chapter 25
Ferial felt her body go numb the moment the Alpha heir said those words—as if the air had been sucked out of the entire factory, leaving her standing inside a collapsing vacuum.
Every pair of human eyes darted between the towering wolf prince and the trembling girl he was staring at like she was the only person in the vicinity.
Abdie stepped in front of her out of instinct, his arm coming up defensively, but the Alpha heir didn’t even spare him a glance. His attention was fixed on her, burning, unblinking, furious.
“Move,” he growled.
“No,” Abdie said, voice shaking but steady. “She’s not going anywhere alone.”
A ripple moved through the wolves in the room—shock, offense, the scent of rising aggression. Humans didn’t say no to an Alpha heir. They didn’t even think the word no in his presence.
The Alpha heir took one slow step forward, eyes dropping to Abdie’s hand on her arm. When he lifted his gaze again, it was lethal.
“I warned you about touching her.”
Abdie swallowed hard. “I don’t care what you warned. She’s my best friend since we were born. I won’t let you drag her off.”
“You won’t be able to stop me,” the Alpha heir said calmly, almost softly—too softly, the kind of softness that hid teeth.
That softness made Ferial’s knees buckle.
The Alpha Supreme stepped up beside his son, his expression as unreadable as carved stone. “Ferial will come, yes—but she will not be harmed and neither will her friend be harmed.”
That didn’t comfort her. Wolves didn’t consider emotional destruction as “harm.”
Ferial finally found her voice, small and brittle. “Why… why do you need my grandparents?”
Both wolves looked at her, and that alone made her throat close. The Alpha Supreme answered, his voice cool and even.
“Because the truth has been hidden long enough.”
She felt the floor sway. “What truth?”
Neither answered.
Captain Rian barked orders, pulling the room back into motion. “Prepare the side office for discussion! Patrol Unit A—escort her grandparents when they arrive!”
Her heart thudded against her ribs, uneven and painful.
Abdie leaned close, whispering urgently, “Fer… I’m coming with you until they physically drag me away. I’m not letting you go in there alone.”
She stared at him and suddenly wanted to cry. He looked terrified but determined—utterly Abdie.
But a low growl rolled from the Alpha heir’s chest, and he stepped forward, glaring at Abdie like a wolf guarding blood.
“You will NOT follow us.”
“You don’t own her!” Abdie shot back.
Something snapped in the Alpha heir’s control. His claws pushed through the tips of his fingers. His pupils dilated. His chest rose in harsh, furious breaths.
The Alpha Supreme placed a firm hand on his son’s shoulder, grounding him. “Control yourself.”
The Alpha heir didn’t remove his eyes from Ferial—not even for a second.
“Come,” he said. Not to Abdie. To her.
Her stomach knotted as she stepped forward, barely able to breathe. Abdie grabbed her wrist before she could get too far.
“Fer… please. Be careful,” he whispered.
She nodded weakly. She wanted to hug him. She wanted to cry into his chest like they were children again. But there were too many eyes—too many wolves—too much danger.
The Alpha heir turned sharply, leading the way toward the narrow hallway that led to the side office. Ferial followed, her legs trembling. Two patrols walked behind her, blocking Abdie from following.
When she glanced back, Abdie was being held by two wolves, his mouth moving rapidly, shouting something she couldn’t hear.
The hallway felt endless.
When the door closed behind her, she was alone with the Alpha heir and his father.
Nothing felt real.
The Alpha Supreme stood in the corner, arms clasped behind his back, silent and observant. The Alpha heir paced once, twice, then turned to her with a look she couldn’t decipher.
“Do you feel it too?” he asked quietly.
She flinched. “Feel… what?”
He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low rumble. “The pull.”
She shook her head because she didn’t know what else to do. Her thoughts were noise. Her heartbeat was noise. Everything was noise.
He exhaled slowly, frustration flickering across his face. “Every time you panic, I feel it. Every time you’re upset, it hits me like a pulse. And when he—” His jaw clenched hard. “—when he grabbed you, when he kissed you, it felt like my whole body was being ripped apart.”
Ferial’s throat closed. She whispered, “Why?”
He stared at her for a long, long moment.
Then—quietly, reluctantly—he answered.
“Because you’re mine.”
Her world shattered.
The Alpha Supreme watched her reaction closely, eyes sharp.
Ferial shook her head violently. “No. No, I can’t be. That’s impossible. I’m human. Humans don’t—”
“Humans don’t usually get paired,” the Alpha heir said. “But it happens. Rarely. Almost never. But it happens.”
“No,” she whispered. “I can’t be your mate.”
“You are,” he said simply.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “And I have been trying to ignore it. Trying to understand it. Trying to figure out why the Goddess would put you in my path.”
Ferial stumbled backwards until her back hit the wall.
The door suddenly opened, and her grandparents were ushered in by two guards.
Her grandmother’s face was wet with sweat and terror.
Her grandfather looked grim, pale, furious.
When they saw Ferial standing between the two wolves, her grandmother gasped and covered her mouth.
Her grandfather whispered, “Oh Goddess… it’s happening.”
Ferial stared at them with wide, broken eyes. “You knew. You knew something.”
Her grandfather stepped forward quickly, reaching for her but stopping short when the Alpha heir tensed.
“We didn’t know for certain,” he said desperately. “But we suspected. We hoped the Goddess would spare you.”
Ferial felt like she had been stabbed. “Spare me… from WHAT?”
Her grandmother began shaking. “From being bonded to a wolf.”
The Alpha Supreme stepped forward. “You hid this from the pack.”
Her grandfather turned to him, voice fierce. “We were protecting her.”
“You kept her nature secret.” The Alpha Supreme’s voice grew sharper. “You kept HER hidden.”
“Because humans who are marked as mates rarely survive it!” her grandfather snapped. “They are taken. They are changed. They are dragged into a world that destroys them!”
Ferial felt her chest tie into knots.
“Stop!” she cried, voice breaking. “Someone tell me what’s happening!”
The Alpha heir’s voice softened, but only toward her. “Ferial… you’re mine. My mate. And I came back because if I didn’t, I was going to tear apart half the Capital trying to ignore it.”
Her grandmother sobbed into her hands.
Her grandfather tried to pull her behind him. “You’re not taking her!”
The Alpha heir growled. “I’m not asking for your permission.”
Her grandfather stepped in front of her fully, shaking with rage. “Over my dead body.”
The Alpha Supreme’s eyes flickered with warning. “Do not provoke us.”
Ferial pushed past her grandfather, tears spilling down her cheeks. “STOP! All of you!”
Everyone froze.
She took a breath, then another, her voice trembling. “I don’t… want this. Any of it. I never asked for it. I don’t want to belong to anyone. I don’t want to be dragged into a world of wolves, politics, violence—I don’t want it!”
Her grandmother let out a broken cry.
Her grandfather whispered her name like a prayer.
The Alpha heir’s expression shifted—not anger, not irritation, but something raw and wounded.
“You think I wanted this?” he asked quietly. “You think I wanted a human mate? You think I wanted this complication?”
His voice cracked.
“But I feel you,” he said. “Every moment. Every emotion. Every fear. You pull at me without even trying.”
She shook her head, sobbing. “I’m scared.”
His jaw tightened. “So am I.”
The door burst open again and Captain Rian rushed in. “Alpha! Patrols reported movement near the border roads. Humans gathering. Possible unrest.”
The Alpha Supreme straightened instantly. “We’re leaving. Now.”
The Alpha heir looked at Ferial one last time, something desperate flickering in his eyes.
“This isn’t finished.”
Then he turned and stormed out with his father, leaving the room heavy with shock, despair, and something she didn’t want to name.
Her grandparents rushed to her as she collapsed into their arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Outside, the wolves began barking orders.
Inside, Ferial’s world fell apart.
Because now she knew the truth.
And there was no going back.