Runaway Luna:Hunted By The Biker Alpha

She's My Mate Not You

Torin POV

The leather punching bag slammed back against its steel chains, the rattling metal echoing loudly across the empty clubhouse gym. I followed it, driving my taped fists into the material, throwing my whole weight behind every strike.

The canvas was stained with old sweat and the fresh blood seeping through my knuckles, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. I needed the physical impact. I needed the sharp sting in my hands to burn away the rage spiking through my veins.

For the first time in five years, I could take a full, deep breath.

The rot in my chest was completely gone. Just an hour ago, walking down the basement stairs had felt like a death sentence. The curse had felt like a literal robe around my ribs, slowly suffocating me from the inside out. Now, I could breath properly from the exact second I wrapped my arm around Harlow.

My inner wolf, which Vanya had spent years convincing me was defective and diseased, was pacing relentlessly in my mind. It wasn't broken, instead it was thriving. vibrating with a fierce, possessive energy, satisfied because the woman

and the pup it had been screaming for were finally locked in my bedroom upstairs.

I threw a devastating right hook and the punching bag groaned, the steel chain snapping tight before swinging back then I caught the bagwith my forearms, stopping its momentum. I leaned my forehead against the cold, sweaty leather, my chest heaving as I fought to control my breathing.

Dr. Silver was upstairs right now. I had called the rogue shifter doctor the second I locked the bedroom door. He had arrived in less than twenty minutes, had taken one look at Max before turning around and kicking me out of my own bedroom. The boy’s half-blood was completely unstable, and he bluntly warned me that my agitated, furious Alpha energy was making the kid’s wolf panic even more.

So, I had left Harlow alone with the doctor and come down to the basement gym to beat a heavy bag until my knuckles bled.

"You're going to tear that thing right out of the ceiling, brother."

I didn't turn around because I recognized those footsteps any day any time. My Enforcer walked into the gym, the smell of damp leather and gun oil following him. He leaned his body against the doorjamb, crossing his scarred arms over his chest.

"Let it fall," I muttered, pushing off the bag and unwrapping the bloody tape from my right hand.

He watched me for a long moment, his dark eyes not missing anything. He was the only man in this club who knew exactly how close to death I had been this afternoon.

"You aren't holding your chest," he pointed out bluntly.

I tossed the ruined tape onto a nearby bench. "No."

"And the pain is gone?"

"It is," I confirmed, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from my face.

He let out a low grunt, pushing off the doorframe and walking further into the room then stopped a few feet away, kicking a stray weight plate across the rubber mat. "So, the human comes back after five years, brings a half-blood pup into the clubhouse, and your sickness just magically disappears."

"She's my mate, Grizz," I said. Saying it out loud felt like breathing out after holding one's breath for long, a truth my body had known before my brain could process it. "The second she walked into the bar, my wolf woke up. It wasn't dead. It was just waiting for her."

"I figured," he said not sounding surprised. He had been standing at the bar with me; he had seen the shift. "But she ran from you, Torin. She hid your heir for five years. Silas is upstairs right now rallying the Old Guard. He's telling them the human is a threat. That she insulted the pack and she needs to be thrown out before she weakens us."

My jaw tightened at the mention of my father. "Silas doesn't run this club anymore. He touches her, he dies."

"I know that, and you know that," he replied steadily. "But what are you going to do with her? You dragged her to your room like a dog claiming a bone. You're furious she kept the boy a secret. So what’s the play? You keep her locked up?"

"I don't know," I admitted, my voice dropping into a harsh rasp. I threw the towel onto the bench, the anger flaring right back up to the surface. "I want to strangle her for lying to me. I want to tear the world apart for whatever she went through out there alone. I look at her, and my human mind hates her for robbing me of five years with my son. But my wolf..." I trailed off, clenching my bleeding fists. "My wolf won't let her more than ten feet away. If she tries to run again, I'll chain her to the floor."

"Very romantic, Alpha," a mocking voice echoed from the hallway.

Grizz and I both turned.

Vanya stood in the doorway of the gym. She had changed out of the clothes she wore earlier, now wearing a tight peach dress that left very little to the imagination. Her scent felt out of place in here but she didn't decode or she saw the frown on my face and ignored it, walking in, her heels clicking sharply on the floor. The tears and the victim act from the basement meeting were entirely gone. Now, her pureblood arrogance was back on full display.

"Grizz, leave us," she ordered, waving a hand toward the door.

But he didn't move a single muscle, he didn't even blink. He just stared at her with dead, empty eyes. As the Enforcer, he answered to the President only so Vanya held absolutely no authority over him.

"Grizz stays," I said, my voice flat. "What do you want, Vanya?"

Her lips thinned into a tight line of displeasure, but she turned her focus to me. She looked at my bare, sweating chest, and then at my bleeding knuckles.

"I came to see if you were done with your little charity case," she said, her tone dripping with venom. "Silas told me the stray brought a sick pup with her. A half-blood is already pathetic as it is, Torin. You let a human trash our club's reputation

five years ago, and now you’re letting her camp in your bedroom? Throw her out before she infects the rest of the pack."

My wolf snarled, a vicious, violent reaction to the disrespect aimed at my mate which caused me to close the distance between us in three long strides.

Vanya’s smug expression faltered as she took a quick step backward, her back hitting the wall of the gym. I stepped closer, planting my hands on the wall on either side of her head, completely caging her in.

Although I didn't touch her, I made sure she felt exactly how pissed I was.

"Listen to me very carefully," I warned, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "That girl upstairs is the mother of my son. He is my blood, which makes him the heir to the Steel Howlers. Harlow is under my permanent protection."

She swallowed hard, her eyes widening as the intimidation finally cracked her arrogance. "But... I am your fated mate, Torin. Silas said... "

"I don't give a damn what he said," I interrupted coldly. "I don't know what kind of pureblood trick you pulled to fool my father and the elders three years ago, but it’s over. My wolf was never sick. It was rejecting you. The woman in my bed is my true mate, and you are absolutely nothing to me."

Her face went pale first before turning red as her mask completely slipped, revealing the bitter, spiteful jealousy underneath.

"You think Silas will let this happen?" she spat, her voice trembling with rage. "I am the daughter of the Ridge Alpha! You think the Old Guard will ever bow to a weak, fragile human? They will kill her, Torin. Silas will never let a half-blood inherit his legacy. You are starting a war over a stray who didn't even want you!"

"Let them try," I replied, my voice dead flat then pushed off the wall, stepping away from her. The air in the room felt cleaner the second I put distance between us.

"You are stripped of your rank, Vanya," I ordered, turning my back on her to look at Grizz. "Move your things out of the Alpha wing tonight. Because I don't feel like starting a war with your father's pack this week, I am allowing you to

stay in the guest quarters on the lower levels. But your time as Luna is over. You are nothing but a visitor here now. If I see your face anywhere near my floor, I will let Grizz deal with you."

Grizz offered a slow, terrifying smile, showing his teeth.

She let out a ragged breath, looking between the two of us, her chest heaving with humiliation then she spun on her heel and stormed out of the gym, her footsteps echoing rapidly down the hallway.

"She’s going straight to him," Grizz noted, his smile fading.

"Let her," I said, grabbing my cut from the bench and pulling it on over my bare shoulders. "Double the guards on my bedroom door. Nobody goes in except Silver and Carmela. If Silas or any of the Old Guard get within twenty feet of that

hallway, shoot them."

"Done," he added, already pulling his phone from his pocket.

I walked out of the gym and headed for the stairs. I had let the doctor have his time. Now, I was going back to my room to figure out exactly how I was going to keep my human mate alive in a clubhouse full of wolves who wanted her dead.