FALLING FOR THE LYCAN BIKER: MY BESTFRIEND BROTHER

Chapter 66: HE HAS THIS NORMAL, DEEP LIKENESS FOR YOU, LUMI.

Chapter 67

Lumi

Neve let out a soft, breathless laugh, shaking her head quickly. "No, no, Lumi. That’s not what I meant at all. It’s not some cliché movie script."

She kept talking, her voice trying to smooth over the edges of what she had just unleashed, but I barely heard her.

The words faded into a dull buzz in my ears. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to soften the blow. She was trying to backtrack because she realized she had said too much, but it was too late.

The seed had already been planted, and it was growing into a terrifying shape that made too much sense.

I had always felt something strange about Ren.

From the very beginning, there had been this unspoken, heavy gravity around him that didn’t align with the story of a regular guy just passing through.

Why would someone like him, who wasn’t even based here in London, command this much silent influence?

Why did powerful men double back and drop their eyes when he walked into a room? Normal people didn’t have that kind of reach.

Only people who operated in the dark, who controlled things beneath the surface, could make an entire room of seasoned pack security turn into absolute stone.

I didn’t respond to Neve. I didn’t even look at her as I pulled away from her grip. My mind was a chaotic, messy blur, and the only thing I knew for certain was that I couldn’t stay locked in this waiting room pretending everything was normal. I needed to see it. I wanted to confirm it myself.

I turned on my heel and walked straight to the door, ignoring Neve calling out my name behind me.

Pushing the heavy wooden door open just an inch, I slipped out into the quiet corridor. The air out here was cold, thick with a violent tension that made the skin on my arms prickle.

I moved silently down the hallway, stepping into the shadows near the corner of the nurse’s station, keeping myself hidden.

I got close enough to where they were just in time to hear Ren speaking.

"You think because you wear a suit and sit on a local council, your life has a higher price tag?" Ren’s voice was a low, guttural vibration that didn’t sound human.

It was cold, completely devoid of any emotion, dripping with an authority that froze the blood in my veins.

"If I see your men near this ward again, I won’t just strip you of your title. I will erase every trace of your name from this city’s ledger. You will disappear, and the human authorities won’t even find a thread of your clothing to bury. Test me, and see how quickly your entire world burns."

A violent wave of goosebumps broke across my entire body. The harsh, threatening words echoed off the walls, sounding so brutal, so utterly merciless, that I couldn’t breathe.

I had never believed a tone like that could ever be connected to the man who had held me so gently on the sofa just an hour ago.

Suddenly, as if sensing the shift in the air, Ren turned his head.

Our eyes locked.

The very second his eyes landed on me standing in the shadows, his entire face changed.

The chilling, demonic mask he wore—the terrifying devil I had just witnessed—completely melted away in a fraction of a second.

In its place returned the soft, protective angel we had all been fooled into knowing. The transition was so fast it was sickening.

I couldn’t say a single word. My mouth felt completely dry. I just backed away slowly, my eyes wide, before turning around and walking back inside the waiting room.

I sat down heavily on the sofa, staring at the floor. My brain was completely messy, short-circuiting under the weight of everything I was trying to process. Who was he? What kind of power was he holding over these people?

Neve tried talking to me but I told her I was fine and just needed a little time.

After what felt like an eternity, the door clicked open again. Ren walked in. The aura was completely gone, replaced by his usual quiet demeanor, but I could see right through it now.

"You can go and see Theo now," he said softly, his voice gentle as he stepped closer to me. "You don’t have to worry anymore, Lumi. Callum will never disturb you again."

I managed a tight nod, my throat swelling as I stood up from the sofa. As I looked up at him, I noticed a sudden, heavy flash of hurt cross his features.

He could tell. He knew I had heard him out there, and he could see the lingering fear in my eyes.

He wanted to say something, to explain it away, but there was absolutely nothing to say. The truth was already out in the hallway.

I bypassed him quietly and walked straight into Theo’s room.

The sight of my son, breathing softly against the white hospital sheets, broke the paralyzing spell over me. I rushed to the side of the bed and pulled him into a desperate, fierce hug, burying my face in his hair, weeping tears of pure relief.

A few minutes later, the door swung open, and Neve’s boyfriend hurried into the room, slightly out of breath but carrying a thick manila envelope sealed with a heavy red stamp.

"I got it," he said, holding the papers up with a tired but triumphant smile. "The court signed off on the emergency injunction. Lumi, you’ve been granted full, exclusive custody for the next five months until the final hearing. Callum can’t touch him."

I pulled back from Theo, my hand flying to my mouth as I stared at the documents. I couldn’t believe my ears.

The nightmare was finally pausing. I walked over to him, my legs shaking, and gripped his hand tightly. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You’re welcome, Lumi," he said gently, patting my shoulder.

I turned to Neve, who had followed him in, my eyes shining with wet tears. "Thank you, Neve. For everything."

Before Neve could answer, Ren walked into the room, his large frame filling the doorway. His expression was carefully guarded, his eyes fixed entirely on me.

"The doctor just signed the release forms. He said Theo is stable enough to travel. We can take him back to the US tonight."

I looked at him, the heavy silence stretching between us for a long, agonizing beat. I nodded slowly, forcing the words past my lips. "Thank you, Ren."

I meant it from the bottom of my soul, but as the words left my mouth, they came out cold, distant, and completely formal... lacking the warmth we had shared before the world fell apart.

I saw the subtle flinch in his jaw before he looked away, and I knew nothing would ever be the same again.

.....

The flight back to the United States was a quiet, blur of exhaustion and racing thoughts.

Wrapped up in the thick blankets of the plane, Theo slept through most of the journey, his fever completely gone, leaving him looking like the healthy, peaceful little boy I had almost lost.

When we finally unlocked the front door of our apartment, a heavy wave of relief washed over me.

The familiar walls felt like a sanctuary after the chaotic nightmare of London. Neve didn’t even hesitate; she immediately started moving her things out of her bedroom, completely ignoring my protests.

"Stop arguing with me, Lumi," she had said, throwing her duffel bag over her shoulder with a tired smile.

"Theo needs his own space to recover, and my room is perfect for him. Besides, I’m staying at the hotel with my boo anyway."

I couldn’t thank her enough. Within an hour, she had transformed her space into a cozy haven for Theo, giving us the breathing room we desperately needed to piece our lives back available.

.....

Two days later, the apartment was quiet. Theo was fast asleep in his new room, tucked in for a long afternoon nap.

I was sitting on the living room rug, surrounded by a mountain of company paperwork and financial files I had neglected during the crisis, trying to force my brain to focus on logistics numbers.

A soft, rhythmic knock on the front door broke the silence.

I stood up, stretching my stiff muscles, and opened it to find Neve standing there. She slipped inside quietly, her eyes instantly darting toward the hallway.

"Is the little prince asleep?" she whispered.

"Yeah, he went down about an hour ago," I replied, offering her a small, tired smile as I closed the door. "He’s been sleeping so well since we got back."

Neve nodded, but she didn’t sit down. She wrung her hands together, a rare look of hesitation clouding her usually bright face. She looked at me for a long moment before letting out a soft sigh.

"Lumi... I came to apologize," she said softly, her voice heavy with genuine regret.

"About what happened at the clinic. For not telling you about Ren. I shouldn’t have dropped hints like that and left you in the dark, especially with everything you were already dealing with."

I looked at her, the memory of that cold corridor flashing in my mind, but the anger had long since faded, leaving only a dull ache. I shook my head gently.

"It’s okay, Neve. Seriously. You don’t have to apologize. It was a crazy night, and you were just looking out for your family." Neve studied my face, trying to read the layers I was keeping locked away.

"Have you and Ren spoken since we landed?" I shifted my gaze back to the paperwork on the floor, my fingers curling tightly into the fabric of my sweater.

"No. We haven’t."

"At all?"

"No," I said, keeping my voice as even and casual as possible. "I’ve just been so busy with the company stuff, trying to get everything back on track. And it seems like Ren is incredibly busy too. We just... haven’t had the time."

Neve didn’t look convinced at all. Her eyebrows drew together, and she let out a quiet hum, but she didn’t push the lie. Instead, she just gave a slow, understanding nod and stepped a bit closer to me.

"I’m not trying to speak for him, Lumi. I know Ren can be an enigma," she said, her tone turning deeply earnest.

"But you need to know that he genuinely cares about you. He sees you as a friend and a sister, just the exact same way that I do.

If anyone ever tries to hurt you, Ren would stand by your side and fight for you the exact same way I would. He has this normal, deep likeness for you, Lumi. Don’t doubt that.""