The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 190

Athena

"Athena?" Tristan said, concerned, propping himself up on his elbow to look at me better. "Are you okay?"

I couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Because I knew exactly which message he was talking about. Exactly which day, which hour, which moment that message had arrived.

I could still remember it like it was just yesterday.

It had been my wedding day to Daxon. I'd been sitting in the bridal suite, feeling trapped and suffocated, the walls closing in on me.

The dress he'd chosen hung off my frame after months of barely eating. The makeup caked thick to hide the bruises. The silver necklace he'd given me that morning sitting heavy and cold against my throat like a collar.

I'd felt so weak. So powerless. So lost in a life that didn't feel like mine anymore. Like I was walking to my own funeral instead of a wedding.

Then my phone had buzzed with a text from an unknown number.

Thinking of you today. You deserve happiness. - A friend

And then another: You're stronger than you know.

I'd read those words over and over, those few simple words becoming a lifeline in an ocean of despair.

A reminder that somewhere, someone thought I deserved better. That somewhere inside me, buried under all of Daxon's manipulation and control, was strength I'd forgotten I had.

I'd deleted the messages immediately, terrified of what Daxon would do if he found them. But the words had stayed with me. Through the ceremony. Through saying vows I didn't mean. Through binding myself to a man who'd killed our baby with his fists.

And at the end, when the officiant asked if I took Daxon to be my husband, those words had echoed in my mind.

You're stronger than you know.

I'd opened my mouth to say "I do."

And instead, I'd said "No."

"Athena, talk to me," Tristan said, sitting up fully now and pulling me with him, his hands on my shoulders. "What's wrong? What did I say?"

The tears came then, hot and fast, streaming down my face in rivers I couldn't control.

"Hey, hey," Tristan said, alarmed, wiping at my tears with his thumbs. "Baby, what is it? What did I say? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you..."

"You saved me," I choked out, the words barely audible through my crying, my whole body shaking.

"What?"

"That message," I said, sobs coming from somewhere deep inside. "Your messages. They came on my wedding day, Tristan. The day I was supposed to marry Daxon."

He held me closer, his expression shifting from confusion to understanding, his own eyes getting wet. "Tell me. Tell me what happened."

"I was in the bridal suite," I continued, the words tumbling out between sobs, everything I'd been holding back finally breaking free.

"About to walk down the aisle and bind myself to him forever. And I felt so trapped. So lost. So unlike myself. He'd been controlling everything, what I wore, who I saw, how I acted. He'd beaten me so badly two months before that I lost our baby on the bathroom floor."

"Athena...." I know I'd told him before, but not like this. Reliving it felt painful but I needed to.

"I'd convinced myself that I was too weak to leave," I continued, looking up at him through my tears, seeing my pain reflected in his eyes.

"That I didn't have a choice. That this was just what I deserved. And I was so tired, Tristan. So tired of fighting, of trying to survive."

"Oh baby," he breathed, pulling me tighter against his chest.

"But then I got your messages," I said, my voice breaking. "From an unknown number. Telling me I deserved happiness. That I was stronger than I knew.

And I read them over and over, probably a hundred times in those last few minutes before the ceremony. And I started to believe it. Started to remember who I was before him. Started to feel that strength you saw in me."

Tristan's own eyes were wet now, tears sliding down his cheeks as he held me. "You rejected him at the altar because of those messages?"

"I rejected him because you reminded me of my strength," I sobbed uncontrollably, gripping his shirt like a lifeline.

"Because you saw something in me that I'd forgotten was there. When they asked if I took him as my husband, I opened my mouth to say 'I do' like I'd been programmed to. But your words were in my head. 'You're stronger than you know.' And instead, I said 'No.'"

"Oh, baby," he breathed, pulling me against his chest so tight I could barely breathe, but I didn't care. "I had no idea. I just... I felt like I needed to tell you that. Like it was important. Like something was pushing me to reach out."

"The Moon Goddess sent you that feeling," I said, my voice muffled against his shirt, wet with both our tears. "She knew I needed to hear it right then. She knew I needed you. She was already bringing us together, even then. She saved me through you."

We held each other in the darkness, both of us crying now, overwhelmed by the realization of how connected we'd been even before we knew it.

How the Moon Goddess had been working to bring us together, to save me from a life that would have destroyed me, to give us both the love we deserved.

"I'm so glad you got out," Tristan said fiercely, pulling back to cup my face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away my tears.

"So glad you found the strength to walk away. So glad you're here with me now, carrying our babies, about to become my wife in front of everyone we love."

"Because of you," I said, covering his hands with mine. "It was because of you."

"Because of us," he corrected, kissing my forehead, my nose, my cheeks, my lips. "Because we were meant to find each other. Because the Moon Goddess knew we belonged together."

I pulled back to look at him, seeing the love and awe in his expression, the wetness on his cheeks. "We're mates," I said softly.

"True mates. Even before we knew it, we were connected. Our souls recognized each other even when we didn't understand it yet. You reached out to me on the most important day of my life, and you didn't even know why."

"Forever connected," he agreed, kissing me softly, tasting the salt of our combined tears. "In this life and every life after. Across time and space and whatever comes next."

The mating ceremony was in six days, during the full moon. It was the werewolf version of our wedding, a sacred ritual that would bind our souls together permanently, make our bond visible to every wolf who looked at us.

My human friends wouldn't understand the significance, which was why we didn't talk about it much around them. To Kiara and my human coworkers, Saturday's ceremony was the main event, the real wedding.

But to us, to the werewolf community, to Orion and Derek and every wolf in both our packs, the mating ceremony was everything.

It was the moment when our bond would become unbreakable, when our souls would recognize each other across time and space.

"I can't wait to be officially mated to you," Tristan said, reading my thoughts as he often did, our bond already so strong even without the ceremony. "To have everyone know that you're mine and I'm yours. To feel our souls bind together under the full moon."

"Six more days," I said, settling back against him, exhausted from crying but feeling lighter somehow, like a weight had been lifted. "This time, I'll be saying 'I do' and meaning it with every fiber of my being."

"Six more days," he agreed, his hand returning to its place on my belly. "And this time, you'll be walking toward your future, not away from your past."