THE RUNAWAY LUNA RIDER

THE NIGHT THE MOON DIED Rhea's POV "It's not what it looks like." Those five words hit me harder than any fist ever could. I stand frozen in the doorway, my hand still gripping the handle, and I wonder if my ears are playing tricks on me. But no… there she is. A woman… Pregnant… heavily pregnant. Lying in Darius's bed like she owns it. And there he is… my mate… my Alpha. His hand resting on her belly like it's the most natural thing in the world. The room tilts sideways. I grab the doorframe to steady myself, but nothing can stop the way my stomach drops, the way my wolf starts screaming inside my chest. "Rhea…" Darius starts, pulling his hand back from her stomach like he's been burned. But it's too late… I saw it. The tenderness in his touch. The way he looked at her before he noticed me standing there. The woman on the bed doesn't look ashamed. She looks smug. Her hand slides over her swollen belly in a protective gesture that makes my skin crawl. She's beautiful in that glowing, fertile way that pregnant women are. Dark hair spread across his pillow… my pillow. "Who is she?" My voice comes out smaller than I want it to… too weak. Darius stands up, running a hand through his hair. That same gesture he always does when he's stressed. I've seen it a hundred times. But tonight it makes me want to rip his throat out. "I can explain," he says. "Then explain." The words taste like ash in my mouth. He glances at the woman on the bed. She shifts slightly, propping herself up on the pillows, and I get the full view of her belly. Seven months along, or maybe eight. My wolf goes quiet suddenly, eerily still, and that scares me more than her howling did. "The pack needed an heir," Darius starts, and I almost laugh. "You know how important bloodlines are. We couldn't wait any longer…" "We've only been together for two years." My fingers dig into the doorframe. "You couldn't wait?" "The council was getting impatient. They wanted proof that I could produce strong offspring. That the Goldblood line would continue." He takes a step toward me, but I move back. "It's just biology, Rhea. It doesn't mean anything." Just biology. Like I'm supposed to accept that. Like the fact that another woman is carrying his child in his bed is something I should understand and forgive because of pack politics. "How long?" I ask. He doesn't answer right away. That tells me everything. "How long, Darius?" "Nine months." Nine months… the words hit me like a slap. Nine months he's been sleeping with her… nine months of lies. Of coming to my bed with her scent still on his skin, so faint I couldn't place it, couldn't name it. But my wolf knew. Deep down, she knew something was wrong. "I'm your mate," I whisper. The bond between us pulls tight, aching in my chest. "We're supposed to be bonded. You were going to make me Luna." "You'll still be Luna," he says quickly, desperately. "This doesn't change that. She's just a surrogate. The pup will be mine, but you'll be the one standing beside me. You'll be the mother that matters…" "Get out!!!" The woman's voice cuts through his excuses. I look at her, really look at her, and see the challenge in her eyes. "She deserves to know the truth, Darius." "Shut up, Monica," he snaps, but she ignores him. "He chose me," she says, her hand moving in slow circles over her belly. "He comes to me every night. He whispers my name when he thinks I'm asleep. And when this baby is born, do you really think he's going to throw me away? I'm carrying the heir to the Goldblood pack." The room goes dead silent. Somewhere in the clubhouse beyond this room, music still plays. People still laugh. The world keeps moving. But here, everything has stopped. I feel something shift inside me. Not heartbreak… Not yet. That will come later. Right now, what I feel is rage. Pure, burning rage that starts in my gut and spreads through my veins like wildfire. "Rhea…" Darius reached for me. I jerk away from his touch. "Don't." My wolf surges forward, wanting blood. Wanting to shift and tear them both apart. But I hold her back because I need to think. I need to breathe, and I need to get out of this room before I do something I can't take back. I turn and walk away. Behind me, I hear Darius calling my name, but I didn't stop. My legs feel numb. My whole body feels numb. I move through the hallway like I'm underwater, everything muffled and slow. The clubhouse is still packed with people. They're drinking, dancing, celebrating something I can't remember now. A few of them glance at me as I pass, and I see it in their eyes… they all knew. Maybe not all of them, but enough. The whispers when I walked in earlier suddenly make sense. The way conversations stopped… the pitying looks. They all knew, and nobody told me. I push through the crowd, needing air, space, and anything but this suffocating reality. My hand brushes against something cold and metal on the counter near the entrance. Keys. Motorcycle keys… Darius's keys. His prized bike sits outside. A custom Harley he's spent years building. He loves that bike more than anything except maybe his precious bloodline, his pack politics and his pregnant surrogate. I pick up the keys. "Rhea, wait!" Darius's voice behind me, getting closer. I don't wait. I push through the front door into the cool night air. The parking lot is full of bikes, rows and rows of them gleaming under the streetlights. But I spot him immediately. Black and chrome, sitting apart from the others like it's too good to mix with the rest. My hands shake as I swing my leg over the seat. I've ridden before… not much, not often, but enough to know the basics. The engine roars to life under me, loud, powerful and angry. Just like I feel. "Rhea, don't!" Darius bursts through the clubhouse door, his eyes wide with panic. Not because I'm hurt. Not because his mate just caught him with another woman. But because I'm on his bike. I twist the throttle. The bike lurches forward, tires squealing against the pavement. Behind me, Darius is shouting something, but the wind whips his words away. Other pack members pour out of the clubhouse, their faces blurring as I speed past. I don't know where I'm going to, anywhere. The road opens up in front of me, dark and endless, and I lean into the curve, letting the bike carry me faster. The wind tears at my hair, stings my eyes, and somewhere deep in my chest, something cracks open. That's when I feel it. A flutter. So small I almost miss it. So faint it could be nothing. But I know what it is. My hand drops to my stomach for just a second before returning to the handlebars… pregnant. I'm pregnant. With his child, with the heir he wanted so badly he couldn't even wait for me to give it to him. A sob rips out of my throat, lost in the roar of the engine. The clubhouse lights fade behind me, swallowed by the darkness. And I keep riding.