chapter 21
The night crept in slowly, heavy and suffocating, by the time Ferial and Abdie realized just how long they had been detained.
The holding room was freezing- unnaturally so.
Wolves preferred cold; humans did not. The temperature alone felt like punishment.
Ferial rubbed her arms, trying to preserve what little warmth she had.
Her stomach growled painfully. Beside her, Abdie lay sprawled on the floor dramatically, groaning like he was living his final moments.
"How long has it been?" he mumbled.
"I don't know," Ferial said, staring at the cracked ceiling. "Hours."
"My soul has left my body," Abdie continued. "I am floating. I am a ghost."
"You're just hungry."
"Yes. Exactly. Dead."
No one had offered them food or water. Not even a drop. Not that humans ever expected generosity from wolves-especially not while detained.
The door finally creaked open.
The same wolf captain from earlier stepped inside, looking even more irritated than before, which Ferial had not thought possible.
He pointed at them. "Get up."
Abdie rolled to the side. "I can't. The Goddess has taken me."
The captain grabbed him by the collar and hauled him upright.
"You will be interrogated now," he announced. "But due to time... it will be through video conference. In the meeting room."
Abdie blinked. "Video call? So the Alpha heir and his father won't sprint down from the Capital just to interrogate humans over a chicken? I'm shocked."
The captain shoved him toward the door. "Move before I drag you."
They were marched through dim corridors lit by flickering bulbs, the smell of damp concrete lingering in the air. Ferial's heart pounded harder with each step.
The meeting room was large, cold, and empty except for a rectangular table and a screen fixed to the wall.
The captain pushed them inside and shut the door behind them.
For a moment, it was just silence.
Then the screen flickered.
Ferial's breath caught.
Two figures appeared on the display.
The Alpha Supreme.
And beside him-his son.
The Alpha heir.
Both sitting in tall-backed chairs, both radiating authority so intense it made Ferial's palms sweat.
They looked identical.
Not similar.
Not "related."
Identical.
The same sharp jaw.
The same cold, deadly eyes.
The same god-like posture.
Only one difference: the Alpha heir looked like he was made of fire-barely contained, simmering with rage-whereas his father was carved out of stone.
Abdie leaned forward, squinting. "Ferial," he whispered loudly, "are they twins? Why do they look like-"
"Abdie," she hissed, elbowing him. Huge part of her was irritated with him. He did things without thinking and she- she always followed because she was scared to lose him. Scared of not having her best friend who was more like her sibling.
The Alpha spoke first, his voice deep and controlled.
"You two are being questioned regarding theft of livestock and the disturbance caused thereafter."
Abdie raised a hand.
Like he was in school.
"Hi, yes, hello. Quick question. Why do you two look like you're both twenty-five? Shouldn't you- you know-be older?"
The Alpha heir's nostrils flared sharply.
His father stared. "Wolves do not age like humans. Also, the way you speak to your superiors is horrific. "
"Oh," Abdie said, nodding. "Well. That's unfair."
Ferial nearly died of secondhand embarrassment.
The Alpha heir finally spoke, voice low and vibrating through the speakers.
"Explain the theft."
His eyes-those burning, golden, furious eyes-locked onto Ferial.
Not Abdie.
Not the camera.
Her.
Ferial's skin warmed despite the cold.
Abdie cleared his throat. "Okay, fine. We stole the chicken.
Because the owner's grandson LIED about me and said I sounded like a slaughtered donkey when I screamed, which did happened week ago.
Which is rude. And honestly inaccurate. Maybe like a goat.
But not a donkey. Also, the anger had time to build up inorder to hit him with a surprise attack. "
The heir didn't blink.
His father remained expressionless.
"And after stealing," the Alpha pressed, "you cooked it. Ate it. And yelled about it."
Abdie put his hands on his hips. "Yes. Because some humans have chicken and others don't. Equality! Sharing is caring!"
Ferial covered her face.
The Alpha heir leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "That is not how this district functions."
Abdie grinned suddenly.
Ferial's heart dropped.
She knew that expression.
He was about to test his stupid, insane theory.
"Actually," Abdie said loudly, "I have a BETTER question."
The heir's eyes flicked to him reluctantly.
"Why," Abdie continued, pointing a dramatic finger, "are you OBSESSED with Ferial?"
The room froze.
The Alpha heir's expression darkened instantly-like a storm spreading across his face.
Before Ferial could even gasp, Abdie moved.
He grabbed her shoulders-
yanked her toward him-
and planted a fast, obnoxious kiss on her lips.
A quick peck.
Barely anything.
But it was enough.
The reaction was instant.
The Alpha heir ROARED.
The sound ripped through the speakers, rattling the table, shaking Ferial's bones.
His chair toppled backward as he stood so abruptly the camera jerked. His father shot to his feet, gripping his arm to restrain him.
"You," the heir snarled, voice shaking with fury, "will DIE for touching her!"
Abdie screamed. "FERIAL, IT WORKED!"
"ABDIE, SHUT UP!"
On the screen, the heir lunged forward as if he could tear through the monitor itself.
His father barked an order-something sharp, ancient, commanding-and the heir froze mid-movement, chest heaving, eyes glowing violently.
The Alpha stepped into the frame, blocking his son completely.
"This interrogation is over."
The screen went black.
The room fell silent, thick and suffocating.
Ferial was still trembling.
Not just from fear-
-but from the sound of that roar.
From how violently he reacted.
From what it meant.
The door slammed open.
Guards stormed in, grabbed Abdie and Ferial, and yanked them apart. Abdie kept screaming dramatically.
"I PROVED IT! I TOLD YOU! HE'S OBSESSED WITH YOU! I WAS RIGHT!-"
"SHUT HIM UP," one guard growled.
A hand clamped over his mouth.
Ferial barely had time to process before she was dragged down another corridor, shoved into a separate cell, and locked inside.
The cold hit her instantly.
Her stomach twisted with hunger.
Her lips trembled.
Her eyes stung.
She wrapped her arms around herself and curled up in the corner.
She had never been so hungry.
So cold.
So scared.
Alone in the dark cell, she whispered to herself:
"Why... why did he react like that?"
But deep down, she already knew.
And that terrified her more than anything else.
Also, Abdie was a total fuck up and he was royally fucking up her life. Like her granny always said- pick your friends wisely. Currently all her wisdom went right out the window with Abdie.