THE BIKER KING’S HIDDEN LUNA

**Chapter 4**

**Luna's POV**

Mine?

I almost laughed.

This man didn't know me. Didn't even know my name less than twenty four hours ago. Didn't know that I had just watched the person I loved drop announce another woman as his Luna while I stood there and felt the bond between us snap like a dry twig. Didn't know that I had gotten off that packhouse floor three times with cracked ribs because I refused to let them have the satisfaction.

And he was sitting here telling me I was his.

Did he really think I'd believe another man again?

The ridiculous part was that something in my chest tightened at his words.

I hated that.

I pressed my lips together and looked away from him.

I was still trying to shake it off when a knock came.

A member leaned into the doorway. Young, a cut on his jaw still healing, eyes going to Jax only. "Sorry to interrupt. Eastern perimeter. Silver Crescent wolves in the towns past neutral territory. Three of them asking questions about a silver haired girl."

My body went cold

Of course they weren't finished with me. They had me beaten and humiliated in front of the entire pack and still wasn't satisfied.

What the f**k did they want this time?

My fingers found the edge of the mattress.

Jax didn't look at me. "Tell them we haven't seen anyone. Pull back from that side. No contact. Anyone who engages answers to me personally."

The member disappeared, the door clicking shut.

Jax turned back and his eyes went straight to my hands gripping the mattress. Then my face.

"They won't find you here, no one will. You're with me afterall."

The f**k? Was that supposed to be reassuring or some threat?

***

I slept through the rest of the morning and woke up alone.

The room was quiet, daylight pushing fully through the narrow window now, warm and indifferent. I lay still for a moment, my ribs still screaming. Eye, still half swollen. The cut above my hairline had been cleaned and dressed and the bandage was still holding.

Folded neatly on the chair beside the bed were clothes that weren't mine. Dark jeans, a plain black long sleeve, socks. Someone had left them without waking me.

I stared at them for a moment.

Then I got up, got dressed, and went to the door.

I opened it and nearly walked directly into two walls of muscle.

Two men. Enormous, both of them, filling the corridor side by side like they had been planted there. One had a shaved head and a jaw like a concrete block. The other was slightly leaner with sharp eyes and a scar cutting through his upper lip.

They looked at me.

I looked at them.

"Morning," the shaved one said pleasantly, like this was completely normal.

"Who are you?"

"Tank." He gestured to himself then the other one. "Blade. Jax put us on you."

I blinked. "On me."

"Everywhere you go," Blade confirmed. "Both of us."

I stared at them for a long moment. "I don't need guards."

"Noted," Tank said, not moving an inch.

I tried anyway. Spent a solid few minutes explaining, then demanding, then using what I privately considered a very reasonable and calm tone of voice. Neither of them moved, argued back, or looked even slightly troubled by anything I said. They just waited for me to finish with patience that was getting annoying.

At last, I gave up.

"Fine," I said. "I'm walking around."

"We know," Blade replied.

They fell into step behind me, one on each side.

The compound was bigger than I had understood from the inside.

It spread wide across the forest clearing, buildings connected by open walkways and gravel paths, bikes lined up in long rows along the eastern side catching the morning light. The smell of engine oil, coffee and woodsmoke mixed together in the cold air.

Men moved everywhere. Some in cuts, some not, working on bikes, carrying things or just standing in clusters talking. A few looked up when I passed. Most didn't.

I kept walking.

I was trying to get the layout straight in my head, map the exits, understand the perimeter, all the things I was already thinking about even though I knew it was too soon. My ribs wouldn't let me run yet. I needed time.

I told myself that was the only reason I was still here.

The sound of voices ahead pulled me toward a wide building with its double doors propped open. I stepped inside and stopped.

It was a dining hall. Long tables, benches, the smell of food hitting me so suddenly my stomach contracted painfully. I hadn't eaten since before the gathering last night.

Jax was at the far end of the room.

He was standing with two other men, talking, a coffee cup in one hand, and he looked up the exact moment I walked through the door.

His eyes moved over me once, checking, then he straightened and raised his voice across the room.

"Come here."

It wasn't a request.

Every head in the room instantly turned to me.

I considered it for a second.

Then my ribs reminded me that I was in no condition to be making statements and I walked toward him.

He pulled out the chair beside him without a word and I sat down.

The two men he had been speaking with watched me with open curiosity.

Jax set down his coffee and looked out at the room.

"Listen up."

The hall went instantly quiet. Conversations dropped, movement stilled, every face turned toward him.

"This is Luna Dawn," Jax said.

How the f**k did he know my full name?

He continued. "She's my mate. She's your queen. Anyone with a problem with that brings it to me directly." He paused. "Nobody else."

Silence.

Then from somewhere near the back, someone started clapping. Then another. Then it spread and the room filled with it and a few men at the closest table actually stood up.

I sat completely still and kept my face neutral, trying to process the fact that a room full of dangerous strangers had just accepted me as their queen in about thirty seconds flat because one man said so.

Then I felt eyes boring into me from behind.

I turned to see a man near the back of the room, arms crossed, face unreadable.

He smiled when he caught me looking but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

I didn't have time to think about that though as the room suddenly tilted.

It happened fast with no warning at all, just a sudden rushing in my ears and the edges of my vision going soft and grey.

I grabbed the table but it didn't help at all.

The last thing I felt before the floor came up was Jax's arm catching me.

"Luna!! Luna!!" His voice screamed, sharp and urgent, cutting through the noise of the room.

Then nothing.