Chapter 3: The Ashed Talisman

The first notification that popped up on my new phone, after I'd forced down a tasteless meal, was from my mentor, Alaric. A post to the wider Mage-Network. 【My most brilliant apprentice is returning home!】 Beneath the text was a picture of a personally enchanted teleportation rune-ticket, bought specifically for me. A genuine, if weary, smile touched my lips as I liked it. Then I scrolled down. The next post was from Tanya. 【Mother, Father, my lost Pack… be at peace. The renowned Alpha Wesley himself is guiding me. I will be strong again, I will honor our name.】 My breath hitched. I tapped the accompanying image, zooming in. This was… my study chamber in the Pack's central den. The place Wesley had carved out for me to practice my unique blend of wolf-instinct and inherited witchcraft. But… where were my things? I had spent nearly four years in that room. It held rare trinkets and enchanted stones my parents had sent from across the sea, trying to bridge the distance. Most importantly, it held the Spirit-Ward Talisman my mentor, Alaric, had painstakingly crafted and blessed for me—a powerful charm for a young witch-wolf navigating a foreign pack. I'd moved it there specifically because Tanya had a habit of 'snooping' through my personal quarters in the main den. Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through my numbness. I didn't bother with a cloak; I just ran. I reached the den and strode straight towards my old chamber, only to collide—almost physically—with Alpha Wesley emerging from the hallway. Seeing me, he had the decency to look guilty, his gaze skittering away from mine. He'd once promised, under the full moon, that he would be the only one to guide me, his Luna, in the ways of leading the pack. But then came Tanya's 'suicide attempts,' the pressure from the remaining Ashwood Pack loyalists, the Elder Council invoking old alliances… He'd claimed he had no choice. He seemed to expect me to confront him, to yell with tear-filled eyes, to demand he fix it as he used to, to finally collapse into the shelter of his arms. I saw him subtly straighten his tunic, a reflexive preparation to catch me. Instead, I walked right past him, my focus on the door behind him. "Starling," he said, snapping out of his surprise and moving to block the entrance. "This chamber faces the Moonfall Glade. The view… it soothes Tanya's fractured spirit. You need to yield this to her. The healers say the serenity aids her recovery." Yield. That word. That excuse. It was a drumbeat of misery I'd come to despise. Over the past year, Tanya had uprooted the Moonblossoms I'd planted in the den's garden, replaced the hanging swing I loved, had my bonded fox-familiar 'relocated' for being 'too noisy,' and even altered the sacred symbols in our mating chamber. Every time, the answer was the same: "Yield, Starling. It helps her recovery." But why? I had never known Tanya before her pack's fall. My bloodline had no history with the Ashwoods. Why must I, the Luna, constantly yield? I ignored him and pushed the heavy oak door open. Inside, Tanya was on a woven mat, holding a perfect, balanced pose, her body coiled with a strength that belied her 'fragile' state. A medical marvel—a wolf with a 'shattered spirit' who never missed her daily rigorous physical training. "Where are my belongings?" I demanded, striding forward. Tanya slowly unfolded from her pose, a picture of languid indifference. She tapped a finger to her temple, feigning effort. "Oh… those old things? I believe they were discarded. You don't mind, do you?" "I do," I said, my voice tight, leashing the storm inside me. "Go and retrieve them. Now. Or I will bring this before the Elder Council for theft." "Starling!" Before Tanya could reply, Wesley gripped my arm and pulled me back. "Don't be unreasonable. Tanya didn't mean any harm. Whatever is missing, I'll have my Beta replace it immediately." He can't. When I'd chosen to stay with Wesley, my mentor Alaric, despairing that he couldn't watch over his student in a land of wolves so far away, had poured his own power into creating that talisman. It was a piece of his protection, a tether to my other heritage. It was irreplaceable. "A sandalwood box," I said, my eyes locked on Tanya's smug face. "With a Spirit-Ward Talisman inside." For a fleeting moment, Wesley's expression softened, a hint of the old warmth flickering in his eyes. He thought I meant the simple luck-charm he'd given me early in our courtship. "It's alright, my Starling. I can get you another—" He was cut off as Tanya, with a sudden, dramatic movement, kicked over a small waste-basket near her mat. A simple sandalwood box rolled out. "This? But it was empty. Just a scrap of parchment with some useless scribbles." I wrenched my arm from Wesley's grasp and dropped to my knees, snatching the box. My hands trembled as I opened it. Empty. The world tilted. "Where is it?" My voice was a raw whisper. Tanya shrugged, a gesture of supreme carelessness. "I felt a… dark mood coming on earlier. Needed to light a calming candle. It seemed as good as any kindling." Then, as if on cue, her eyes welled with tears, and she looked pathetically at Wesley. "Have I… have I upset our little Starling again?" Wesley's brow furrowed in irritation. He began to extricate himself from Tanya, a motion that might have once led him to comfort me, but he never got the chance. The empty sandalwood box flew from my hand, not at Tanya, but at the wall beside them, shattering into splinters. Wesley instantly shielded Tanya with his body, his face hardening with anger as he turned to me. "Starling! That's enough! You could have hurt someone! It's just a piece of paper! I'll have the pack shamans craft you a dozen more!" He moved to guide a sobbing Tanya away, throwing his usual command over his shoulder. "Go to our den. Reflect on your behavior." But this time, he stopped. He was accustomed to feeling my gaze on his retreating back—a look laden with a love that ached and a hurt that begged for solace. This time, he felt nothing. He turned. And his eyes met mine. There was no fire, no tears. Only a chilling, flat calm. "I will see Tanya answer for this," I said, my voice quiet but clear, carrying an iron finality that made the air itself seem to still. "As for you, Wesley… I renounce our bond. We are done."