First tell , why did you betray ? Why did you betray our people?."
"I’m just trying to protect you by telling you to leave. As for the other questions, I can’t explain it now."
I let out a bitter laugh. "Really? That’s what you call this? Telling to run with no explanation like I’m so stupid girl who doesn’t deserve the truth?"
He stepped forward. "It’s not safe for you here."
"I don’t care."
He froze. I could see the words forming in his throat, but I wouldn’t let him speak first.
"You don’t get to do this," I hissed, taking a step toward him. "You don’t get to pretend like we never knew each other. Like we weren’t—" I broke off, jaw clenched. "Like you didn’t matter to ."
His shoulders tensed. He turned away from , hands gripping the back of a chair like he might crush it.
"Lucas," I said, voice softer now. "What happened to you? Where’s the man I trusted with my life?"
He didn’t speak. Not for a long ti.
Then, quietly, like a wound finally tearing open, he said, "He’s dead."
Sothing cracked in .
I crossed the room, grabbed his wrist, and made him face . "Don’t you dare say that? Tell everything."
"I can’t, Athena, I REALLY CAN’T!" he snapped, yanking his arm away. My breath caught.
He saw it.
Lucas stepped back, dragging a hand through his hair. "I tried to stop you from entering that portal, Athena. I fought them—I fought him. The king. But he had a power I couldn’t even understand."
"You held down," I said, barely above a whisper. "You pinned while they drew the circle. You looked in my eyes and swallowed him open that portal knowing fully well that it would destroy our world.."
"I AM SORRY!"
"You lied to and made a killer."
He turned away again. "I had no choice."
"There’s always a choice," I whispered. "And you chose that."
Silence stretched like a chasm between us. I wanted to scream, to hit sothing, to cry. But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing break.
"You didn’t even co after ," I said. "All this ti. Did you even try?"
His voice was raw. "I couldn’t. I wasn’t allowed to. After you vanished, the king bound with blood magic. He said if I went near the portal again, he’d burn down the pack lands. I still ca here regardless."
"You looked in the eyes," I said coldly, "and acted like you didn’t know ."
He looked gutted. "They did sothing to my mory. I don’t rember everything. There are holes. Days that blur. There’s a reason I had to pretend not to know you, earlier too."
My heart thudded like war drums in my chest.
I stared at him, trying to make sense of the man in front of . The Lucas I knew was still there. Beneath the exhaustion. Beneath the layers of pain. But he was cracked. Sothing had been done to him.
"Why did the king want gone? You can answer that right?" I asked.
Lucas didn’t answer right away. He walked to the window where I’d been sitting and looked out over the city.
"Because you were touched by the Moon Goddess. You were the only one she marked. The only one who could’ve stopped him."
I felt cold.
"He’s still trying to absorb her power completely, he is not yet invincible," Lucas continued.
"That’s why he opened the portal," I whispered. "To let the demon wolves in. To break the seal."
Lucas nodded once. "And you’re a loose thread. One he can’t control."
"And you?" I asked. "What are you?"
He looked back at , and for a heartbeat, I saw it—sha, raw and burning.
"A coward," he said.
I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say.
"I didn’t expect to see you again so soon," he said quietly. "When I saw you, I thought I was hallucinating. And then I saw the look on your face, and I knew. You hated ."
"I do hate you," I said.
We stood there in a ti of silence, love, betrayal, pain, and loss—all wrapped up in one long stare.
"I’m not leaving," I told him finally. "You can warn . You can beg. But I’m not leaving until I understand what’s happening in this kingdom—and what you are really planning."
His throat bobbed. "Then be careful, Athena."
"I always am."
He hesitated. Then he reached forward and brushed a strand of hair from my cheek.
I flinched.
His hand fell back to his side.
"I missed you," he whispered.
"Then you shouldn’t have let go with your actions."
And I turned away, heart splintering again, this ti more quietly.
He left without another word.
But his scent lingered in the air.
And I knew—this wasn’t the end.
Not even close.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, I stood still for a long mont, my fists clenched at my sides.
My heart was a storm—loud, violent, unresolved.
I walked slowly back to the door, pressing my palm against it like I could sohow absorb the pieces of him that had lingered behind. My fingers traced the wood grain.
Then I locked it.
Or tried to.
A knock interrupted .
I jumped, heart leaping into my throat.
"Lira?" I called out softly, forcing the rough edge from my voice. Maybe she’d seen him leave and co to check on .
I opened the door.
And there he was.
Lucas.
Breathing hard like he’d just run a hundred miles. His eyes burned, wild and hungry and impossibly dark.
Before I could say a word, he pushed the door closed behind him, locked it himself this ti—and then his mouth crashed down on mine.
Hot. Fierce. Desperate.
I gasped, hands instinctively pushing at his chest, but he didn’t let go. His fingers tangled in my hair, and he kissed like he was drowning.
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