The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 113

Tristan's POV

But she was already there, standing inches from Orion with her hand raised toward his face and deadly energy crackling between her fingers like lightning about to strike.

Orion didn't flinch and didn't step back even though he knew that one touch from her would drain the life right out of him.

Instead he looked directly into her silver eyes and when he spoke his voice carried more Alpha authority than I had ever heard from him before.

"I am your Alpha and your brother," he said and each word rang through the cave like a bell. "I command you to shift now."

The power behind his words hit hard, I felt it slam into Athena through our bond with enough strength to make her entire body jerk backward.

This wasn't just an Alpha command, this was something deeper and more primal, the kind of authority that reached into the very core of what made us wolves.

I knew she wouldn't be able to not succumb.

But I still prayed she did, she needed to.

She screamed and it was a sound that tore through me like claws, raw and animalistic and full of agony that made my own broken body feel like nothing in comparison.

Cracks appeared across her glowing skin and I could see her fighting against the command while the ancient power inside her fought back just as hard.

The battle raging inside her was visible now, playing out across her features as two massive forces tried to claim control of her body and soul.

Her face contorted with pain and her hands clawed at the air like she was trying to tear something invisible away from herself.

"Shift," Orion commanded again and this time his voice was so heavy with Alpha dominance that even I felt compelled to obey even though the command wasn't directed at me.

Athena's body convulsed and the sound of bones cracking and reshaping filled the chamber. It was happening too fast and too violently, not like a normal controlled shift but like something was being torn out of her by force.

Her spine arched backward at an impossible angle and I could hear her joints popping and grinding as her body tried to change forms.

The glow around her began to flicker and dim as her human shape started to blur and stretch. Her face stretched and her limbs shortened, fur began to sprout along her arms and legs in patches that looked painful and uneven.

She was fighting for the shift every step of the way, caught between the ancient power that wanted to keep her in human form and her brother's command that was forcing her wolf to surface.

The conflict was tearing her apart from the inside and I could feel every second of her agony through our mate bond.

The transformation took longer than any shift I had ever witnessed. Usually the change from human to wolf happened in seconds, smooth and natural and controlled.

But this was violent and chaotic and wrong in every way possible. She was caught between two forms for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, her body unable to complete the change while the power inside her fought against it.

Finally with one last agonized howl she completed the shift and collapsed to the cave floor in her wolf form. The glow around her flickered once more and then died completely, leaving us in the dim light filtering down from the cave entrance.

Her wolf was small and still, her dark fur matted with sweat and her sides barely rising and falling with shallow breaths. She looked more dead than alive and the sight of her lying there so motionless made my heart stop beating in my chest.

The silence in the cave was deafening after all the screaming and cracking bones. I could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance and the sound of our own labored breathing but nothing else.

The ancient power that had been pressing against my consciousness was gone now, leaving behind an emptiness that felt almost as oppressive as its presence had been.

I tried to push myself up from the floor and was surprised to find that some of my strength had returned while Athena was fighting the shift.

Not much, but enough that I could get my arms under me and lever myself into a sitting position without collapsing immediately.

My body still felt like I had been hit by a truck but the hollow emptiness inside me was starting to fill in again as my life force slowly regenerated. Whatever Athena had drained from me was coming back, drop by drop, like water filling a dried-up well.

I managed to get to my feet though my legs shook with the effort and I had to brace myself against the cave wall to keep from falling over. Every step toward her felt like walking through quicksand but I forced myself to keep moving until I reached her unconscious form.

She was so small in her wolf shape, maybe half the size she should have been, and her fur was dull and lifeless instead of the glossy black it normally was.

I could see her ribs showing through her coat and her breathing was so shallow that I had to watch carefully to make sure her chest was still moving.

I knelt down beside her and carefully gathered her into my arms, trying not to jostle her too much in case she had injuries I couldn't see.

She felt lighter than she should have, like whatever had been inside her had burned away part of her essence along with her human form.

Her wolf was completely unconscious and showed no response when I lifted her. Usually Athena's wolf was alert and aware even when she was sleeping, but now she was limp and unresponsive in my arms like all the fight had gone out of her.

"Is she alive?" Orion asked and his voice was hoarse from all the commanding he had been doing.

"Barely," I replied and my own voice sounded rough and broken. "Her breathing is weak and her heartbeat is irregular but she's alive."

Orion nodded and ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up at odd angles. He looked exhausted and older than I had ever seen him, like the last few hours had aged him years.

There were lines around his eyes that hadn't been there before and his shoulders sagged with the weight of what he had been forced to do to his own sister.

"We need to get her somewhere safe," he said and looked around the cave like he was seeing it for the first time. "And we need something strong enough to keep her unconscious until we can figure out how to help her."

I heard footsteps on the rocky slope leading above to the cave entrance and tensed until I recognized Derek's scent.

He appeared at the mouth of the cave and took in the scene with a single glance, his eyes moving from the withered corpses of Daxon and Seraphine to Athena's unconscious wolf form in my arms.

"Is it over?" he asked quietly.

"For now," Orion replied. "But we need to move fast. Can you help us get her out of here?"

Derek nodded and came down into the cave, careful not to look too closely at what remained of our enemies. He had probably seen enough when he arrived to understand what had happened, what Athena had become and what she had done to survive.

"The others are waiting outside," he said as he helped steady me when I stood up with Athena in my arms. "Everyone made it out alive."

I felt some of the tension in my shoulders ease at that news. At least we hadn't lost anyone else in this nightmare, at least the people who had risked their lives to help us were going home to their families.

The climb out of the cave was harder than the descent had been, especially carrying Athena and with my body still recovering from what she had done to me.

Derek stayed close in case I stumbled and Orion brought up the rear, making sure we didn't leave any evidence behind of what had really happened down there.

When we reached the surface the sun was setting and the sky was painted in shades of orange and red that reminded me too much of the glow that had surrounded Athena when the power had taken control of her.

The sight made me shiver and I pulled her closer against my chest, as if I could protect her from my own memories.

The rest of our people were scattered around the area, some tending to minor injuries and others keeping watch for any sign that we weren't alone out here.

They all looked up when we emerged from the cave and I could see the relief on their faces when they realized we were alive.

"Hope we didn't lose anyone," Orion asked Derek like he didn't hear him before.

Derek shook his head. "Everyone's fine. A few cuts and bruises from the climb but nothing serious."

Orion let out a breath I didn't know he'd been holding and some of the tension in his posture eased. He had been carrying the weight of responsibility for every person who had come with us and knowing they were all safe was clearly a relief.

"We need to bring the bodies," he said quietly as we reached the edge of the clearing.

I nodded even though the thought of going back into that cave made my skin crawl. Derek volunteered to handle it with a couple of the other men while Orion and I got Athena to the jet that was waiting to take us home.

The flight back felt endless even though it probably only took 2 hours. Nobody spoke during the entire trip, all of us lost in our own thoughts about what had happened and what it meant for Athena's future.

I sat holding her unconscious wolf form and staring out the window at the landscape passing below while Orion sat across from me with his head in his hands.

I could see the way he was looking at Athena when he thought I wasn't paying attention, like he had failed her somehow, like everything that had happened was his fault. The guilt was eating him alive and I knew exactly how he felt because I was carrying the same burden.

I reached over and patted his shoulder, trying to offer what little comfort I could. He looked up at me with eyes that were red-rimmed with exhaustion and grief and nodded once in acknowledgment.

When we landed there was a car waiting for us on the tarmac, black with tinted windows that would hide us from any curious observers. Derek helped us transfer Athena to the backseat where I could continue holding her while Orion climbed into the front.

"Thank you," Orion said to Derek before we drove away. "For everything you did today. I know this wasn't your fight but you came anyway."

Derek shook his head and looked down at Athena's still form. "She's important to me too," he said simply. "And you're my friends. Of course I came."

I couldn't even say anything, I was speechless.