Claimed by my Biker Stepbrother

“ Let's break up. You are not the one for me.” The words felt like a hot slap,the weight of them landing on me, crashing my heart into a thousand tiny pieces. I stared at Ryan,my boyfriend of two years with whom we had finally agreed to get engaged,ready to tie the knot. “ What?” I chuckled nervously, hoping and praying that he would burst out laughing and tell me that he was only pranking me. But the serious look on Ryan's face told me that this was not the joke I was hoping it was. “ You heard me Pearl! I don't want this anymore. I don't think I can push through when I don't even love you.” If the first batch of his words was harsh,I don't know what to call this. After dating for two years and getting my hopes up,what did he mean by he didn’t love me? Was this some kind of a joke or something? Was everything a lie? “ Ryan—” I called,my voice breaking. “ Don't give me that expression,Pearl. I agreed to date you because I thought it was fun to have someone who loves me. But no

Pearl POVThe bass from the music vibrated through my chest as I stepped into the Viper's Den.It's a rival club's bar. I had no business being here. Vienna would lose her mind if she knew I came here to do the thing she warned me against.And Zander? He would probably lock me in my room like some damsel in distress.But I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for answers to fall into my lap.My father was dead, gunned down like some criminal and I needed to know why.The police had written it off as "gang violence". They always did if one of the bikers got hit. I wasn't going to settle for that. Someone in this world knew what happened to my dad. And if Zander and the rest of the Iron Wolves weren't talking, maybe the Vipers would slip up.I had dressed for the part: tight black jeans that hugged my curves, a leather crop top that showed just enough skin to be distracting and leather boots,the last gift from my dad on my birthday.My long hair fell in loose waves down my back and a l

Pearl's POV I woke up with the taste of last night still sitting bitter on my tongue, and I hated it. In fact, the word hate couldn't even begin to fully explain how I was feeling. I was mad, frustrated and everything else in between. But the worst part had to be why the fuck I was feeling all of these emotions all at once. It wasn't thanks to the almost kiss, it didn't have anything to do with the way Zander’s breath had brushed my lips, not even the way my own traitorous body had leaned into him like it belonged there.No.What lingered was the way he’d pulled back, like touching me was dangerous, like I was dangerous. Like I was a risk he wasn't ready to take. I told myself it didn't matter, but no matter how hard I muttered the words to myself, it did nothing to change reality. His withdrawal had hurt, and even though it had come with a promise to claim me later, it didn't help with the small sting in my chest that had plagued me all night. Hell, thanks to that, my d

Pearl I didn’t fight Bear when he told me to come with him, not because I trusted him, but because every pair of eyes in that clubhouse felt like they wanted to tear a strip off my skin, and even a dense man would tell I didn't want that. It didn't sit right with me that this was my new reality, but walking anywhere alone around here sounded like volunteering for an unmarked grave.I knew not a lot of people would be happy that I showed up again, but believe me when I said that this was beyond my wildest expectations, and it wasn't in a good way. Bear led me down a dim hallway, boots thudding heavy against the old floorboards. He didn’t bother checking if I was keeping up. Men like him assumed you would, or you’d get dragged.He stopped at a door near the back, pushed it open, and jerked his chin.“In.”He didn't use the words “please”, nor “sit”. Just “in”. Maybe it wasn't just him and was instead a general biker thing that they didn't see the need to respect everyone, but it jus

Pearl The hallway smelled faintly of oil and sweat, a lingering reminder of every fight and argument this place had seen. Even though I hadn't been around for a good number of them, I just knew they were brutal , and most times bloody. I wasn't sure Zander was a mind reader or had picked up classes sometimes in the past, but just at the right time, Zander’s hand brushed against mine as we moved toward Flinn’s old office, not touching me on purpose, but close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him.I tried to focus, tried to push the feeling down, but my nerves were on edge. We were staring at the door now, and I couldn't help but feel like I was going to blow up from all the tension. A million and one emotions swarmed around me, and I hated how a bigger number of them were clawing at my throat. I felt the guilt first, and from the bottom of my heart,I really wished I had spent more time with my father before he died. Maybe, just maybe if I had,my most recent memor