Chapter 3 Ashes and Foundations

Chapter Three – Ashes and Foundations



Evandra

The forest seemed endless, a maze of shadows and silence broken only by the distant call of owls. Evandra pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders, though it did little against the bite of the evening wind. Every breath still carried the dull ache of rejection, like splinters lodged in her lungs.

She couldn't go to another pack. To cross a border without ties, without protection, was to sign her own death warrant. So the forest would be her prison-and her home.

Her wolf stirred within her, restless, aching. Don't let us slip, Sage whispered, her voice ragged with grief. If we lose ourselves, if we let the madness take root, we'll become nothing but a feral shadow.

Evie pressed a hand to her heart. "I won't let that happen," she whispered aloud. "We'll survive. Somehow."

It wasn't enough to just wander, to waste away in tears and agony. If she meant to stay alive, she had to keep herself sane, had to keep herself grounded.

So, she began to plan. She would gather wood, stone if she could manage, make a shelter. A house-not much, but enough to remind her she was still more than a broken wolf. If she let despair consume her, Sage would slip, and they would never come back.

Her hands shook as she gathered the first branches, dragging them into a small clearing. Each piece of wood felt heavier than it should, but each one was also an anchor. Proof she was still here. Proof she wasn't done yet.

As the moon rose higher, Evandra whispered into the cold air: "Who is she, Jalen? The one who took my place?" Her voice broke. "Does she smile the way I did? How long has she been your mistress? Does she love you enough to believe your lies?"

The woods gave no answer, only the rustle of leaves in the wind.

Jalen

Back at the Pearl Pack mansion, Jalen sat across from Chelsea in the grand dining hall. She was everything an Alpha might want on paper: beautiful, lithe, her blond hair falling in soft waves over shoulders as delicate as spun glass. Her blue eyes glittered with ambition as much as with charm. And her hand-resting lightly on her flat stomach-reminded him of what she carried.

Their heir.

"I was thinking of late spring," Chelsea said, her smile sweet but practiced. "The snow will have melted, and the forest will be green again. A perfect time for a wedding. For the ceremony."

Jalen nodded, though his chest tightened at her words. Wedding. Mating ceremony. Words that once would have made him think only of Evandra, of the vows they'd whispered under the moon.

"Late spring," he repeated, his voice low. "Yes. That will give the pack time to prepare."

Chelsea's fingers brushed his wrist. "It's the right choice, Jalen. The pack needs stability. They need an heir. You've done what's best for them."

He forced himself to meet her gaze, to see the certainty in her smile. He told himself she was right. This was what leadership demanded. This was what the goddess would bless.

"Of course you would say so, Chelsea. You've risen from an Omega to future Luna overnight," he shot out, with little regret. But then apologized when he saw the disappointment spread across her face.

He found himself comparing them, Chelsea and Eva. Chelsea was thin and fit with a slender physique, what most guys want, he thought to himself. Evandra was thicker, much heavier build. He had heard people call her names before, he put a stop to it the first time it happened, leaving the wolves whimpering and submitting to their Alpha. He loved that about her, though. She wasn't all skin and bones. She had something to her, and she was confident in herself. It was radiant.

And yet, later that night, when he was alone again, the silence pressed against him like a wound. He could still smell Evandra in the halls, faint but lingering-wildflowers and rain. He could still hear her laughter echoing through the gardens.

He lay awake, one arm draped across the empty bed, and wondered if he had traded love for duty. But was it truly love they shared? Or did their mate bond give the illusion of love and lust? The way his mind was trapped in this prison of doubt had him questioning if it may have been love or maybe the shadow of it.

His wolf, Blue, barked at him through their mindlink.

You.

You drove our mate away.

You rejected her.

You. Broke. Her.

He said it with such hatred that it made Jalen wonder if he would try to separate his spirit from him. He had never heard of it happening before but the anger pouring through his body from Blue made him think twice about it.

Would the pack or Blue ever forgive him if he had chosen wrong?

Evandra

By morning, she had scraped together enough branches to outline the frame of her shelter. Her muscles ached, her palms blistered, her night gown snagged and filthy. Yet something within her had steadied.

Sage stretched in her mind, calmer now. This will hold us together, her wolf murmured. This will keep us sane.

Evandra closed her eyes and let the warmth of her wolf wrap around her. For the first time since her banishment, she did not feel like she was drowning.

"I'll build us a home," she whispered to the empty forest. "Not for him. Not for anyone else. For us."

But even as determination lit her chest, a thorn of longing remained. She could not stop herself from wondering about the woman who had taken her place in the Pearl Pack.

The lucky woman with Jalen's pup. The woman who would wear the title Luna.

The thought burned, and Evandra's nails bit into her palms.

"She'll never love him like I did," Evie said bitterly. "And to think, he didn't even deserve it."

And in the shadows of the woods, with only Sage to hear, she prayed that they would stay safe, that they would survive. Cause there was no one to help them now.