The Rider Alpha's Runaway Luna

CHAPTER 11 THE WARNING

Kyra stared at Ryker's text message at three in the morning because sleep was impossible when her world was falling apart, and the cryptic warning about someone from his past made her stomach twist into knots. She didn't want to care about Ryker's past or present or future, but the mate bond made ignoring him physically painful and her curiosity was eating her alive.

"Just text him back," Zara mumbled from the couch where she'd fallen asleep watching Kyra pace. "The suspense is killing both of us."

"I'm not texting him at three in the morning," Kyra said. "That makes me look desperate."

"You are desperate," Zara pointed out. "You've been staring at your phone for two hours."

Kyra threw a pillow at her sister and checked on Kade for the fifteenth time, finding him still peacefully asleep and blissfully unaware of the chaos his simple question had unleashed. "What if it's another woman?" she asked quietly. "What if that's what he needs to warn me about?"

"Then she's not your problem," Zara said firmly. "You and Ryker aren't together, you never really were, so who he sleeps with is none of your business."

"Tell that to my wolf," Kyra muttered, feeling the jealous rage building under her skin at just the thought of Ryker with someone else. "The mate bond doesn't care about logic."

Her phone buzzed with another text and Kyra's heart jumped before she realized it was from Marcus, not Ryker. She opened the message and felt her blood run cold at the photo attached.

A beautiful woman with long dark hair and curves that wouldn't quit stood at an airport gate, and the caption below read: *This is Seraphina Vale. She's been Ryker's lover for three years and the pack thinks she's his intended Luna. She's arriving in Portland this morning and she's not happy about Kade. Thought you should know what you're dealing with. Stay safe. - M*

"Oh god," Kyra breathed, sitting down hard on the floor. "He has a girlfriend."

"What?" Zara scrambled off the couch and grabbed the phone, her eyes widening at the photo. "That's what he wanted to warn you about? His secret girlfriend?"

"Three years," Kyra said numbly. "He's been with her for three years and the pack thinks she's going to be Luna."

"But she's not his fated mate," Zara said. "The bond doesn't work like that, he can't just replace you."

"He already did," Kyra said bitterly. "Six years ago when he paid me to leave, and apparently he upgraded to someone more suitable for an alpha."

Zara looked at the photo again and her expression hardened. "She's coming here to fight for him," she said. "That's what this is, she sees you and Kade as threats to her position."

"Let her have him," Kyra said, even though her wolf was snarling in protest. "I don't want Ryker, I never did, I just want him to leave us alone."

"Liar," Zara said. "You're furious right now and jealous and hurt, which means you do want him even if you don't want to admit it."

Before Kyra could argue, her phone rang with Ryker's name flashing on the screen. She stared at it for three rings before Zara grabbed it and answered, putting it on speaker. "It's three thirty in the morning," Zara said coldly. "This better be important."

"I need to talk to Kyra," Ryker said, his voice rough like he hadn't slept either. "Is she there?"

"Where else would she be?" Zara shot back. "Some of us have to work in the morning."

"Zara, please," Ryker said. "This is important."

Kyra took the phone from her sister with shaking hands. "I know about Seraphina," she said. "Marcus sent me a photo."

Ryker cursed under his breath. "I was trying to tell you before you found out from someone else," he said. "I'm sorry, Kyra, I should have mentioned her sooner."

"Why?" Kyra asked. "Your love life is none of my business, we're not together."

"The mate bond says otherwise," Ryker said. "And Seraphina is not my love, she's a mistake I've been making for three years because I was too stupid to deal with losing you properly."

The admission made Kyra's chest tight. "I'm not doing this," she said. "I'm not having a relationship conversation with you at three thirty in the morning while your girlfriend flies across the country to stake her claim."

"She's not my girlfriend anymore," Ryker said firmly. "I ended things with her yesterday when I found out about Kade."

"How convenient," Kyra said. "You found out about your son and suddenly remembered you have a mate?"

"I never forgot," Ryker said quietly. "I spent six years trying to forget and failing, and seeing you again just made it impossible to keep pretending."

"Stop," Kyra said, tears burning behind her eyes. "Just stop, Ryker, you don't get to say things like that after everything you did."

"I know I don't," Ryker said. "But I'm saying them anyway because they're true, and you deserve to know that leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life."

Kyra wanted to hang up, wanted to throw her phone across the room, wanted to stop feeling like her heart was being ripped out of her chest. "Why is she coming here?" she asked instead.

"To fight for a relationship that never existed," Ryker said. "To try to convince me that she's better for me than you are, and to probably intimidate you into giving up on any claim to me."

"I don't have a claim to you," Kyra said. "You made that very clear six years ago."

"You have every claim," Ryker corrected. "You're my fated mate, the mother of my son, and the only woman I've ever actually wanted even when I was too stupid to admit it."

"You wanted me so much you paid me to leave," Kyra said bitterly.

"I was terrified of what you made me feel," Ryker said. "I was twenty-four and convinced I needed a powerful mate to maintain my alpha status, and you were this nineteen-year-old omega who made me want to throw away everything I'd worked for just to keep you safe."

The confession hung between them and Kyra didn't know what to do with it. "It doesn't matter now," she said finally. "What's done is done, and your girlfriend arriving doesn't change anything about Kade."

"She's not coming near Kade," Ryker said, his voice turning hard. "I've already told Kai to intercept her at the airport and keep her away from the arena."

"She's going to hate me," Kyra said.

"She already does," Ryker admitted. "But that's not your problem, it's mine, and I'll handle it."

Kyra wanted to believe him but trust was a luxury she couldn't afford. "I have to go," she said. "Kade will be up in a few hours and I need to figure out how to explain all of this to him."

"Can I see him today?" Ryker asked. "Maybe take him for breakfast before school?"

"You want to have breakfast with our son while your girlfriend is in town?" Kyra asked incredulously.

"Ex-girlfriend," Ryker corrected. "And yes, I want to spend time with Kade because he's my priority now, not Seraphina's feelings."

Kyra looked at Zara who was making aggressive throat-cutting gestures, clearly voting no. "Fine," Kyra heard herself say. "But I'm coming too, and if she shows up, we're leaving."

"Deal," Ryker said, and she could hear the relief in his voice. "I'll pick you both up at seven."

He hung up and Kyra stared at her phone, wondering what she'd just agreed to. "You're insane," Zara said. "You're actually going to have breakfast with him while his ex-lover is in town looking for blood?"

"I'm doing it for Kade," Kyra said. "He deserves to spend time with his father."

"Keep telling yourself that," Zara muttered. "But we both know you're doing it because you still want him, even after everything."

Kyra didn't argue because her sister was right and lying would just make it worse.