The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 146

Athena

I turned to Kiara, Leah, Cara, and Maya, who were all standing together near the kitchen.

"I don't know how to thank you," I said, my voice breaking slightly. "You saved our lives last night, you came when we needed you most and I'll never forget that."

"We've spoken about this countless times Ath, we're glad we could help," Leah said, coming over to hug me. "You're important to me, to all of us, we weren't going to let anything happen to you if we could prevent it."

"Still," I said. "If there's ever anything I can do for any of you, anything at all, please let me know." I said even though I don't know how to really repay them but I knew I was going to one day.

"We will," Kiara said with a warm smile. "But right now, what you need to do is go take care of yourself and that baby."

Tristan took my hand and we headed out to his car, the three guards who'd stayed through the night were still there, standing watch, and they nodded to us as we passed.

The drive to Mara's house was quiet and I spent most of it staring out the window, watching the sun rise higher in the sky, thinking about everything that had happened.

"What are you thinking about?" Tristan asked eventually.

"How different today is from yesterday," I said. "Yesterday morning we woke up and everything was normal, we were excited about telling everyone about the baby, we had no idea what was coming."

"I know," he said, his hand finding mine and squeezing gently. "But we got through it, we survived."

"Barely," I said. "If Leah and the others hadn't come when they did." I knew I was repeating the same thing over and over again but I just couldn't help it.

I couldn't stop thinking how I'd have lost this child the same way I'd lost the first one. My hands shook at the thought.

Imagine losing two children from getting hit continuously, I wouldn't have been able to live on.

"But they did come," he said firmly. "And you and Sarah held those men off until help arrived, you were incredible, Athena, you protected yourself and Sarah and the kids, you protected our baby."

"I was so scared," I admitted. "The whole time I was fighting, all I could think about was the baby, about making sure nothing hit my stomach."

"You did exactly what you needed to do," he said. "You kept yourself and the baby safe."

"But what if something happened anyway?" I asked, voicing the fear that had been eating at me. "What if there's something wrong that we can't see yet?"

"There's nothing, doctor Chen would have noticed. But if there is, we'll deal with it," he said. "Together, but I don't think there is, I think our baby is strong, just like you."

I wanted to believe him but the fear was still there, sitting heavy in my chest.

We pulled up to Mara's house and I felt my anxiety spike even higher, in a few minutes I'd know for sure whether the baby was okay or not.

Tristan helped me out of the car and kept his arm around my waist as we walked to the door, Mara opened it before we could knock, her expression serious as she took in my appearance.

"Come in," she said, stepping aside. "Let me see you."

We followed her to the same examination room we'd been in before and I sat on the table while Tristan stood beside me, holding my hand.

Mara's eyes went immediately to the bruises on my neck and I saw her expression tighten.

"Tell me everything," she said.

So I did, I told her about the attack, about the fight, about every hit I'd taken and where, I told her about protecting my stomach, about fighting the urge to shift, about how scared I'd been that something had happened to the baby.

She listened without interrupting and when I finished, she was quiet for a long moment.

"Let me examine you," she said finally.

She started with my neck, her fingers gentle as she probed the bruising, then she moved to my ribs, having me lift my shirt so she could see the extensive bruising there.

"You took quite a beating," she said quietly.

"I know," I said. "But I kept my stomach protected, nothing hit me there directly."

"That's good," she said. "That's very good."

She had me lie back on the table and placed her hands on my lower abdomen, just like she'd done during our first visit, I felt that same tingling sensation, that warmth spreading from where her hands touched.

She was quiet for what felt like an eternity, her eyes closed, her expression concentrated.

Tristan's hand tightened on mine and I knew he was just as scared as I was, waiting to hear if our baby was okay.

Finally, Mara opened her eyes and looked at me, and I saw something in her expression that made my heart stop.

"What?" I asked, my voice shaking. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she said, and I saw the beginning of a smile form on her face. "The baby is fine, strong heartbeat, developing normally, no signs of any trauma or distress."

The relief that flooded through me was so intense I started crying, I couldn't help it, the fear and stress and exhaustion of the past twelve hours came pouring out in tears.

"The baby's okay?" I asked through my sobs. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," Mara said gently. "Your baby is perfectly healthy, what you did last night, protecting your stomach the way you did, it worked, you kept your child safe."

Tristan let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob and pulled me into his arms, careful of my injuries but holding me close.

"Our baby is okay," he said into my hair. "Thank god, our baby is okay."

I clung to him and cried, all the fear I'd been holding back finally finding release.

Mara gave us a few minutes to compose ourselves before she spoke again.

"However," she said, and I felt my stomach drop. "I do need you to be very careful for the next few weeks, your body has been through significant trauma and it needs time to heal, no strenuous activity, no heavy lifting, lots of rest."

"I'll make sure she follows those instructions," Tristan said firmly.

"Good," Mara said. "Because if you don't take care of yourself now, there could be complications later, your body is working hard to heal your injuries and support the pregnancy, you need to give it the resources and rest it needs to do both."

"I will," I promised. "I'll do whatever I need to do to keep the baby safe."

"I know you will," she said with a warm smile. "Now, I'm going to give you some herbs that will help with the pain and promote healing, they're safe for pregnancy and should help you feel better."

She went to her shelves and started pulling down various jars and bottles, mixing together a combination of dried herbs.

"Make this into a tea and drink it three times a day," she instructed, handing me a cloth bag filled with the mixture. "It won't taste great but it will help."

"Thank you," I said. "For everything."

"You're welcome," she said. "Now go home and rest, I want to see you again in a week to check on your progress."

We thanked her again and made our way back to the car, I felt lighter than I had since the attack, knowing for certain that the baby was okay.

"I told you," Tristan said as we drove. "I told you our baby was strong."

"You did," I agreed. "I should have believed you."

"You were scared," he said. "That's understandable, but now you know for sure, the baby is safe."

"The baby is safe," I repeated, placing my hand on my stomach. "We did it, we protected our baby."

"You did it," he corrected. "You're the one who fought, you're the one who kept your stomach protected, you're amazing, Athena."

I felt tears prick my eyes again but this time they were happy tears.

After leaving Mara's house, Tristan drove in silence for a few minutes before speaking.

"We can't go back to my place," he said quietly. "Not yet."

I looked over at him. "What do you mean?"

"The kitchen window is broken, there's damage from the fight, blood on the floor," he explained, his jaw tight.

"I don't want you there while it's like that, not after what happened, you need to rest somewhere safe, somewhere you can actually relax."

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"I was thinking we could get a hotel room for a few days," he said. "Just until I can get the house properly secured and cleaned up."

I considered it, the idea of a neutral space did sound appealing, somewhere that didn't have memories of violence soaked into it.

But before I could agree, Tristan's phone rang through the car's speaker system, Orion's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey," Tristan answered. "We're on our way back from Mara's."

"How's Athena?" Orion asked immediately. "How's the baby?"

"Both fine," Tristan said, and I heard the relief in his voice even saying it again. "Mara said everything looks good."

"Thank god," Orion breathed. "Listen, I've been thinking, you can't take Athena back to your place right now, not with the damage from last night."

"I know," Tristan said. "I was actually just telling her we should get a hotel for a few days."

"No," Orion said firmly. "You're coming to my place, both of you, stay with us."

"Orion, we don't want to impose," Tristan started.

"You're not imposing," Orion cut him off. "Sarah and I already talked about it, we have plenty of room and you both already have room here anyway, what's the difference.

And honestly, after last night, I'd feel better having everyone under one roof, that way we can protect each other if anything happens."

Tristan glanced at me and I could see he was considering it. "What do you think?" he asked me.

I thought about it, about being at Orion's house with Sarah and the kids, about having family around us instead of being isolated in some hotel room.

"I think he's right," I said. "It would be safer, and I'd like to be close to Sarah right now, make sure she's really okay."

"See?" Orion said, having heard me through the speaker. "Athena agrees, it's settled, come to my place."

"Alright," Tristan conceded. "We need to stop by my house first though, grab some clothes and things."

"Make it quick," Orion said. "And call me when you're on your way, I'll have food ready."

He hung up and Tristan changed direction, heading toward his house instead of a hotel.

When we pulled up, I felt my stomach clench at the sight of it, it looked normal from the outside except for the boarded up kitchen window, but I knew what had happened inside, knew that violence had invaded what was supposed to be our safe space.

"Stay in the car," Tristan said. "I'll go grab what we need."

"I'm not staying in the car," I said. "I need to get my things too."

"Athena," he started.

"I'm not fragile," I said firmly. "I can walk into my own house."

He looked like he wanted to argue but finally nodded, coming around to help me out of the car and keeping his arm around my waist as we walked to the door.

Derek's truck was still in the driveway and when we entered, I found him in the living room with another man I recognized from the pack, both of them were cleaning up the overturned furniture and broken items from the fight.

"Hey," Derek said when he saw us. "How did it go?"

"Baby's fine," I said, and he smiled with genuine relief.

"That's great news," he said. "Really great."

I looked around the living room and felt my chest tighten, the coffee table was cracked, one of the armchairs was torn, there were scuff marks on the walls and dark stains on the floor that I knew were blood.