All Chapters of Claimed by the Mafia Biker: Chapter 81 - Chapter 86

I pressed Isla tighter to my chest, every muscle coiled with fear. Cruz’s hand remained on my shoulder, steady, grounding, but I could feel the tension radiating off him in waves. Blade moved beside us, silent and alert, eyes scanning every shadow.The voice came again, closer, low, deliberate: “I wondered how long it would take you to show yourselves.”Cruz’s jaw tightened. “Step out. Show yourself. Enough games.”Silence.Then a rustle—a figure stepping out from behind the trees. Not the shadow we’d fought before, but a human—or at least mostly human. Dark, tall, with eyes that seemed to pierce straight through the night. And they were smiling.“Who are you?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady, though fear quivered beneath it.The figure tilted their head, amused. “Isn’t that what you want to know? Don’t worry. You’ll learn… soon enough.”Cruz stepped forward, knife raised. “Hands where I can see them. Now.”The figure laughed softly, a sound that made my skin crawl. “Re

I could feel Cruz’s grip tighten on my hand, his presence a wall of heat and protection, but the shadow figure’s words had planted something inside me—a seed of dread I couldn’t shake.“You said… cracks,” I whispered, barely audible over the pounding of my heart.Cruz’s jaw clenched, eyes dark, stormy. “I don’t have cracks,” he said, but his voice carried a sharp edge, something raw, human, vulnerable. “I protect. That’s all that matters.”I swallowed hard, pressing closer without thinking. The brush of his side against mine sent a shiver through me, and I had to look away, focusing on the shadows that shifted around us.Blade’s voice cut through the tense quiet. “They’re testing us. That thing… whoever controls it… they’re probing. Finding weakness. Don’t give them one.”I nodded, gripping Isla tighter. “We won’t.”Cruz’s gaze flicked to me for a split second. His hand, over mine, squeezed lightly—possessive, grounding. I felt my pulse thrum for reasons I didn’t want to name.The

The whisper in the darkness didn’t fade. It lingered, curling through the trees like smoke, deliberate, knowing. I pressed closer to Cruz, heart hammering, Isla clinging tightly to my side.“Did you hear that?” I whispered, voice trembling.Cruz didn’t answer immediately. His hand brushed my shoulder, firm, grounding. “I did,” he said finally, low and dangerous. “And it’s close. Too close.”Blade crouched ahead, knife ready, eyes sharp. “It’s stalking us. No doubt about it. Whoever—or whatever—it is… it knows our patterns.”I swallowed hard. “How do we fight something we can’t even see?”Cruz’s gaze snapped to mine, stormy, protective, and… impossible to ignore. “We don’t fight blind,” he said, voice low, rough. “We fight smart. We fight together.”I could feel the heat in his words, the tension in his body pressed just a little too close, the unspoken pull between us. My pulse quickened, and I had to force myself to focus on survival, not… him.Isla whimpered, and I shifted, pre