THE ALPHA’S VENGEFUL LUNA

CHAPTER 3: TALISMAN

FREYA

After Ava exited the room, I was left alone. With much time on my hands and nothing left to do, I decided to explore this room of mine for the time being.

I noticed a door at the other end of the room and cracked it open. It turned out to be another...room? But this one was different.

“Why is there a room in a room?” I muttered as I walked in.. This room seemed to have a lot of wooden structures and boxes and they were all empty.

Was it a storage for something?

The longer I stayed here, the more I discovered strange things. I ran my hands over the dusty wooden surface, scrunching up my face in annoyance as I rubbed the dust off my fingers.

“Seems like this room has not been used in a while...” I said to myself.

“Well, I would fortify it and turn it into my very own little room for practicing my spells. I feel a little rusty.” I said, stretching my arms and legs.

As I walked out of the room, the weakness I experienced from earlier fell on me again. I had thought the body I was in was weak, but this felt different. It seemed to come from somewhere.

I walked around the room, fighting the weariness that sought to overpower me. There must be some sort of powerful talisman somewhere, because my lineage was immune to the consuming effect of talismans, except if there were a lot of them in a place or if it was crafted by powerful witches themselves.

I noticed I felt weaker in some parts of the room than in others, so I walked towards the source of my weakness which led me to a mirror with some drawers. In one of those drawers were talismans of different types and sizes.

“There is no way…” I narrowed my eyes at the inscriptions on them. They were talismans made by the ancient druids. These were the only types of talismans that could weaken us.

How did Icarus get a hold of them?

I frowned, my eyes fixed at the abominable items. Why did they have so much of this in one place? Icarus must really be afraid of witches, because this was outrageous. I could only imagine the blood shed that must have taken place for him to have gotten a hold of these.

I turned sharply as I felt the presence of Icarus behind me. His strong scent filled my room, one which I could not ignore because of our b****y soul tie.

There he stood in his pompous and infuriatingly handsome glory. I scowled at him.

Why in the world would he enter my room without knocking? Just because he is the ruling alpha and I am his supposed mate does not mean he could walk into my room whenever he liked.

"Sneaking up on me now?" I asked, folding my arms underneath my ample breasts.

I caught Icarus's eyes lingering there a little longer and my frown deepened. He must have noticed that he had been caught staring, because he quickly looked away, clearing his throat.

"I was not sneaking up on you. ” He said, turning his attention back to me.

“So, what do you call walking into someone's room unannounced?” I questioned. He appeared to be irritated by my question and he huffed.

“I own every inch of this castle, Freya. I can walk in and out of any room and do whatever I like without any questions. Do you understand?”

Pride oozed from him while he spoke, and it infuriated me even more.

“The blessings of riches and power has filled you with so much pride. You would want to watch it though.” I said to him, “Even the strongest kings have fallen in the arms of a woman.”

He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

I shrugged. “Whatever you want it to mean. Now, state your business.”

My audacity made me wonder if I was the Alpha or him.

“I think you should watch your mouth, young lass.” He warned. “You are in my territory, and you would not want to overstep your boundaries.”

“Oh, please!” I waved him off. “I have been tied to a stake and burnt before, It could not get worse than that.”

I regretted my loose tongue after those words escaped my mouth. If only he would let that statement pass.

“You have been...burnt on a stake?” Came his perplexed question. “How are you still alive with no burns?”

I could sense him thinking deep about my statement and I knew I needed to find a way out of this.

“It is just an exaggeration, do not rack your wolfhead over it.” I said with nonchalance, hoping he would fall for it.

“But that reference...only witches get burnt on stakes.” Came his unconvincing reply. “Freya...are you a witch?”

“That is pretty accusatory coming from an Alpha.” I glared, heart dropping. “But I will let you believe whatever you want.”

“You did not answer my question.” He frowned, watching my every move like a hawk.

“Did you come here to accuse me?” I copied his expression, matching the frown on his face.

His expression suddenly softened. “No, but you are so strange. No background, no family. You just showed up here and you happened to be my mate. Only witches can play tricks like that.”

“So, what did you come here for?” I asked him, ignoring his statement.

“Well, I have something to say.” He said, but before he could complete his statement, I cut him off.

"Me too.” I said. “I would like to know where you got those talismans." I pointed at the open drawer filled with the talismans.

He paused for a moment, staring blankly at me like he was searching his mind for the right answers.

"Why do you ask?" He finally asked.

I rolled my eyes and that earned me a frown. Not like I cared. Was he stupid or was he just playing dumb? I decided to ignore his stupidity and reply him nevertheless.

"Because these were crafted by witches. Ancient druids to be precise. Did you steal them? Spill innocent blood to get a hold of them?" For every question I asked, I inched closer to him with an air of irritation which Icarus frowned at.

"Stop wasting your time concerning yourself over silly witches. They are all a myth now. I wiped every last one of them over a century ago." A proud smirk took over his face, one I could not wait to rip out from his full, cerise lips. "I can still hear their screams as their flesh burned before my eyes."

In that instant, memories of how Icarus killed my husband and children flooded my mind, and I was blinded with rage. My lips suddenly loosened as I let words fuelled by anger flow out of my lips.

"You are a b****y lunatic, do you know that? Are you that proud to be responsible for over hundreds of deaths? You have children's blood on your hands, and they would forever haunt you."

I jabbed my finger on his chest which barely moved him. He looked down on my finger, looking up to my face with his darkened eyes narrowed into slits.

“Whose side are you on? The witches or the werewolves?" He asked.

It was after those words had slipped from my mouth did I realize their implication. On instinct, I had defended my people, shaming Icarus for the great pain he had caused us.

I could see the suspicion shine through his eyes as he looked at me, but I refused to falter. I jutted my nose higher, pushing away every trace of fear and replacing it with rage. Pure rage.

"I am on no one's side," I gritted out, my eyes still locked on him. “But I would not sit or support your wickedness, Icarus. Alpha leader or not.”

He did not seem to be convinced, but I did not care. I was not afraid of him. Not after what he had done to my people. My family. I had waited over a hundred years for this opportunity to come back and exert my revenge, and not even him in all his immortality could stop me.

To my surprise, he grabbed my wrists, pinning them against the wall in his strong hold while he grabbed a talisman and yanked it over my head.

Instantly, my heart dropped. His cold gaze settled on me, and that same shroud of darkness and fear I’d felt all those years ago rose as goosebumps over my skin.

This was it.

Game over.

However, as the seconds ticked away with me locked in his grip, his breath softly fanning my face, nothing happened. I wasn’t burning up as expected. My heart wasn’t being constricted to a deathly extent.

The talisman wasn’t working.

Relief welcomed me, but I hid it, swiftly replacing it with fury.

"I can't believe you suspect me to be a witch!" I fired, my blazing eyes boring into his. "How dare you use your talisman on me?"

He loosened his hold on me, eyes clouded with confusion and a flash of guilt.

"I was taking extra precautions." He looked away from me, taking several steps back. "I have never seen a werewolf defend those evil beings in the way that you do."

His words seared my heart and I yanked the talisman off my neck, tossing it away from me.

"You have crossed your boundaries. I want you to leave." I ordered.

No werefolk dared order their leader, but I have had enough of his troubles for the day. His next words or actions could steer me towards me using my spells, so I had to save both myself and him.

“Freya, listen-“

“Out!” I bellowed.

Icarus brows knitted together and he kept his heavy gaze on me, yet I didn’t falter. After a second, the man rolled his eyes and stormed out of the room, banging it shut.

Well, whether he knew it or not, he had been this close to burning me to the stake for a second time.