Three Alpha Bikers Wants An Open Marriage

RILEY’S POV

I didn’t remember walking to the burial grounds. One moment I was standing in Gunnar’s room, staring at the dark shirt folded neatly over the chair, and the next I found myself outside with the entire pack gathered around me.

The sun hung low in the sky, far too low, casting long shadows that reminded me time was slipping away. It meant they were really going to put him in the ground, and the weight of that truth pressed down on me until I could hardly breathe.

Summer gripped my hand so tightly that my fingers ached, but I didn’t ask her to loosen her hold. I needed the pain. I needed something real to anchor me and remind me this wasn’t just a nightmare I could wake up from.

People parted silently as we approached, their eyes heavy with sorrow, but no one spoke. What could they possibly say? Sorry your mate died? Sorry you accidentally killed the man who loved you? Sorry life is so cruel? None of it would help. None of it mattered.

My eyes found him immediately. Gunnar lay on a raised stone platform, cleaned and dressed with a peaceful expression that somehow hurt more than anything else. He looked like he was only sleeping, as if he might sit up at any second and complain about everyone staring at him.

I could practically hear his voice in my head, laced with that familiar cold tone: "Is this a funeral or your fan club Riley?" My throat tightened painfully. God, I hated him for being so cold, for leaving his personality echoing in my mind, for being gone.

Summer let out a broken little sob beside me. "Daddy..." The sound nearly tore me apart. I dropped to my knees right there and pulled her into my arms. She buried her face against my neck, her small body shaking.

"He’s gonna wake up, right?" she whispered, her voice so full of desperate hope it shattered me.

I shut my eyes against the fresh wave of agony ripping through my chest. "Summer..." My voice broke, but I forced myself to try again. "I, I don’t think he is."

She cried harder, clinging to me. "I don’t want him to go."

"I know."

"I want him back."

"I know."

"Make them stop."

I almost laughed through my tears, not because it was funny, but because she sounded exactly like Gunnar—bossy, demanding, and utterly convinced she could argue her way out of anything.

The realization hit me like a punch to the heart. I held her even tighter. "I wish I could, sweetheart."

She sobbed into my shoulder, and I cried right along with her. No one interrupted us. Not Cane, not Caden, not Amelia—nobody. The entire pack simply stood there, watching two broken souls fall apart in the fading light.

Eventually Summer pulled back, her face red and her eyes swollen.

She wiped her nose with the back of her hand, then pointed toward Gunnar with a trembling finger. "He promised he’d teach me how to ride a motorcycle."

A surprised laugh escaped me before another sob followed. "You’re ten."

"I know."

"He was absolutely not teaching you how to ride a motorcycle."

"He said rules are suggestions."

I choked on another laugh. "That sounds like him."

"He said if anybody complained, he’d blame Cane."

A startled snort slipped out of me, and even Caden covered his mouth. For the first time all day, tiny smiles appeared on a few faces, fragile and fleeting.

Then the moment passed, because Gunnar wasn’t there to finish the joke. Silence settled over us again, heavy and brutal.

Cane stepped forward first, his shoulders straight and his face calm. I knew him well enough now to recognize that he was barely holding himself together.

"Gunnar was my brother," his voice carried clearly across the gathered crowd. "He drove me insane." Several people laughed softly. "He was reckless." More laughter rippled through them. "He never listened." A few nods followed. "He thought consequences were optional."

That drew a bigger reaction, and even I managed a small smile through my tears.

Cane swallowed hard, his voice cracking just once. "He loved harder than anyone I’ve ever known and hides his true feelings so hard no one would ever know as well." The crowd fell silent. "He would fight for anyone standing behind him." Cane looked down at Gunnar. "And if you were lucky enough to earn his loyalty, he’d never leave your side." His jaw tightened. "He deserved more years than he got."

A tear slid down the Alpha’s face, and he didn’t bother wiping it away. Neither did Caden when his own tears followed. The entire pack witnessed it, and no one looked away. Grief wasn’t a weakness today. It belonged to all of us.

Caden stepped up next, his gaze never leaving his brother. "When we were kids, Gunnar stole my first girlfriend." The crowd burst into laughter, and I stared in surprise.

"What?" I whispered.

Caden just shrugged. "He said she liked him more."

The laughter grew. "Did she?"

"Unfortunately." More chuckles spread.

Caden shook his head, his voice softening. "He spent the rest of his life annoying me. But he also spent the rest of his life protecting me and my brother and us, he’s the strongest." His expression broke completely. "I don’t know who I am without him."

The honest pain in his words hit everyone hard. Caden looked away, crying openly for the first time I’d ever seen—no hiding, no pretending, just raw, ugly, real grief.

The crowd lowered their heads as the air grew heavier and darker, like the whole world was mourning with us.

Then Amelia spoke, followed by the elders and the warriors. Stories poured out, memories filled with laughter and tears. Everyone had one. Gunnar had touched every life he entered, leaving pieces of himself behind that surprised even me, for someone so cold I didn’t know he had a sweet side, and now all those pieces grieved together.

Hours seemed to blur into minutes. Nothing felt real anymore. Eventually Cane looked at me, his eyes softening. "Do you want to say something?"

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