Claimed By The Biker Alpha

Jolie POV Through the haze of pain, I hear the trucker's boots pounding across the parking lot as he runs. Car doors slam as the engine starts. Everyone is fleeing from the crazy girl having some kind of seizure behind the dumpster. The shift reverses itself slowly, my claws retracting with wet popping sounds that make me gag. When it's finally over, I lie shaking in a puddle of rainwater and my own tears. My wolf retreats deep inside, whimpering with exhaustion. Whatever just happened drained what little strength I had left. I try to sit up and immediately throw up the few berries I managed to keep down this morning. The bile burns my throat and adds another layer of stench to the dumpster area. A car engine approaches, tires crunching on gravel. I panic, thinking the trucker came back with friends, but it's just an old Honda with a Jesus fish bumper sticker. The driver's door opens and a woman gets out. Maybe fifty years old, gray hair in a practical ponytail, wearing a

Jolie POVThe motorcycle roars beneath us as we speed through the darkness. Rain starts falling, cold drops stinging my face and mixing with the blood from my forehead cut. I press closer to Ryder's back, feeling the solid warmth of him through the leather jacket."Where are we going?" I shout over the engine noise."Home," he calls back without turning around.Home. The word hits me like a punch to the chest. I haven't had a real home in years. Maybe ever.The other bikes follow us, their headlights cutting through the storm. I count at least six riders, all massive men who smell like wolves. They move in perfect formation around us, protecting us from threats I can't even see.After twenty minutes, we turn off the main highway onto a narrow mountain road. Pine trees close in on both sides, their branches reaching over the asphalt. The air smells cleaner here."Almost there," Ryder says, his voice carrying despite the wind.The road curves sharply, and suddenly we're pulling up to a

Jolie POVI woke up in paradise.The bed is enormous, with sheets softer than anything I've ever felt. Sunlight streams through floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating a room that's bigger than the entire apartment I shared with three other pack members back home.For a moment, I forget where I am. Then reality crashes back the crash, the rescue, Ryder's possessive words claiming me as his.My ribs ache when I sit up, and the bandage on my forehead pulls tight. But I'm alive and free, which is more than I expected few hours ago.Someone has left clothes on the dresser. Jeans that look like they might fit, a soft gray sweater, and underwear still in packages. The thoughtfulness of it makes my throat tight.I dress carefully, wincing when the sweater brushes against my bruised ribs. In the attached bathroom, I splash water on my face and try to make sense of my reflection. The girl looking back at me seems different. Maybe it's just the absence of constant fear.

Jolie POV I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see Ryder's face when he pinned Mara to the wall. The way his voice dropped to that dangerous whisper. The way everyone in that room looked at me like I was a bomb about to explode.My room is small but clean, with a single bed and a dresser that Doc found somewhere. It smells like pine cleaner and motor oil, nothing like the lavender and honey scent of my old room back in Nightshade. But it's mine. The first space that's ever been just mine.I slip out into the hallway in bare feet. The compound is quieter now, but I can still hear voices from downstairs. Music. The clink of bottles. Normal pack sounds that should be comforting but just make me feel more out of place.Maybe I can make myself useful. That's what I do - find ways to be helpful so people don't notice how much space I take up.The kitchen is empty when I reach it. Moonlight streams through the windows, casting everything in shadows. I find a dishrag and start wiping