chapter 11
The moment the Alpha heir disappeared into the chaos, the world rushed back in—hard, loud, and overwhelming.
Ferial stood frozen in the middle of the road, adrenaline flooding her arms and legs like a second heartbeat.
People were staring again. Not many, but enough.
Humans knew how to look without looking.
Curiosity pressed at the edges of their expressions before they forced themselves to glance away.
No one wanted to get involved in something that attracted wolf attention.
Especially not attention like that.
Abdie swore violently under his breath and grabbed her elbow.
“Come,” he hissed. “We have to go home before someone says something stupid.”
She let him pull her, legs stiff and shaky. Noise erupted around them—more patrol trucks, enforcers running, doors slamming, babies crying. Workers shoved into alleys. Factory girls on their way home clutched one another and hurried off.
Abdie kept glancing over his shoulder, jaw clenched so tight he looked like he might crack a tooth.
They turned into the narrow walkway between housing blocks. The sound of the main road dimmed slightly, replaced by the echoing chaos of the inner district—shouting, barking orders from soldiers, the distant thud of boots.
Halfway up the walkway, Abdie suddenly stopped, yanking her into the shadowed edge of a stairwell.
He faced her, eyes burning.
“What the hell was that?” he demanded.
“Abdie, I don’t—”
“You don’t know?” he snapped. “He just pulled you out of a damn lineup. He overruled an enforcer in front of everyone. He recognized you. He… he exempted you.”
His voice cracked like he didn’t want it to.
Like he was scared. Really, properly scared.
Ferial whispered, “I didn’t do anything.”
“Exactly!” he shouted, then caught himself and lowered his voice, though the anger didn’t soften. “You didn’t do a single thing. That’s the problem.”
She pressed her back to the wall, breath hitching. “Abdie, I—”
“You think this is normal?” he demanded. “You think Alphas go around telling their soldiers who to leave alone? You think they just… remember faces from some random inspection?”
Her stomach twisted. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“No,” she said quietly. “I don’t think it’s normal.”
He stared at her like the answer hurt him.
Before he could speak again, doors above them slammed open.
People ran into the hallway balconies, shouting down.
“They’re searching the Kolbies unit!”
“Is it the oldest son? I told you he was dealing!”
“No, man—his wife said it’s something else!”
“Lock your doors!”
The overhead lights flickered, buzzing loudly.
Ferial and Abdie jogged up the stairs to their floor. Their neighbors were already spilling out into the hall—some peeking through cracks in doors, others fully outside, wrapped in thin jackets or holding crying toddlers.
Ferial spotted her direct neighbor, Auntie Rachel, leaning over the railing with her hands on her hips like she was supervising a parade.
“Auntie,” Ferial said, breathless. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out!” Rachel snapped. “These wolves come bang, bang, bang—saying they’re looking for something! Or someone. Yoh, I don’t know. They won’t tell anyone.”
A man from downstairs shouted up at them, “They say someone from this block ran into trouble with the northern units! Maybe stole something! Maybe worse!”
Abdie muttered, “Great. Exactly what we need.”
Rachel squinted at him. “Why you breathing so hard? You look like you ran a marathon.”
“He did,” Ferial said quickly. “He was racing me home.”
Abdie gave her a look—really?—but didn’t argue.
Another neighbor couple burst into the hall, still yelling at each other.
“I told you not to contact your sister!” the woman screamed.
“And I told you she needed the money!” the man shot back.
“Now look—wolves are here! Wolves, man! You give that woman money one more time and I leave!”
“Oh, go!” he shouted. “Your mother already hates me!”
“Oh good—then she can help me pack!”
“Don’t test me!”
Rachel threw her hands up. “Hai, you two must stop! We already have wolves in the building, now you want them to check this floor? Control yourselves!”
“Control him!” the wife yelled.
“You see what I deal with?” the husband screamed.
Abdie rubbed his temples. “This place is pure chaos.”
A sudden thunder of boots shook the staircase. Everyone froze.
The patrols were climbing to their level.
Doors shut instantly. Babies silenced. Conversations cut off mid-sentence.
Abdie grabbed Ferial’s wrist. “Inside. Now.”
She unlocked their apartment door. They slipped inside, locking it behind them. Abdie pressed his back to the wood, exhaling shakily.
Ferial sank onto the old couch, hands trembling.
They listened as soldiers reached their floor. Boots thudded. Someone cried. Someone else begged. A door was kicked open somewhere down the hall.
Abdie paced like a cage was closing around him.
After several long minutes, the patrols moved upward again. Eventually, the building fell into a tense, breathless quiet.
Ferial leaned her head back against the couch cushion.
Abdie spoke first, voice low. “He remembered you.”
She shut her eyes.
He continued, softer now, “He didn’t just remember you, Ferial. He protected you.” The last two words were laced with worry, not relief.
She didn’t know what to say.
“I told you this isn’t normal,” he murmured.
“I know.”
“Ferial…” He sank onto the arm of the couch, gripping the edge. “If he keeps showing interest—if he keeps looking at you—your life won’t be yours anymore. Do you understand that? You know how fast humans disappear when wolves set their eyes on them.”
Her throat tightened painfully.
“I don’t want anything to happen,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be noticed. I don’t want him to—”
She stopped, trembling.
Abdie watched her carefully. “You don’t want him to what?”
She opened her eyes.
She didn’t have an answer.
Because something in the Alpha’s voice, in the way he said You shouldn’t be out, had crawled under her skin—tight and warm and terrifying.
And she didn’t know if she hated it or feared it more.
Outside, a wolf howled in the distance.
Inside, Ferial whispered, “I think something bad is coming.”
Abdie swallowed hard. “It already started.”