All Chapters of Fake Dating My Ex Alpha Mate’s Rival Biker Stepbrother: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

I wake to the smell of someone else’s skin beside me, a scent that doesn’t belong to my mate.Morning light slips through the blinds, cutting across the room in pale gold. My head throbs, heavy and sharp, each pulse like a hammer pounding from the inside. My throat is dry. My tongue feels thick. I blink, but the world keeps spinning.I shouldn’t have drunk so much last night. Everything is a blur, music, laughter, flashes of light, too many shots I swore I’d stop at.Then the scent hits me. Wrong. Not Draven’s.Not the smoky cedar that’s been home to me since the day I met him ten years ago. This one is bitter, musky, and foreign.My stomach twists violently. My heart slams against my ribs so hard it hurts. My wolf stirs uneasily, pacing beneath my skin, something in her voice trembling with panic.I turn my head slowly, dread is building like a storm in my chest.And lying beside me, bare skin against mine, his arm heavy across my waist like it belongs there is Rowan. Draven’s Beta.

~ FIVE YEARS LATER ~Five years have passed, and I still wake up some nights gasping for air, reaching for a bond that no longer exists. Time was supposed to heal me, but all it did was teach me how to live with the emptiness. The scars have faded, but the ache never did.So I keep myself busy by fixing bikes, replacing parts, and pretending I don’t feel the ache that comes with remembering my past.The afternoon heat presses down on me, and sweat slips down the side of my face. I wipe it away with the back of my arm and slide back under the old truck sitting in my shop. The smell of oil and metal clings to my skin, familiar and grounding. My wrench scrapes against a rusted bolt as I twist it hard, muttering under my breath when it refuses to move.“Come on,” I whisper, gritting my teeth as the stubborn piece finally gives with a sharp clang. A drop of oil splatters my cheek, and I sigh, pushing a strand of hair out of my face with a greasy hand.The world outside hums softly, the buz

It’s been two days since Calix showed up at my shop. And the only thing stuck in my head is that he now knows where I am. I don’t like that. I didn’t want anyone from my past to know my location. I’ve worked hard to stay off the radar, to stay quiet. No pack, no name, no history trailing me… well, except the rogues who destroyed my shop two times because I was invading their territory. Anything other than that is peaceful.But before Calix came, no one here knew who I used to be. I could breathe. I could work. I could sleep without thinking someone knows my past. Now, I have this feeling sitting in my chest, heavy and uncomfortable. I have a bad feeling things won’t stay quiet for long.I try to push the thoughts out of my head and focus on the bike in front of me. The metal under my hands feels warm from the afternoon heat. I twist the last screw on the carburetor, checking the alignment again just to keep my mind busy. The shop is quiet, just the soft hum of the fan and the steady c