CHAPTER 89: THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL

Lucas finally lifted his head and looked at me fully, and the torment there shattered something inside me. "He has her. He had her." His voice cracked. "Lira. He made her forget me. She thinks he is her father now. If I tried to take her away..." He trailed off.

"She would die," the King finished for him, his smile widening. "Poor Lucas. So devoted."

I stared at him. At them.

Lira stood perfectly still, her hand folded at the King’s elbow, as if she belonged there, as if she’d always belonged there.

Everything hit me at once like the sky collapsing. "So you—you gave me to him? To save her?"

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut like the truth physically hurt to say. "Yes."

There was a long, sharp silence, thick with betrayal and breaking things.

I pressed my palm to my stomach, steadying myself. "So all of this... getting the key, everything... it was so you could trade me for her."

Lucas took a step toward me, desperate now. "It’s not like that—"

"It’s exactly like that!" My voice cracked like glass. "I thought—I thought you..."

I swallowed. Why was I still expecting something different from him? Why he was I still hoping for loyalty from someone who clearly didn’t have any left to give?

"I needed you," Lucas whispered, shame curling his words. "I still do."

"Touching," the King drawled lazily, lifting a hand. "But I believe it’s time we stopped pretending that this is about love or loyalty, don’t you think so too, Athena?"

His eyes gleamed with something older than cruelty—something ancient, something knowing. The hairs on my arms stood up.

"I don’t understand what you are saying," I hissed.

"Oh," he chuckled, "but I think you do."

And then he stepped forward, his voice darkening, filling the room with weight.

"Why do you think you’ve struggled so much in this realm? Why do you think your wolf form wouldn’t come to you when you needed it? Why, when you did shift, did you feel something burning in your veins that didn’t belong to you?"

A faint buzz started in my head, growing louder.

"Because," he said softly, stepping close enough that I could see the strange shimmer in his irises, "you are not just a wolf, my dear."

I shook my head. "You’re lying—"

"You," he whispered, "are the Moon Goddess herself."

Everything stopped.

No, no, no—

"Impossible," I choked out. "The Moon Goddess is—"

"Dead?" he finished for me. "Vanished? Forgotten? No, little one. You are her. Sealed into mortal flesh long ago. That’s why the power tries to burst from you whenever you lose control. It’s not that your wolf is locked away... it’s that it’s been hiding the truth all this time."

I staggered back, hitting the edge of the divan behind me. My knees gave out. "No."

"Yes," he said simply. "And now that you’re here, that power will be mine."

Lucas let out a sharp curse and drew his sword, but before he could move, soldiers burst into the room, blades drawn. "Take him," the King ordered. "Gently. We wouldn’t want to damage the merchandise."

Two guards restrained Lucas, one gripping each arm, twisting painfully behind his back. He fought them, face twisted with rage—but when he looked at me, it was heartbreak.

"I didn’t know," Lucas breathed, staring only at me. "I didn’t know what you were. If I’d known—"

"It doesn’t matter now," I said quietly, throat burning. "You already betrayed me."

His expression broke, the fight going out of him all at once.

The King looked amused at our little tragedy. "Oh, don’t worry, Goddess. You won’t have to suffer betrayal much longer. Soon, you’ll be exactly what you were always meant to be: mine."

I shook my head weakly. "I’ll never—"

"Oh, but you will," he said softly, stepping around me. "Because I’ve spent centuries preparing for your arrival."

I looked wildly at Lira, hoping for some flicker of memory, some spark of the girl I once knew.

Nothing.

Just soft, trusting eyes gazing up at the King.

"Why?" I whispered bitterly.

"Because," he said calmly, "I needed leverage. And nothing motivates a fool like love. I used Lucas’s weakness. And soon enough..." His smile sharpened. "I’ll use yours."

His hand extended, fingertips glowing faintly silver, power humming beneath his skin. "Sleep, my Goddess."

And the world tilted.

I fought it—I fought—but the magic slid through my defenses like a serpent, coiling around my mind, dragging me under into that warm, black ocean again.

As the world faded, the last thing I heard was Lucas screaming my name.

And I didn’t know if I’d ever wake up again.

Inside Athena’s Mind.

It was like floating underwater—except there was no surface, no air, no direction. Only colors bleeding together, soft whispers echoing around her like waves bouncing off distant cliffs.

"You’re safe here, my daughter..."

That voice again. The one that sounded like velvet and knives. The one calling her daughter. She should feel warmth at that word. She should feel belonging. But instead—something deeper, older, screamed at the lie.

But the scream was far away now, like a memory trying to claw its way out of a locked chest.

Athena stood in a field of silver flowers that glowed faintly, moonlight dripping off their petals. The sky overhead was pure black—but not with stars. Instead, pale-blue runes floated in spirals above her head, symbols she almost recognized.

Almost.

The air smelled sweet, too sweet, like overripe fruit on the edge of rot. Something wasn’t right here. Every instinct told her so. But every time she tried to remember why, a soft warmth filled her veins, smoothing the edges of her thoughts like silk draped over jagged glass.

"Forget the pain. Forget the betrayal. You are home now."

Home? This wasn’t home. Where was home?

A flash—sharp and searing—cut through the haze for a heartbeat. Green eyes, narrowed with fierce determination. A hand reaching for her across a collapsing cliff. A voice screaming her name with a kind of desperation that cracked the sky.

Lucas.