The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 164

Athena

The hospital waiting room smelled like antiseptic and bad coffee.

I hated it. Hated the fluorescent lights that made everyone look half-dead.

Hated the uncomfortable plastic chairs that squeaked every time someone shifted.

Hated the clock on the wall that ticked too loud, each second feeling like an eternity.

But mostly, I hated that Tristan was in there somewhere, broken and bleeding, and I couldn't do anything about it.

Sarah sat beside me, her hand warm in mine. She hadn't let go since we got here, hadn't said much either, just stayed close.

That's what I loved about her, she knew when words didn't help, when presence was enough.

Derek paced near the window, his phone pressed to his ear as he made yet another call.

I'd lost count of how many people he'd contacted in the last hour. He was trying to help, trying to fix this, but some things couldn't be fixed with phone calls and connections.

And Orion...

Orion stood by the door, arms crossed, watching me like he knew exactly what I was thinking. Like he could read the desperation written all over my face.

Because he could.

He was my brother. We'd shared a womb, shared every moment of our lives growing up.

Five years wasn't enough to stop knowing.

He knew me better than anyone, which meant he knew what I was about to suggest before I even opened my mouth.

The doctor had come out twenty minutes ago with an update that wasn't really an update at all.

Tristan was stable but critical. Multiple fractures. Severe head trauma. Internal bleeding that they were trying to control.

They were doing everything they could, the doctor had said, but the next few hours were crucial.

Crucial.

What a bullshit word. Crucial meant they didn't know if he'd make it. Crucial meant we should prepare ourselves for the worst.

I wasn't preparing for anything except saving him.

My hand drifted to my stomach again, that protective gesture I couldn't seem to stop.

The babies were so small right now, probably no bigger than blueberries, but I could feel them. Not physically, it was too early for that, but I knew they were there. Knew they were growing. Knew they needed their father.

"Athena," Orion's voice cut through my thoughts. "Don't."

"Don't what?" I asked, even though we both knew.

"Don't even think about it."

Sarah's hand tightened on mine and I realized she'd figured it out too. Of course she had. She was married to Orion, had learned to read our language, the silent communication that passed between us.

"I need to talk to you," I said, pulling my hand free from Sarah's. "Alone.""

Orion's jaw tightened but he nodded. We walked down the hallway, away from the waiting room, away from Derek's phone calls and Sarah's worried eyes. Found an empty consultation room and I closed the door behind us.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Just stood there in this sterile little room with its generic landscape painting and box of tissues on the desk. A room designed for bad news, for difficult conversations.

Well, this was going to be difficult.

"I want to use my powers," I said finally. No point dancing around it.

"No." His answer was immediate, absolute.

"You didn't even let me finish..."

"I don't need to. The answer is no, Athena. Absolutely not."

Anger flared in my chest, hot and sharp. "He's dying, Orion. Did you not hear the doctor? Internal bleeding, head trauma..."

"I heard him. I also heard him say Tristan is stable and they're doing everything they can."

"Everything they can might not be enough!" My voice rose and I forced myself to take a breath, to lower it. The last thing we needed was hospital staff overhearing this conversation. "I can save him. You know I can."

I know I shouldn't be yelling especially not at him, but I couldn't help it. I was feeling helpless, couldn't even describe what I was really feeling.

"In a hospital? A human hospital where there are cameras everywhere, staff coming in and out constantly, records being kept of everything?" Orion shook his head. "It's too risky."

"I don't care about the risk..."

"Well, I do!" His voice rose too, matching my intensity. "Do you have any idea what would happen if someone saw? If they documented you healing him with powers that shouldn't exist?"

I knew. Of course I knew. We'd grown up being careful, hiding what we were, making sure humans never suspected. Because humans feared what they didn't understand, and fear made people dangerous.

"We'd be exposed," I said quietly. "They'd want to study us, experiment on us..."

"We'd become lab rats," Orion finished. "At best. At worst, they'd see us as a threat and try to eliminate us. And it wouldn't just be you and me, Athena. It would be Sarah. Derek. Every other person like us trying to live quietly among humans."

He was right. I hated it, but he was right.

"So what am I supposed to do?" My voice cracked. "Just sit out there and wait? Watch him suffer when I could fix him in minutes?"

"You wait and let him heal naturally. He's Alpha, Athena. His body is already working to repair itself..."

"Not fast enough! You saw him, Orion. You saw how much blood there was, how his leg was bent..." I pressed my hands to my face, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening. "I can't just do nothing."

"You're not doing nothing. You're being smart. You're protecting yourself and those babies you're carrying."

My hands dropped. "What do the babies have to do with this?"

"Everything." He stepped closer, his voice gentler now. "You're seven weeks pregnant with twins. Do you know what using your powers does to your body? The energy it takes?"

I did know. Using my life-giving powers might drain me, and leave me exhausted and weak for hours which wouldn't be healthy for the kids.

But this was different. This was Tristan.

"I can handle it," I said.

"Maybe. Or maybe it puts too much strain on your body and you lose the babies. Or maybe it triggers complications we can't predict because you've never used your powers while pregnant before."

The thought made my blood run cold, lose the babies. God, I hadn't even considered that possibility.

Had been so focused on saving Tristan that I hadn't thought about the risk to the tiny lives growing inside me.

"Tristan wouldn't want you to take that chance," Orion said, reading my face. "You know he wouldn't. If he were conscious right now and you told him you were thinking about using your powers while pregnant, he'd tell you absolutely not."

"But he's not conscious," I whispered. "He's in there broken and bleeding and I'm out here doing nothing..."

"You're keeping yourself and his children safe. That's not nothing."

The tears came then, hot and angry and helpless. I hated crying, hated feeling weak, but I couldn't hold them back anymore.

Orion pulled me into a hug and I let him, pressing my face against his shoulder and sobbing like I was a kid again.

"I can't lose him," I said against his shirt. "I can't, Orion. Not now. Not when we just found out about the babies, when we're finally building something real together."

"You won't lose him. He's strong. He's fought through worse."

"Has he? Have any of us been hit by a bike going forty miles an hour? Had our heads cracked open on concrete?" I pulled back, wiping at my face angrily. "And even if he survives, what kind of damage are we talking about? Brain injury? Permanent disability?"