CHAPTER 145: TENSION

She whispered, "But I will have to."

The training grounds were empty at dusk.

The sky bled amber into violet, casting long shadows over the bloodstained sand where Cassius had nearly died just a day before. He stood there now, arms folded, breathing deeply—testing his ribs. Bruised, but not broken. Not anymore.

Behind him, the gravel crunched.

He didn’t need to turn to know who it was.

"Lucas," he said, without looking.

Lucas stopped a few feet away. "You recover quickly."

Cassius shrugged. "I’ve had worse."

A beat of silence.

"Not from someone on your side," Lucas said.

Cassius turned then, eyes meeting his. "Are we all really on the same side?"

Lucas’s jaw tightened. "Don’t play games."

"I’m not. Just being honest." He tilted his head. "Athena deserves honesty, don’t you think?"

Lucas stepped closer. "Is that what you’re giving her? Honesty? Or confusion?"

Cassius smiled faintly. "She’s confused because she still feels something for me. That’s not my doing. That’s yours—because she doesn’t trust that you’ll choose her over duty when it counts."

Lucas’s eyes darkened. "You don’t know what she and I have."

Cassius didn’t flinch. "I do know. I see it in the way you look at her. Like she’s the only thing keeping you from falling apart. Like if she walks away, your whole damn world goes with her."

Lucas stepped forward, dangerously close now. "You think I’m afraid of losing her to you?"

"I think you’re afraid she’ll realize she doesn’t have to stay with someone who’s always half-shadow. Always hiding."

A pause. Breath thick with tension.

Lucas looked away for a moment, then back, voice low. "She’s not a girl anymore, Cassius. She’s a goddess. You think she needs saving, but she doesn’t. She needs a partner."

"And you think that’s you?"

"I know it is," Lucas said, cold steel in his voice. "Because unlike you, I don’t ask her to go back to who she was. I love who she’s becoming—even when it terrifies me."

Cassius let out a quiet laugh. "You think you’re brave for standing by her now. Try loving her when she was mortal. Fragile. Afraid. When she’d wake up from nightmares choking on her screams. When she hated herself for surviving."

Lucas’s breath caught.

Cassius stepped closer, voice soft now. "I saw the pieces of her. You only see the goddess."

"I see all of her," Lucas whispered.

They stood there, chest to chest, two forces on a knife’s edge. Both claiming the same sun.

"You don’t belong here," Lucas said at last. "You’re a remnant. A relic of who she used to be."

Cassius raised an eyebrow. "Then why am I still breathing?"

Lucas didn’t answer.

Because they both knew: if Athena hadn’t spoken... Cassius wouldn’t have survived Markus’s trial.

She protected him.

And that meant something neither of them wanted to name.

A final pause.

"Stay out of my way," Lucas said.

Cassius smiled. "Too late for that."

Lucas turned and walked off—calm on the outside, but every step vibrating with fury.

Behind him, Cassius stood still... eyes narrowed

The palace air was too still.

Athena sat in her private chamber—moonlight painting her in silver—and stared at the soft ripples of her reflection in the water basin. Her senses had sharpened since her return to the werewolf realm. She could feel the shifting hearts of those around her like storms beneath the surface.

And tonight... the clash between Lucas and Cassius had roared like thunder through her bones.

She rose, her silken robe whispering against the marble. With a flick of her fingers, the doors parted. "Bring them both to me," she commanded the guards. "Now."

Lucas arrived first, tense, his jaw locked and his coat still damp from the cold night outside.

Cassius came second, shirt undone, bruises still faintly visible along his collarbone.

They did not look at each other.

They looked at her—as if she were a battlefield, and they were both bleeding in the dirt hoping she’d choose whose wounds mattered more.

Athena stood before them, utterly composed. Her silver eyes sharp as blades.

"I felt it," she said softly. "Your tension. Your words. Your hunger for control."

Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but she raised a hand.

"I’m not yours to fight over," she said. "Not a prize. Not a territory. I am the goddess you both swore to protect. And right now... you’re dishonoring me."

Cassius bowed his head slightly. Lucas didn’t move.

Athena walked toward them, slow, deliberate steps echoing across the chamber.

"Cassius," she said, "you carry our past like it’s your shield. You think because I once loved you, I owe you something now."

He looked up, wounded. "It’s not a debt. It’s a truth."

"And truth," she replied coldly, "must be met with present reality. I am not the girl who needed saving anymore."

Then she turned to Lucas.

"And you..." Her voice softened, but her eyes stayed sharp. "You claim to love the woman I’m becoming. But love that cannot survive jealousy... isn’t love. It’s ownership."

Lucas swallowed hard.

"I don’t want to own you, Athena."

"But you want to keep me from him."

A silence fell. Both men held their breath.

Athena stepped between them, placing one hand lightly on each of their chests. Her touch burned through both of them—reminding them who she truly was.

"I will not be split in two," she said. "I choose myself. My path. My mission."

Cassius blinked. "Are you saying you feel nothing—?"

She looked at him. "I’m saying the war in my heart isn’t for you to fight."

Then, to Lucas: "And if you want me, truly... then stop treating me like something that can be stolen."

She stepped back, head high.

"I will not have this fight between you tear my kingdom apart. If either of you cannot set your ego down... you may leave."

Neither man moved.

Not yet.

She walked past them both, her power humming like a storm under her skin. But when she reached the door, she paused—just enough for the weight of her final words to land.

"I need warriors beside me," she said. "Not rivals behind me."

Then she was gone.

And the room felt colder without her.