The Alpha Killed My Husband

7| The Alpha City

This is Vienna Av/ 567. The transfer is available to The City Express. A free transfer is available on 4l, 89, QK, and 77 by walking to AV/89. Please use your metro card or draw the tokens from the vending machines. It shall depart at thirty past ten. Remember, The City Express is a direct pass-through with no stops at district avenues. May the moon Goddess bless your journey!

The subway announcement echoes alongside some soothing music to fill the dreadful silence. The station is crowded. It is obnoxiously loud, yet it is not blaring enough to overrule the thunderous thumping of my heart.

The traffic is modest. It is not as overwhelmingly crowded as we are used to at Appy Lane. However, the ear-splitting chatters and chaos is somewhat on the same page.

The wolves here don't reek of alcohol or unbearably disgusting sweat. No one is stumbling out of a dark alley with The Divine clutched in the palms.

Instead, it smells somewhat misty in here—almost tantalizing. It's my first interaction with the normal world after almost a year. To say I am freaking out would be an understatement.

I observe the faces of my co-passengers. There is a family of five, three pups and a wolf couple, waiting for their train to arrive. The pups are being pain in the ass to handle. The mother, nonetheless, copes up with the trauma while her mate scrolls through his phone with a grin plastered on his face.

A few paces away, a couple makes out—almost gallops each other's faces in an intense and lustful passionate kiss.

Behind them is a small cafe—Mahgrib's— the sign board read. Unlimited books! Buy a coffee and get some credits for free. A big aqua blue radium board glitters.

'Watch it!' A firm grip on my arm straightens me up. I could not believe I was so nervous that I could not see the step. Had the gentleman not caught up to me, I would have been rolling down the stairs and lying flat on the marble floor with probably a couple of teeth missing.

'Thank you!' I pant hard. My voice is hoarse from all the excitement and shock. I have been gulping my emotions down like a starving beast throughout the evening and now all of it is flowing out with sparking glitters.

I have long known that the moment will come when I will have to push myself out of my comfort zone and do things I'd never thought I'd be doing. Ideally, I should have been prepared but I am not. Screw me!

'Appy Lane?' The marvelous creature for a wolf asks with a tilt of his head. His eyes take over the whole of my body and then fall on someone behind me.

It must be Avika. He studies both of us for a second. I try to ignore how that dog's eyes linger a little longer on our visible cleavage and how he gulps a horny saliva down his throat.

The ocean blue in his iris spreads its coldness. He seems to be contemplating something—as if he is trying hard to process an unbelievable set of facts, recently revealed.

He hesitates for a second before he offers us a polite smile. 'To Alpha City?' He asks, gesturing to the metro in his back that is ready to depart any minute now.

I move my head in what should be a mild nod as I clasp Avika's wrists and excuse ourselves from his uninvited interference. My instincts alarms me. It tells me that the wolf is bad news and we should get away from him as soon and as far as possible.

I do not want to waste a single breath talking to unappealing strangers. I have better things to concentrate on. Thank you very much!

'Thank you for saving me.' I speak past my shoulder and jog my way to the open door. I push Avika inside with a violent jerk before I slip in.

Not today, prince. Not today!

'Wait!' I hear him over. There are footsteps—quite a lot of them—and there are chatters. The subway is usually filled with merchants, sahibs from the port, and teenagers with heavy backpacks.

'He is following us.' Avika gasps, looking past my shoulder at the stranger approaching us. 'He might have taken the impression that we are from Tawaivada, going to some cliente. We should have changed. Hurry! He is only three seats away.' She says.

I sprint to my feet and scurry off to another compartment, dodging sharp elbows and piercing glares.

There are oofs and hump when my high heels stab some toes in the game.

'We were short on time. If we'd waited, we would have missed the train. We are lucky to catch it on time.' I huff, already feeling the exhaustion coming over. The train jerks slightly. The buzz indicator goes off in a corner. We are moving.

'Have we lost him?' I ask. We take a careful glance around. I let out a relieved sigh. The compartment is mostly empty except for a blind dog sitting by the fire exit. It's awfully calm in here and it's soothing. I was cherishing the serenity when a somewhat familiar face beams at me.

'Armaan Bhaijaan!' I moan in a mixture of surprise and fright. 'It's you. I thought we are being stalked. There was this Sahib, chasing us all the way to this compartment. I cannot tell you how absolutely terrified I was...'

'What are you girls doing in here at this time? I have heard something has happened to Luna Aaradhya. Mind telling me how a bee slips in a bug-free hotel? I have already smelled something suspicious when you denied Ayesha's financial offer. You were too keen on selling your bodies for a were-woman I have never heard from you before. My wolf sensed something. Now, I am certain. Tell me, who exactly you are?'

*****

There is an urgency in our footsteps as we navigate through endless queues and passenger channels. If I'd thought Appy Lane to be a horde of homeless hobos, the city station of Alpha City is a swarm of heads and walking zombies.

'You should not have killed him. In seconds, his body will be found and we will be busted.' Avika murmurs in my ear. She sneaks closer when a tall wolf passes through us. He is on his phone and appears harmless, but the paranoia in our hearts is keeping us on our toes.

'Armaan is a drug addict. They'd probably presume it to be an overdose. Relax and walk normally.' I reprimand my head maid in a stern tone. Her hyperventilation is making me lose my wits. I can seriously not afford it.

It takes us a couple more escalators and turns before we join the evening crowd on the main street.

Although, my internet history is stuffed to the brim with uploads of tours around Alpha City. I have read all about famous places, monuments, pride, and ancient marvels. I can recall the map like the back of my hands. If you want to know a rule, come test me.

Still, it feels like a foreign land and I could not know it better. I cannot believe it is part of the same Cape Comorin that I'd seen in Appy Lane, under the bridges, and those horrendous ports.

'It's so…' Avika fumbles with words. Her wide, soccer eyes are filled with curiosity. She looks jolly and off guard. Her breath comes out in soft sobs. Her expression resembles mine.

'Magnificient! I know.' I fill it up for her. The Sarp-Samrajya was lively but isn't any match to the Capital of Cape Comorin. The streets are clean and seem to have stepped out of magazine covers. The lights change shade at definite intervals to create an opera-like show. For the localities and regulars, it's pretty much normal. However, for the first-timer hobos like us, it's a seducing revelation.

Posh bright with sparkling and flawless white, and lighter shades of every soothing color available, it is a picturesque beauty designed exclusively for the residents of the Alpha, Betas, Omegas, and their mates.

It is the city of royalty. Overly developed with the world's largest Parliament, the tallest statue, and the deepest waterfall adorning its crown.

The infrastructure is unimaginable. The level of architecture is beyond belief. Whoever had a vision this great has to be a genius and remembered as the Crown of the History.

Its beauty is so captivating that I forgot all about the Luna, Alpha, and Armaan Bhaijaan in a blink. By the tour vloggers, it is claimed as a 'Heaven on Earth', and I will give it to them.

The floating flyovers with flashing billboards, fast speeding vehicles, and moderate sea breeze—the vast and silent ocean on one side and sky-high towers on another, it's like a miracle unfolding right in front of my eyes.

No wonder every wolf gives anything to live in this paradise, but for a serpent, it is no less than a hell. There is a definite and 'logical' reason behind painting the whole city light and bright—it is to detect the serpents crawling around the city with ease. The roads are slippery and polishes at regular intervals.

Apart from the light shadings, there are crawl detectors beneath the roads, laser beams, and huge mirrors to create delusions. I have been preparing myself for not only the visits but to stay here. Still, there is a significant difference between seeing it all on a flat screen and seeing it through my own eyes.

Even at the midnight with moonlight spreading a cold sheet on the surface, it's marvelous, magnificent, hypnotizing, and captivating. It's everything words cannot describe. Never in my whole life have I ever seen a place so developed yet so calm and inviting.

'I am going to make this our capital once we regain our throne.' I think with a small smirk which immediately falls at Avika's next comment.

'The wolves are living ahead of time. They really are intelligent and hard working, Sarva. Look at the flying taxi. Can we take it to the hospital? I have never travelled by air before.' I feel irritated at Avika's blunt admiration for the enemies.