The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 169

Tristan

So I nodded stiffly and let him do his examination.

Every test came back clean.

Every injury healed.

Every wound closed like the bike crash had never happened, like I hadn't spent hours unconscious while my body tried and failed to repair itself fast enough.

"Remarkable," Dr. Ben murmured as he checked the place where I knew my skull had been fractured. "Completely healed, not even any swelling or bruising, I've never seen anything like this."

"So I can leave," I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

"You can," Dr. Ben agreed. "But you'll need to use a wheelchair when we take you back through the hospital, the staff there will expect it given how you arrived and we don't want to raise any questions."

I hated the idea of being wheeled around like an invalid when I felt fine, better than fine actually, when every cell in my body was practically vibrating with health and strength.

But I understood the need for discretion so I nodded.

"Whatever gets us out of here faster," I said.

A nurse brought in a wheelchair and I transferred into it, fighting every instinct that told me to just stand up and walk out on my own two feet.

The ride to Orion's place was tense and silent.

I sat in the back of Derek's car with Athena beside me and every time I looked at her I felt that anger surge again, mixing with something softer and more terrifying, something that felt too much like the fear I'd seen in her eyes when she was crying over me.

She kept glancing at me then looking away, her fingers twisting together in her lap in that nervous gesture she had, and I wanted to reach out and take her hand, wanted to pull her close and never let go.

But I couldn't.

Not yet.

Not when I was still so angry and scared and confused about what she'd done, about what it meant, about what the consequences might be.

Orion's house was dark when we pulled up and I felt a flash of relief that the kids weren't home.

Thank god for that at least.

Whatever was about to happen here didn't need an audience of curious children asking questions we couldn't answer.

At least now I could get as angry as I wanted without worrying about scaring them.

I knew what I must look like, knew my face was probably hard and closed off and radiating the fury I was barely keeping contained, but I couldn't help it.

Couldn't pretend everything was fine when it so clearly wasn't.

Orion led us into the living room and I transferred from the wheelchair to the couch, my body moving easily despite everything it had been through, despite the fact that just hours ago I'd been broken and bleeding.

Everyone settled into seats around me.

Athena on the other end of the couch, keeping distance between us that felt both necessary and wrong.

Orion in the armchair looking exhausted and guilty.

Derek and Sarah on the loveseat watching everything with careful eyes.

They were all looking at me like they were waiting for something, like they knew the explosion was coming and were bracing for impact.

I took a breath and tried to organize my thoughts, tried to figure out how to explain what I was feeling when I could barely understand it myself.

"How could you let her do that?" I asked Orion, my voice coming out low and dangerous.

The words hung in the air between us, sharp and accusing.

"Tristan..." Athena started but I held up a hand without looking at her.

"Not you," I said. "Him."

Orion met my eyes steadily, not flinching from the anger he must have seen there. "She insisted."

"She insisted," I repeated, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "And you just went along with it, you just let your pregnant sister use powers we don't understand on me when it could have hurt her or the babies."

"I tried to stop her," Orion said, and I could hear the strain in his voice, the exhaustion and the guilt. "At the hospital I told her no, told her it was too dangerous, told her she couldn't risk herself or the twins."

"But you let her do it anyway," I shot back.

"What was I supposed to do?" Orion demanded, leaning forward now. "Lock her in a room? Tie her to a chair? She was determined Tristan, she was going to heal you with or without my permission."

"Then you should have tried harder," I said, hearing my voice rise and not caring.

I and Orion had our differences but I've never raised my voice this way to him, and I know he wouldn't react because he regrets his decision. He knows he's wrong but that revelation only worsen my anger.

He knows how much I care about his sister, knows how much I want her to be okay.

Knows I'll gladly lay down my life in place of hers. So why did he do it? Why?

"You should have done whatever it took to keep her safe, that's your job as her brother, to protect her even from herself."

"That's not fair," Orion said, standing up now. "You know how stubborn she is, you know that when she makes up her mind about something there's no talking her out of it."

"I know that she could have died," I interrupted, standing too and ignoring the way everyone tensed. "I know that she could have lost the babies, I know that she risked everything to save me when I would rather have died than put her in danger."

The room went completely silent.

I could hear my own breathing, harsh and ragged, could feel my heart pounding against my ribs that should have been broken but weren't.

"Tristan," Athena said softly and I finally looked at her.

Really looked at her.

Her face was pale, paler than it should have been, and there were dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days.

Her hands were trembling slightly where they rested on her stomach and I could see the exhaustion in every line of her body.

She'd pushed herself too hard, had given too much to heal me, and the evidence of it was written all over her.

"I was the one who insisted," she said, her voice steady despite the tears I could see gathering in her eyes. "I was the one who pushed for the transfer to Derek's facility, who convinced the doctors to let us leave the hospital, who decided to heal you, Orion tried to stop me but I wouldn't let him."

"I don't care," I said, and the words came out harsher than I meant them but I couldn't take them back. "I don't care whose idea it was or who tried to stop who, all I care about is that you put yourself and our children at risk."

"To save you," she said, standing now too. "I did it to save you Tristan."

"I didn't ask you to save me," I shot back. "I didn't ask you to risk everything for me, I would have healed on my own, it would have taken time but I would have been fine."

"You don't know that," she said, moving closer. "You don't know how bad it was, the doctors said..."

"I'm an alpha," I cut her off. "We heal, that's what we do, it might have taken weeks but my body would have fixed itself eventually, you didn't need to risk yourself for something that would have happened anyway."

I turned to Orion now "If the case were reversed, would you have allowed Sarah do it?" His breath hitch, I knew I'd hit a cord.