The Rider Alpha's Runaway Luna

CHAPTER 9 RUNNING OUT OF PLACE TO HIDE

Kyra sat on her apartment floor with her back against the couch and watched Kade sleep in his room through the open doorway, her heart breaking with every peaceful breath he took. Zara was making tea in the kitchen, the familiar sounds of clinking mugs and boiling water somehow making everything worse because this was supposed to be their safe space and now it felt like a trap.

"He's not going to stop," Zara said quietly, appearing with two steaming cups and sinking down next to Kyra. "You know that, right? Now that the secret's out, Ryker's going to push for everything."

"I know," Kyra whispered, taking the tea but not drinking it. "I saw his face when Kade called him dad, he looked like he'd won the lottery."

"Maybe he thinks he did," Zara said carefully. "I mean, finding out you have a son isn't exactly bad news."

Kyra's head snapped toward her sister. "Are you defending him?" she asked incredulously. "After everything he did to me, after how he treated us?"

"I'm not defending him," Zara said quickly. "I'm just saying that maybe he's not the same person he was six years ago, and maybe Kade deserves to have his father in his life."

"Kade deserves a father who won't reject him the moment he's not convenient anymore," Kyra said bitterly. "Ryker signed a contract that literally paid me to disappear, Zara, what part of that says good father material?"

"The part where he dropped everything to stay in Portland," Zara pointed out. "The part where he looked at Kade like he hung the moon, the part where he got us VIP tickets just so his son could watch him race."

Kyra wanted to argue but the words stuck in her throat because Zara wasn't wrong and that terrified her. "What if he takes Kade from me?" she asked, and her voice broke on the question. "What if he uses pack law to claim custody and I lose my baby?"

"Then we fight," Zara said fiercely. "We get lawyers, we go to human courts where pack law doesn't matter, and we fight with everything we have."

"Human courts won't understand," Kyra said. "They don't know about mate bonds or pack hierarchy or the fact that Ryker could literally command me to hand Kade over and my wolf would want to obey."

"Your wolf maybe, but not you," Zara said. "You're the strongest person I know, Ky, you've been fighting your whole life and you're not going to stop now."

Kyra leaned her head on her sister's shoulder and tried to believe her. "I'm so tired of fighting," she admitted. "I'm tired of running and hiding and looking over my shoulder, and now Kade knows the truth and he's going to have questions I don't know how to answer."

"So tell him the truth," Zara suggested. "Age-appropriate version, obviously, but tell him that you and Ryker had a complicated situation and you were trying to protect him."

"He's going to hate me," Kyra said. "He's going to think I kept his father from him on purpose."

"You did keep his father from him on purpose," Zara pointed out gently. "The question is whether you're going to be honest about why, or let Ryker control the narrative."

Before Kyra could respond, someone knocked on the apartment door. Not a polite knock either, but the kind of demanding pound that made it clear the person wasn't leaving without answers. Kyra's wolf recognized the scent immediately and panic flooded her system.

"Don't answer it," Zara said quickly, grabbing Kyra's arm. "You don't have to let him in."

"Kyra, I know you're in there," Ryker's voice came through the door. "We need to talk, now."

"Go away!" Kyra called back, her voice shaking. "It's ten o'clock at night and Kade's sleeping."

"Then come out here and talk to me," Ryker said. "Or I'll stand here knocking until you do, your choice."

"He's insane," Zara muttered. "Should I call the cops?"

"And tell them what?" Kyra asked bitterly. "That my mate who I've been hiding our son from for six years won't leave me alone? They'll laugh us out of the station."

She stood up and moved to the door, checking through the peephole to confirm it was actually Ryker and not some nightmare her brain had conjured. He stood in the hallway looking tired and determined, and the mate bond flared so painfully at seeing him that Kyra had to press a hand to her chest.

"Five minutes," she said, opening the door just enough to slip through and closing it firmly behind her. "You get five minutes and then you leave."

"I want a paternity test," Ryker said immediately, and Kyra felt the floor drop out from under her. "Not because I doubt Kade is mine, but because I want legal documentation that he's my son."

"No," Kyra said. "Absolutely not, you're not putting Kade through that."

"A cheek swab isn't traumatic," Ryker said. "And I need legal proof for pack records, for his inheritance, for his protection."

"His protection from what?" Kyra demanded. "From you? From your pack that will see him as an embarrassment because his mother was an omega nobody?"

"His protection from rival packs who will see him as a weakness to exploit," Ryker shot back. "His protection from wolves who will question his legitimacy and try to use him against me, his protection from a world you've been keeping him from but can't anymore now that the secret's out."

The words hit like a slap because Ryker was right and Kyra hated it. "I've kept him safe for six years without your help," she said. "I don't need the pack’s politics or legal documentation to protect my son."

"Our son," Ryker corrected, stepping closer. "And you kept him safe by hiding him in the human world, but that's over now, Kyra, people know he exists and they're going to start asking questions."

"Then I'll run again," Kyra said desperately. "I'll take Kade and Zara and we'll disappear somewhere you'll never find us."

"You could try," Ryker said quietly. "But we both know Kade won't want to go, not now that he's met me, not now that he knows who his father is."

Kyra's eyes filled with tears because he was right about that too. "You're going to take him from me," she whispered. "You're going to use your alpha power and your money and your pack connections to take my baby away."

"I don't want to take him from you," Ryker said, and something in his voice made her look up. "I want us to figure out how to co-parent, how to both be in his life, how to give him the family he deserves."

"We can't co-parent," Kyra said. "We're not friends, we're barely civil to each other, and the mate bond makes everything complicated."

"So we'll figure it out," Ryker said. "We'll set boundaries and rules and we'll put Kade first, but I'm not walking away from my son, Kyra, not for anything."

"And what about me?" Kyra asked, hating how small her voice sounded. "Do I get a say in any of this, or are you just going to steamroll over my life like you did six years ago?"

Ryker's jaw tightened. "Six years ago I was an i***t who cared more about reputation than about his mate," he said. "But I'm not that person anymore, and I want a chance to prove it."

"You don't get chances," Kyra said. "You had your chance and you rejected me, so now you get to live with the consequences."

"The consequences are that I have a six-year-old son I knew nothing about," Ryker said, his voice rising. "The consequences are that you were pregnant and alone while I was living my life without care, and I can't take that back but I can be here now."

"I don't want you here now," Kyra lied. "I want you to go back to your pack and your racing and your life that doesn't include us."

"Too bad," Ryker said flatly. "Because I'm not going anywhere, and the sooner you accept that, the easier this will be for everyone."

He turned and walked away before Kyra could respond, leaving her standing in the hallway with tears streaming down her face and her world crumbling around her. She waited until she heard the elevator ding before going back inside, where Zara was waiting with worry written all over her face.

"What did he say?" Zara asked.

0

"He wants a paternity test," Kyra said numbly. "And he says he's not leaving."

"Then we fight," Zara said firmly. "We will find a lawyer tomorrow and we will figure out your rights."

Kyra nodded but they both knew the truth. Ryker Thorne was an alpha who'd just discovered his heir, and fighting him was like trying to stop a freight train with bare hands.