chapter 26
A/n: I don't think I like this chapter. I might delete it and repost, but enjoy for now.
Ferial barely remembered how she made it out of the side office. Her grandparents were guiding her, one on each side, but her legs felt hollow, like they were made of paper.
The factory had fallen into a suffocating silence—every human pretending to work, every wolf patrol on edge, eyes scanning, ears twitching at every sound. The moment she stepped into the open space, whispers started, quiet but sharp, slicing through the air.
“Why was she with the Alpha’s family?”
“Did she do something?”
“Is she in trouble?”
“Look how pale she is…”
Someone reached out to touch her shoulder—a woman from the sewing line—but her grandfather pulled her close, shielding her with his body. He didn’t say a word, but his message was clear: Do not touch her. Do not ask questions.
Abdie pushed through the crowd before the wolves could stop him. His hair was a mess, his shirt stretched from where someone had grabbed him, but the second his eyes met hers, relief and fury flooded his face at the same time.
“Fer—what happened? What did they do? What did they say?” His voice broke. “Why are you crying?”
She didn’t answer because she couldn’t. The words were stuck in her throat. Her chest felt too tight, her lungs too small.
Abdie turned to her grandparents instead, frantic. “Tell me what happened. Tell me!”
Her grandfather hesitated—just long enough for the nearest wolf patrol to growl in warning.
“We’ll explain later,” he said quietly, gripping Ferial’s arm. “We need to leave. Now.”
Abdie’s eyes widened. “You’re taking her home?”
“We’re taking her away from here,” her grandmother whispered urgently. “Before something worse happens.”
Abdie nodded, stepping forward. “I’ll go with—”
“No you won’t.” A new voice filled the space like rolling thunder.
Everyone in the vicinity froze.
The Alpha heir was standing at the far end of the factory floor, breathing hard as if he had run back inside the moment he realized something. The wolves parted instinctively, forming a corridor around him. His eyes locked on Abdie first—dark, furious, unblinking—and then shifted to Ferial.
Her breath caught.
His emotions were still leaking through the bond she didn’t want to accept. Anger. Fear. Possessiveness. Chaos. She felt all of it crashing into her like waves, drowning her.
Her grandfather stepped forward, voice firm. “We are taking our granddaughter home. She needs rest. She needs space.”
The Alpha heir didn’t even look at him. “Ferial.”
Her heart stumbled.
“Come here.”
Her grandmother clutched her arm tighter. “She’s not a wolf to call like that!”
“She doesn’t have to be,” he said quietly. “She’s mine.”
Her grandmother let out a strangled sob.
Abdie snapped, “She’s not your property!”
The world seemed to freeze. Wolves tensed, claws half-shifting, and a growl rolled across the factory like thunder breaking.
The Alpha heir didn’t roar. He didn’t shout. His voice came out low and deadly.
“If you speak for her one more time, I won’t just warn you. I will act.”
Abdie went pale but didn’t back down. “I’m not leaving her alone with you.”
“You won’t be with her,” the Alpha heir said. Then, after a beat, his voice softened—barely, but it softened. “But neither will I.”
Ferial blinked in confusion. “What?”
He stepped closer, this time slower, controlled.
“The Capital troops are already shifting into search patterns. Unrest is building along the border roads. Every human-grouped area is being inspected. If they see you with me—like this—panic will spread. You’ll be in danger. Your grandparents will be in danger.”
She felt his emotions again—frustration, fear, an old ache she didn’t recognize.
“I can’t have you harmed,” he said. “Not by wolves. Not by humans.”
Her grandmother asked, trembling, “What are you saying?”
He dragged a hand through his hair, exhaling. “She needs to leave here. Quickly. Quietly. Before patrols return.”
Her grandfather’s jaw clenched. “We don’t need your permission to take our granddaughter home.”
“No,” the Alpha heir said, locking eyes with him. “But you need my protection to get her there.”
A long, tense silence followed.
Ferial’s head spun. Everything felt too loud, too heavy, too unreal. She whispered, “Why… why are you doing this?”
The Alpha heir turned toward her, expression raw. “Because the moment I felt your panic spike, I almost shifted in the middle of the patrol yard.”
Her breath lodged in her throat.
His voice was rough, but honest. “I don’t want you afraid of me. I don’t want to drag you anywhere. I just… want you safe.”
Her grandmother swallowed, hesitant but hopeful. “So we can take her and go?”
“Yes.”
“But,” her grandfather pressed, “you won’t follow?”
The Alpha heir’s jaw tensed. He didn’t want to promise that. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight.
He forced the words out anyway.
“I won’t follow.” Then—barely audible— “Not today.”
Her heart twisted.
He looked at her again, eyes burning with something deeper than anger, deeper than instinct. “But you will see me again.”
Her hands shook. “I don’t want—”
“I know.”
The pain in his voice nearly sent her to her knees.
“Whether you want me or not,” he whispered, “the bond is real. And I feel every part of it.”
Her grandparents pulled her away gently.
The Alpha heir didn’t move. Didn’t reach for her. Didn’t command.
He just watched her with a helpless, broken fury as she was guided toward the exit.
Abdie rushed ahead to clear the way, whispering urgently over his shoulder, “Fer, whatever happens, I’m not leaving you. You hear me? I’m not leaving you.”
But even he went quiet when they stepped outside.
Patrol units were everywhere—lining the streets, blocking pathways, redirecting civilian groups back inside their designated zones. Wolves were shifting between forms, scouting rooftops, rooftops, alleys. The scent of tension hung in the air thick and sharp, like ozone before a storm.
Her grandfather held her close. “Keep your head down.”
Abdie whispered, “Stay between us. Don’t look anyone in the eye.”
Her grandmother murmured, “Just a little further. Just through the old weaving quarter and we’ll be safe.”
But as they moved forward, humans appeared at the ends of the alleys—standing in clusters, whispering, pointing at the wolves, the patrols, the aggression.
The unrest was already spreading.
And somewhere behind her—in the factory doorway—the Alpha heir stood watching her with eyes that refused to let go.
Ferial felt the pull stretching between them, tight, painful, unbreakable.
She didn’t want it.
She didn’t want him.
She didn’t want this life.
But as the tension in the district built and wolves began to grow restless, a terrifying realization sank into her chest like a stone—
No matter how far she walked,
no matter how tightly she clung to her grandparents,
no matter how loudly she insisted she wanted nothing to do with him…
She was already tangled in his world.
And soon, that world was going to come for her.
Whether she was ready or not.