And this was his second warning.

“Things aren’t really working out at the MC, and I wouldn’t like to use you as a scapegoat. Rafe doesn’t give second warnings—but I just f*****g did.”

I turned my back on him, dismissing him as the insignificance he was, and reached back for Maya. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against my side. She was still shaking, her small hands transferring their tremors to my skin.

“Come on,” I muttered, my voice softening only for her. “We’re going home.”

MAYA:

I was back home in the silence of the bedroom. It was supposed to be a relief, but it was far from that. I leaned against the door I’d just slammed, my heart still hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs.

I began to pace. Three steps to the window, four steps back to the bed. My sandals were discarded somewhere near the rug, my bare feet hitting the floorboards with a dull thud that matched the throbbing in my head.

I need to leave.

The thought crowded my mind. Between my mother claiming I was switched at birth and Jalen treating me like a prize he’d misplaced, I was drowning. Even Rafe… he had protected me, yes, but the way he’d called me his woman—the way they all spoke as if I were a piece of property to be traded or defended—made my skin crawl. I had fully become his mistress, and it meant I was worth nothing more than a protected prostitute.

If I stayed here, I would just be moving from one cage to another. A nicer cage, maybe, with better food and a stronger Alpha at the door—but a cage nonetheless.

“What do I even do?” I whispered to the empty room, clutching my elbows. I had no pack who wanted me, no family who claimed me, and a man downstairs who looked at me like I was his most precious acquisition.

A knock on the door startled me. I jumped, my eyes darting toward it. I let out a low, frustrated grunt.

At least Rafe finally learned how to knock, I thought bitterly. It was a small victory, but it didn’t stop the spike of anxiety at the thought of facing those golden eyes again.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand, straightened my dress, and pulled the door open. Rafe was standing there, his massive frame nearly filling the hallway. He had changed out of his formal shirt.

“I ordered a meal,” he said in a soft voice. “You haven’t eaten since we got back from the ship. Come down.”

I stood my ground, gripping the edge of the doorframe. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to show him that he couldn’t just command me with a plate of food.

“I’m not hungry, Rafe,” I said, my voice remarkably steady despite the chaos in my head. “Just leave me alone.”

As if on cue, a loud, treacherous growl erupted from my stomach, echoing in the quiet space between us.

Heat rushed to my cheeks instantly. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. Rafe’s gaze dropped to my midsection for a fraction of a second before returning to my eyes, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips.

“Your stomach seems to disagree with your pride, Maya,” he noted dryly.