Chapter 97 - What She Is
The light died.
Not faded.
Died.
Like something had been cut at the root.
Athena stood in the center of scorched stone, chest rising and falling hard, the last sparks of the shattered runes drifting away like embers.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield went quiet.
Not silent from peace.
Silent from shock.
Silas was the first to move.
He crossed the space between them in seconds and pulled her into him, his hands gripping her shoulders like he needed to confirm she was real.
Athena looked up at him, breathless, confused, but standing.
"I didn't-" she started.
Rowan's voice cut in from behind them.
"That wasn't wolf magic."
Kael nodded slowly, eyes wide as he stared at the blackened stone.
"No," he agreed. "It wasn't."
Athena's gaze dropped to the ground at her feet.
"I just... told it to stop," she said softly.
Silas's jaw tightened.
Because he had felt it.
That surge hadn't felt like pack command.
It hadn't felt like Alpha authority.
It had felt... different.
Older.
Across the field, Victor stared at her like he had seen a ghost.
His lips moved before he could stop himself.
"White mage..."
The words carried farther than he intended.
Silas's head snapped toward him.
Athena heard it too.
Her heart skipped.
White mage.
The phrase tugged at something in her memory.
A voice.
A woman's voice.
Warm. Gentle. Powerful.
She pressed her fingers to her temple.
"I've heard that before..."
Rowan looked between her and Victor.
Silas's eyes darkened with realization.
Her healing.
Her command over the spell.
The way she had unraveled a binding circle meant for royalty.
That wasn't just wolf blood.
That was mage blood.
Victor's voice rose, strained for the first time.
"That's why they went to war," he said.
Athena looked at him.
Confused.
"Your mother," he continued, "was the strongest white mage alive."
The words hit her like a physical force.
Silas's breath caught.
Victor's expression twisted with something close to regret and obsession.
"They wanted her," he said. "And when they couldn't have her, they wanted you."
Athena's hands trembled slightly at her sides.
Victor took a slow step forward.
"That's why I took you," he said quietly.
Silas's growl rumbled low in his chest.
Victor didn't look at him.
His eyes stayed on Athena.
"I wasn't suppressing a wolf," he said.
"I was suppressing a mage."