Bleending My Capital
976 Words
Lira Ashera POV
"What the hell did you guys just do?" Maeva’s voice echoed in my head through our telepathic bond, just as Alpha Raven carried me into the house.
Her face froze in pure shock. If she wasn’t mute, I’m almost certain she would’ve screamed at Alpha Kael by now.
Kael, as usual, didn’t say a word. He just placed me on the bed like I was a rag doll.
Seriously?
Couldn’t he at least look before dumping my muddy, filthy wolf body on a perfectly clean mattress? I can't imagine how tired I'll be tomorrow.
a full day for scrubbing sheets and apologizing to Maeva. Great.
Maeva glared at him, her lips pressed into a flat line.
"Should we just kick him out?" she asked, annoyed in my head.
I gave her a tired nod.
And without hesitation, she shoved him toward the door.
“Hey! What the.... what are you doing?” Kael actually sounded offended.
He tried to step back in, but Maeva slammed the door in his face with the calmest kind of rage I’d ever seen from her. Her silence made it even scarier.
The house fell quiet for a second.
"What the hell was that crazy Alpha doing here anyway?" Maeva asked, already pulling out a basin of neutral water.
I was still in wolf form as she started cleaning the dirt out of my fur with a small towel. I didn’t say anything, just let her take care of me.
Once I was clean enough not to ruin the floor, I shook off the water, fur flying everywhere, then slowly shifted back into my human form.
And that’s when it hit me.
I started crying, burying my face into Maeva’s shoulder. My voice came out in a whisper. “I’m trapped again.”
Her body stiffened. "Wait... you mean you escaped earlier?" Her brows lifted, clearly stunned.
I nodded, sniffling. My eyes felt hot and swollen, and my nose was clogged like a broken sink.
“I ran when I saw a chance. But I slipped into a damn lake, and that stupid Alpha Kael pulled me out.”
It all came spilling out like floodgates breaking open.
Maeva blinked, then pulled back a little. "Girl... if that were me? I’d be so embarrassed right now."
What the hell?
Maeva freaking laughed at me.
Unbelievable.
Alpha Kael's POV
I couldn't believe that the cute-lipped girl's fellow inmate had kicked me out.
But it didn't seem ethical to barge in and disturb them inside. My prestige as Alpha was gone. So I waited until late at night, getting bitten by mosquitoes.
Until Gamma came up to me. "Would you like to stay the night here, Alpha?" she asked.
At first glance, it seemed like a reasonable question to try. "Yes," I replied.
"We've set up camp over there," she pointed to the east. "If you'd like, we'll prepare a special tent for you."
Good idea!
I followed the soldier along a path lit by flickering torches. The further we went, the more the surroundings changed.
open tents, smoke from the fire pits curling into the night, and voices murmuring low as people shared stories and food.
I had sent eighteen men to guard this border for years. And somehow, in this isolated place, they had built their own rhythm.
“Sit here, Alpha,” one of them offered.
I sat down, the warmth of the flames chasing the chill from my hands. Thick cuts of freshly hunted white meat sizzled above the fire. A few soldiers were still gutting wild chickens, while others were brushing on spices from small makeshift jars.
“You’re not eating the monthly supplies from central?” I asked. I always signed off on those shipments.
It's only barely mid-month. They should’ve had more than enough food in storage.
“Because of your visit, Alpha,” Gamma’s unit leader replied. “We hunted fresh meat to serve you better.”
“But the stock from central is never enough!” a drunken soldier barked suddenly. He stood, swaying a little, and his eyes looked glassy.
I frowned.
‘Why does field reality sound so different from the reports I’ve been reading?’
“How much food do you actually receive out here?” I glanced toward the small isolation house where those two girls were being held.
“And them—they never ran out of supplies, right?”
“We can hunt in the forest if needed,” the drunken one spoke again. “But those girls? They barely eat! They just sit there because they can't hunt!”
Other soldiers scrambled to shut him up. “He’s drunk, Alpha. Please don’t take it personally!”
“But is he wrong?” I asked calmly, scanning their expressions.
Silence. They didn’t know how to answer. Maybe they were afraid.
Afraid I’d punish them if I started digging deeper.
“You’ve done well guarding this border. It’s the government’s responsibility to feed you properly,” I said firmly. “So I’ll ask one more time. How many pounds of food did you receive this month?”
Their eyes dropped. One finally replied, “Honestly, Alpha… barely enough. Just about 150 pounds total. That only lasts us 10 days if we stretch it.”
I did the math in my head. Twenty men, three meals a day, for thirty days? Even on rationed portions, they would need at least 450–500 pounds a month. Minimum.
So what were they eating for the other 20 days?
The longer I sat there, the clearer it became—something in my government was broken. Someone was tampering with supply routes, skimming off the top.
A quiet, bitter thought slithered into my mind:
There’s a mafia bleeding my men dry while I sit in the capital thinking everything’s under control.
- Writer
