Chapter 82 - Did You Feel That?
Silas didn't move when Athena left the war room.
He stood exactly where she had been, eyes still on the map, but not seeing it anymore.
He felt... unsettled.
Not from her plan.
From what had happened inside him when she spoke.
Rowan and Kael waited until the door closed before stepping closer.
Rowan spoke first.
"Did you feel that?"
Silas's eyes lifted slowly.
Kael didn't look confused.
He looked certain.
"You went to Alpha-command her," Kael said.
Silas's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"And you didn't," Rowan finished.
Silence settled in the room.
Heavy.
Silas exhaled slowly.
"I couldn't."
The admission tasted strange in his mouth.
Kael nodded once.
"We saw it."
Silas frowned slightly. "Saw what?"
"The moment you tried," Rowan said. "Your posture changed. Your eyes darkened. Your voice almost shifted."
Kael added quietly, "And then it didn't happen."
Silas's chest felt tight.
"I have never failed to Alpha-command anyone," he said.
Not with pride.
With fact.
Rowan held his gaze.
"That's because no one has ever stood in front of you like she just did."
Silas's mind replayed the moment.
Athena's calm.
Her certainty.
The way she looked at him without fear.
Without hesitation.
And how his wolf had gone quiet.
Not submissive.
Reverent.
Kael's voice lowered.
"She didn't resist you."
"She overrode you."
The words hung in the air like something sacred.
Silas swallowed.
"That's not possible."
Rowan shook his head slowly.
"It is if what we think is true."
Silas's eyes narrowed slightly.
Kael spoke carefully.
"She didn't just heal you."
Silas's chest tightened.
"She carries Alpha command in her blood."
Silence fell again.
This wasn't speculation.
This was realization.
Rowan's voice softened.
"She doesn't know what she can do yet."
And that thought was more powerful than anything else that had happened that day.