The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 21

The past few days have been exhausting. Cars keep flooding into the garage - different models every day. Sleek Ferraris that purr like satisfied cats, vintage Porsches with stories etched into their worn leather seats, custom motorcycles that make my heart ache with memories of Dad tinkering in his old shop.

The business is busier than I've ever seen it, and I can barely keep up with the demand.

Leah, my new secretary, has been incredible. We've grown close quickly, staying late to organize client files and sharing stories over takeout coffee that's gone cold hours ago.

She's having her mating ceremony in a few months to her childhood sweetheart, Marcus, and her excitement is absolutely contagious. Sometimes I catch myself feeling a little envious of her certainty, her joy, her future that doesn't include scars and broken dreams.

"You should see the flowers Grayson picked out," she gushes during our lunch break, showing me pictures on her phone.

"Pink peonies and white roses. He said he wanted something as beautiful as me, can you believe that?"

I smile, genuinely happy for her even as something twists painfully in my chest.

"That's sweet, Leah. He sounds like a good man."

"He is. We've been together since we were sixteen, you know? I was so happy when I found out he was my mate. I can't imagine being with anyone else." She looks at me curiously, her head tilting slightly. "What about you? Anyone special back in London?"

My smile falters, and I feel the familiar weight of my past settling on my shoulders. "No. Not anymore."

She must sense something in my tone because she doesn't push, just squeezes my hand gently. Her touch is warm, comforting. "Well, when you're ready, the right mate will find you. I'm sure of it."

If only it were that simple. If only mates could be chosen twice, if only love didn't come with the risk of destruction.

When I called Orion this morning, he told me Liam is recovering but still weak. The little one had been running a high fever for days, and Sarah's been beside herself with worry.

They won't be back for several more days, maybe even a week. I miss my brother terribly, but family comes first.

Something's changed with Tristan lately. He no disappears every night like he used to, he now sleeps in my room, holding me like a protective older brother.

Claims he wants to make sure I'm okay, that he won't leave until I'm completely healed. I rolled my eyes when he first announced this new arrangement.

"I'm not going to break, you know," I'd told him, but he'd just given me that stubborn look I've known since childhood.

"Humor me," he'd said, and that was the end of the discussion.

Part of me wants to ask where he used to go every night. Was it to see someone special? His mate? And if so, wouldn't she be angry that he's stopped visiting her to babysit his best friend's damaged sister?

But I can't bring myself to ask because I'm terrified of the answer. Some truths are too painful to bear, and I've had enough pain for one lifetime.

What worries me more is Ciara, my inner wolf. She's gone completely silent since the dream, just like she always did whenever Daxon used his fists on us.

I can feel her there, buried deep inside my consciousness like a wounded animal hiding in a cave, but she won't respond to me anymore.

Won't even acknowledge my desperate attempts to reach out to her.

I don't know which of us is more broken. I've spent years trying to suppress her, trying to limit her strength, trying to be more human than wolf.

I feel terrible about it now, but my parents always warned me to be careful with my abilities. They never fully explained why, just repeated warnings about control and responsibility that I never truly understood.

"Your bloodline is special, little star," Dad used to say, using his pet name for me. "But with great power comes great responsibility. You must learn control before you learn to unleash."

I never understood what he meant then. Still don't, really. But I followed their guidance anyway, kept Ciara locked away, never fully embracing what I was meant to be. And now I can't even give her the mate she deserves. The one I chose nearly destroyed us both, left us both scarred and silent.

But I'm trying to grow, for both of us. That's why I made a decision today that surprised even me.

"Tristan," I said as we finished work, wiping grease from my hands with an old rag, "I won't be riding home with you today."

He looked up from the motorcycle engine he'd been working on, oil streaked across his forearms in a way that made my mouth go dry.

Even though he doesn't have to get his hands dirty, because apparently he's the boss, he still choose to work on motorcycles most times."Why not?"

"Leah's taking me somewhere. You'll have space to do whatever you want without babysitting me." I tried to keep my voice light, casual, but I could see the concern immediately flash across his features.

His jaw tightened, and he set down his wrench with deliberate care. "I don't babysit you, Athena....."

"I'm going with Leah," I interrupted firmly, already walking toward where she was patiently waiting for me. "End of discussion."

He tried to argue, of course, because Tristan Hayes has never met a protective instinct he didn't embrace wholeheartedly.

But I was already linking arms with Leah and heading for the door like we were two best friends plotting some grand adventure.

"See you at home," I called over my shoulder, ignoring his frustrated expression and the way his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"You're so lucky," Leah said as we stepped into the cool evening air, giggling like teenagers. "Having a brother who cares that much about you. It's really sweet."

"You should meet Orion first," I told her, unable to suppress my grin at the thought. "Then you'd change your mind completely."

Orion was infinitely worse than Tristan when it came to overprotective behavior. At least Tristan recognized some boundaries, some acknowledgment that I was an adult capable of making my own decisions.

But Orion? Forget about it. He'd walk into my room without knocking, rifle through my things if he suspected I was hiding something, and when I complained, he'd just shrug and say he used to bathe me as a kid and he's my big brother, so privacy was more of a suggestion than a right.

I would always complain to our parent's whenever he does that, but they'll only laugh and say I'm getting worked up over nothing.

I miss him terribly. Walking to Leah's car, memories surfaced - how he and Tristan would show up at my school, supposedly just to check on me but really to intimidate any boys who might have shown interest.

How the girls wouldn't leave me alone because of my two impossibly handsome "brothers," as everyone assumed Tristan was part of our family.

They'd surround my locker just to deliver love letters and homemade gifts meant for Orion and Tristan. I always ended up being the one eating the cookies and chocolates when the boys inevitably ignored their admirers, too focused on their studies and training to pay attention to teenage romance.

Though the memories aren't clear, but I still remember when Orion was about to turn eighteen, how desperate some of the girls became.

They'd try to get on my good side, thinking I had some kind of influence over who he might choose as his mate.

I didn't care then, I was too young to understand the significance of mate selection, too naive to realize what they were really asking of me.

But he never picked any of them, and I didn't understand why until I got much older.

My parents and Tristan's parents had very different views about mate bonds than most wolves in our pack.

They'd seen too many lives completely destroyed by impulsive decisions, watching people choose mates based purely on physical attraction or the intensity of their wolves' desires instead of true compatibility and partnership.

"Take your time choosing your mate," Mom used to tell me during our long walks through the forest behind our house. "The moon goddess gives us choices for a reason. Make sure your heart and head agree before you accept a mate bond."

Dad would add, settling beside me on our old porch swing, "A mate bond should last your entire life, little star. Choose someone you want to love forever, not just someone who makes your wolf howl with desire."

They taught us to be thoughtful, to wait, to really know someone's character before accepting a mate bond. We shouldn't act on emotion or let our wolves choose for us based purely on instinct and attraction.

They wanted us to find partners who would challenge us, support us, grow with us through all of life's inevitable changes.

And I'd done the complete opposite of everything they taught me.

I'd chosen Daxon out of desperation and crushing loneliness, desperate to prove to myself and everyone else that I was worthy of love.

I'd let him claim me without really knowing him, without seeing the darkness that lurked beneath his charming exterior and sweet words.

I'd ignored every red flag, every warning sign, because I was so hungry for affection that I mistook possession for devotion.

But I'm determined to learn from my catastrophic mistakes and somehow find my way back to who I was meant to be before Daxon broke me.

That's why I'm following Leah to her training ground tonight. It's time I learned to defend myself and Ciara with my fists instead of always relying on my wolf form.