Chapter 166 Athena Was I sure? God, yes. I'd never been more sure of anything in my life."I'm sure.""It's going to drain you. Badly. And we don't know what effect it'll have on..." He gestured vaguely at my stomach."I have to try."He was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. But I'm staying right here. And if anything seems wrong, if you start looking weak or sick, I'm using my authority on you. Forcibly if necessary.""Fair enough."Derek moved to the door, positioning himself as a lookout even though Dr. Ben had assured us no one would enter without permission. Sarah stood near the foot of the bed, her eyes never leaving me, ready to help if needed.And Orion...Orion stood right beside me, close enough to grab me if I collapsed, his face a mixture of support and regret. I could feel it rolling off him in waves. He was regretting this decision, regretting giving in to me, but he didn't have a choice.If he hadn't agreed, I would have found a way. Snuck in at night. Picke
Chapter 165Athena "You won't lose me. I promise."He didn't look convinced, but he nodded. "Alright. Derek, make it happen."Derek was already on his phone, making more calls, his voice taking on that authoritative tone he used when getting things done. Within minutes, he had it arranged. The transfer. The ambulance. Dr. Ben meeting us at the facility.The hard part was convincing the hospital to let us take Tristan.It took another hour of paperwork and arguing and Derek's family hospital name being dropped multiple times. The doctors were against it, naturally. Kept insisting Tristan needed their ICU, their specialists, their equipment. Kept saying that moving him was dangerous, that we were risking his life.I wanted to scream at them that leaving him here was risking his life, that they couldn't help him the way I could. But obviously I couldn't say that, so I just stood there and let Derek and Orion handle it while I tried not to fall apart.Sarah stayed close, her presence a
Chapter 164Athena "His Alpha healing...""Might not be enough!" I was shouting again, not caring anymore. "You keep saying that like it's some guarantee but it's not. Sometimes injuries are too severe. Sometimes even Alphas don't fully recover." I didn't complete my sentence but I know he knew what I was thinking, our dad's were Aphas. But they didn't survive.Orion's silence was answer enough. He knew I was right.I took a shaky breath, trying to calm down. Getting angry at Orion wasn't helping and it wasn't right. He wasn't the enemy here. He was just trying to protect me, protect the babies, protect our secret.But god, it was hard to be rational when the man I loved was fighting for his life."I need to do something," I said more quietly. "I can't just sit in that waiting room pretending I'm okay with letting human medicine handle this. I'm not okay with it. I won't be okay with it.""I know." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Believe me, Athena, if there was a safe w
Chapter 163Athena 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
Chapter 162Vic turned and even through the blood trickling from his nose I could see his smirk. "Prove it, sweetheart. Accidents happen.""Accident?" The word came out sharp. "You sped up into him.""He was in my way.""He'd already won. He'd already crossed the finish line.""So?" Vic pulled off his helmet and spit blood. "He humiliated me. Made me look like a fool in front of everyone.""You ARE a fool," Sarah said, appearing beside me. Her voice was shaking but her eyes were fierce."He got what he deserved," Vic said. "Thinking he's so much better than everyone else, showing off, making the rest of us look bad.""He IS better than you," I said. "He's better than all six of you combined and you can't stand it.""Won't matter if he's dead," Vic shrugged, actually shrugged, like Tristan's life meant nothing.I wanted to kill, to suck the filthy life off him.The violence in my chest exploded outward and I moved toward him, my hands curling into fists, not sure what I was going to do
Chapter 161AthenaTristan jumped over it without losing speed, the bike's front wheel lifting and clearing the obstacle before slamming back down."Jesus," Orion breathed.Behind him, Jensen wasn't as lucky or skilled. He tried to swerve around the pipe, got too aggressive, and clipped it with his back tire. The bike started to wobble, Jensen overcorrected, and suddenly he was sliding sideways. Marc couldn't avoid him, they were too close, moving too fast, and his front wheel hit Jensen's bike.Both riders went down in a spectacular crash of metal and sparks and screaming tires.The crowd gasped as the two bikes tumbled across the track, but both riders were already rolling away, alive if not uninjured.Two down.Four left chasing Tristan.Cole was in front of the pack now, riding recklessly, and the other three were right behind him. They'd lost their careful coordination and gone pure aggressive, no more strategy, just raw speed and determination.The final turn was coming up, the