FALLING FOR THE LYCAN BIKER: MY BESTFRIEND BROTHER

Chapter 68: TASTING A BITTER DOSE OF MY OWN MEDICINE

Chapter 69

Lumi

It had been four weeks since I locked my apartment door on Ren. A whole month.

In that time, the massive storm from London had completely cleared up. The court documents were safe in my dresser drawer, giving me full, exclusive custody of Theo for the next five months.

Callum was stuck on the other side of the Atlantic, legally barred from coming near us.

On the surface, I had exactly what I wanted. I had my company back, my freedom, and my son was safe.

I even took Neve’s advice and put Theo in a local daycare down the street. It nearly broke my heart to drop him off that first morning, but she was totally right.

Theo was doing amazing. His cheeks had their bright color back, and every afternoon he would babble about finger painting and his new friends. He was finally just getting to be a normal three-year-old kid.

Everything was supposed to be perfect.

So why did I feel so miserable every single day?

"You did the right thing," I muttered to myself, staring blankly at the traffic lights. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white.

"You had to do it. You’re his mom. Your only job is to protect him. You can’t have someone who does dangerous, underground things around your child."

I kept lecturing myself like that, trying to force my brain to believe it. But the truth was, I missed Ren so much it felt like a physical weight in my chest.

Everywhere I looked, I saw him. When I walked past my living room sofa, my stomach did a flip remembering how heavy and warm he felt when he ground his hips against mine, how his hands felt bunched up in my shirt right before the phone rang.

When I went grocery shopping, my eyes automatically searched for the specific chocolates he bought me when everything was falling apart.

But Ren had completely vanished.

No texts. No late-night calls. No checking in on Theo. The second I called him a monster and told him to leave, he just erased himself from my life. He gave me exactly what I asked for: total silence.

And honestly? The guilt was eating me alive. Ren had risked his life, broken pack laws, and stood up to a terrifying pack head just to make sure my son was safe and I was free.

And how did I thank him? By calling him a freak and kicking him out of my house. If anyone knew what I did, they’d think I was the most ungrateful, selfish person on the planet.

To make it worse, Theo hadn’t forgotten him either. Just a few nights ago at dinner, he stopped eating his nuggets, looked at the empty chair across from us, and asked,

"Mama....Uncle Ren?"

I almost choked on my food. My throat went completely dry. I had to plaster a fake smile on my face and lie to my own son, telling him Uncle Ren was just really busy with work far away.

Seeing the disappointed look on Theo’s little face made me feel completely sick.

I finally crawled out of traffic and got to my office, determined to bury myself in paperwork until I couldn’t think straight.

I had just sat down at my desk when my phone started vibrating violently against the wood.

I picked it up, my heart dropping when I saw Neve’s name on the screen. She hadn’t called since she left town a month ago.

"Neve? Hey, is everything okay?" I asked quickly.

"Lumi..." Neve’s voice sounded completely frantic, her usual energetic tone replaced by pure panic. "Lumi, thank God you picked up. I’m seriously losing my mind right now."

I stood up from my chair immediately. "What’s wrong? What happened?"

"It’s Ren," she choked out. "He’s been incredibly sick for days. One of the guys from his office called me and said he looks terrible, but he’s refusing to go to a clinic or let anyone help him. And now his phone is completely switched off. It’s going straight to voicemail. I’ve tried calling fifty times." A cold wave of worry hit me.

"Do you think... did something happen? With his underground stuff?"

"I don’t know!" Neve cried, sounding terrified. "That’s why I’m panicking. With the things he is involved in, if he’s weak and his phone is off, anything could be happening.

We’re hours away. I don’t know who else to call. Everyone else is too scared to go near his place when he’s like this." She paused, and I could hear her breathing shakily.

"Lumi, please. I know things are weird between you two. I know you haven’t spoken since London. But can you please just go check on him? Just make sure he’s breathing. Please promise me you’ll go."

My mind started spinning. Every protective instinct I had spent the last month building up told me to stay away. I was the one who told him he was too dangerous to be in my life.

But Neve was my friend. She had held my hand while my son was in the hospital. I couldn’t just sit in my office and let her torture herself with fear when I was only a short drive away.

"Okay," I said, grabbing my purse before my rational brain could stop me. "Okay, Neve. I promise I’ll go right now."

"Thank you so much," she sighed, sounding like a massive weight had been lifted off her. "I’m texting you his address. Please call me the second you see him."

I hung up, my hands shaking as the text message popped up. I checked the time. Theo was at daycare for another five hours, so I had time.

I got into my car and plugged the address into the GPS. My eyebrows furrowed as the map loaded.

It was an industrial neighborhood on the edge of the city, full of old warehouses and quiet roads. It felt incredibly weird driving there.

For months, Ren was always the one coming to me, protecting my space, fitting into my life. I had never stopped to think about where he actually lived.

The drive took about twenty minutes. The nice glass buildings of the city disappeared, replaced by weathered brick escapes.

I parked outside a quiet building.

There were no flashy things, no signs of wealth, no massive security systems. It was totally stripped down and down to earth.

Looking at the simplicity of it, no one would ever imagine from the outside that the person living here was someone whose connections ran so incredibly deep.

He had the power to make powerful pack leaders shake in their boots, yet he chose to live like this, with barely anything to his name.

My thoughts started shifting slightly again. The image of the power-hungry monster I had built up in my head over the last month began to crack, replaced by the reality of this quietly grounded man who wanted nothing for himself..

My heart was beating so loud as I stood outside his door that I was sure he’d hear it through the walls. I stood, hesitated for a second, and then knocked firmly.

Nothing happened for a long, agonizing moment. I was just about to knock again when I heard the heavy click of the lock turning.

The door swung open. Ren stood there.

My breath hitched in my throat. He was just wearing a faded black t-shirt and grey sweatpants... no leather jacket, no boots.

Neve wasn’t exaggerating, he looked pale, his jaw was covered in dark stubble, and his eyes were bloodshot from whatever flu or fever he had.

But the moment his eyes landed on me, there was absolutely no warmth. No surprise. No longing.

He just raised one eyebrow, his face shifting into an expression of total, dead boredom.

He leaned his broad shoulder against the metal doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest, looking down at me like I was a door-to-door salesman interrupting his nap.

"Lumi," he said. His voice was completely flat, dry, and cold.

I froze, completely thrown off by how chilly he was acting. The little speech I had practiced in the car vanished from my head. I felt incredibly stupid standing there.

"I... Ren, hi," I stammered, twisting the strap of my purse around my fingers.

"Neve called me. She was really worried about you. She said your phone was off and you were sick, and she asked me to come check on you." He didn’t blink.

He didn’t even move an inch to open the door wider or invite me inside. He just kept staring at me with those bored eyes.

"You’ve seen me," he said smoothly, his tone completely uncaring. "Go tell her I’m fine. You can leave now." I just stood there, completely shocked.

The bluntness of his words felt like a slap. I had prepared myself for him to be angry, or even to yell at me for what I said a month ago, but this absolute indifference was a million times worse. He looked like he couldn’t care less that I was alive.

"Ren, wait," I said, taking a small step forward before he could shut the door.

"I know you’re pissed at me. I know what I said to you back then was harsh. But I’m only here because your sister was crying on the phone. I need to be sure you’re actually okay before I report back to her." He let out a short, dry breath that sounded like a mocking laugh.

He straightened up, stepping closer to the threshold, using his height to look down at me. The icy vibe coming off him made me want to shrink away, but I forced my feet to stay glued to the floor.

"You already said that, Lumi," he said, his voice dropping into a robotic rhythm.

"And I already gave you my answer. But I’ll repeat myself one more time, just in case you didn’t hear me." He leaned down just a fraction, his dark eyes locking onto mine with zero emotion.

"I am fine. The phone died and I forgot to charge it. Now you can leave my hallway, because I don’t need a babysitter, and I definitely don’t need you standing on my door." My mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

My chest pulled tight at how cruel he was being. The sweet, protective guy was completely gone, replaced by a cold stranger who treated me like an annoying chore.

He didn’t give me a chance to answer or apologize.

Ren reached out, grabbed the edge of the heavy iron door, and pulled it shut right in my face.

The loud slam echoed through the empty hallway, followed by the sharp click of the deadbolt locking me out.

I stood completely alone in the corridor, staring at the door, finally tasting a bitter dose of my own medicine.