My Human

Tessa's POV

I lay tense in my single bed, occasionally glancing towards a snoozing Erin from across the room - whose presence would often offer comfort amongst the damp atmosphere which was currently battering itself against the windows from the outside.

At least I wasn't alone during these hellish storms...

As I glance back at the window for the second time, hearing another crackle of thunder ripple throughout the dark night, I shiver a little at the thought of being stuck outdoors on a night like this.

It was times like these in which I would often remind myself just how thankful I was for my Mothers decision to surrender and follow the new laws of the beast. For if we hadn't, we wouldn't have lasted a single night out in those drastically changing, severe weather conditions.

We would've been left out in the wild to rot - trying to either survive on our own or avoid being captured and killed as rebels - neither of which would've suited our situation.

At the mere age of twelve, my mother knew that there would be no other way other than to give ourselves up and to surrender to the plain and simple truth of the war... that they had won.

The beasts were simply unbeatable.

Not only in smarts, but mostly in sheer dominance and strength against us humans. The real fact was, that we were set up to lose right from the very start of the war - it was simply a no brainer.

It was a fate brought upon us by the humans themselves - since we did used to coexist for many years with the werewolves - that was until the greed of mankind completely took over and crossed the line with the creatures...

One thing lead to another with our leaders and before we knew it, the beasts came at us full force, killing thousands of those who even dared to fight them back.

My Mom was smart though, and knew what we had to do in order to keep our lives... even if that meant surrendering to the wolves completely.

But I guess one of the benefits of the wolves being in charge now was, that they needed us just as much (if not more) than what we needed them in order to survive. Their female wolves were almost extinct, due to a deadly virus targeting them over the years, which only left one other option for them in order to save their own kind…

To pair up and mate with us humans!

Luckily for us, rumour has it, that if we behave and do exactly as we are told - our lives with a male can only change for the better - bringing vast comfort, protection and riches for as long as we shall live.

But the key part to that statement was the 'if we behave' - in which would only determine our fate.

It was well known that the wolves had tricky tempers which could be set off completely by the simplest of mistakes. If we so dared as to even piss off any of the males - the probable chance would be that we wouldn’t live to see another day...

That's all we were ever taught here on the campus - good behaviour and cooperation means a good life and bad behaviour and zero cooperation would probably result in death or extreme torturous abuse in which no female wanted to endure.

We had been warned from a young age, and as far as I knew, they were fair creatures as long as we could keep them happy and so with that, I tried to keep a positive mind.

That's exactly what this campus is for - to teach and prepare us as much as humanly possible before we move in to a life with a partner.

I had so far spent five years here, learning and preparing for my own judgement day - in which was now fast approaching and could fall on any chosen day that suited the males as of tomorrow!

It saddened me though, to glance over at my best-friend Erin asleep in her bed, knowing that unless we both are selected by males of the same sector, the chances are that we could be split up and never see one another again...

Erin was my rock here, being my one and only loyal friend since many of the other females in our campus were bitchy and often cruel to us both at times.

I couldn't quite imagine living somewhere else across the country without Erin or even my Mom for that matter!

I'll miss them terribly...

When the season begins tomorrow, the males are set to travel around the country to visit the eligible humans held at each campus (meaning the ones seventeen, eighteen or older in which are still single and ready for pairing).

The single beasts travel around in groups yearly - staying together in their own packs before rotating from area to area in search of their chosen human - someone who ticks all of the boxes on what they desire for a lifelong partner.

Growing up, before they took over, It was always just me and my Mom and despite us always knowing about the wolves... we made sure to keep our distance and to be respectful to them.

So far, we hadn't encountered many of the males during our time here either and had only really seen them in passing when they would come on the judgement days of previous years - when we were still too young to participate.

I often didn’t mind living here on campus either, since the good thing about coming to this place was that I could still visit my Mom every fortnight.

The agreement was that if we surrendered without trouble, I would be permitted to stay in touch with her until my final day here when I am selected - and so far, they had kept their end of the agreement for many years.

At the beginning, my Mom was deemed as being too old to be eligible to take the place of a mate and therefore she was placed to work in one of the nearby pack towns.

Currently, she works in a cafe just short of an hours drive away, where the owner is kind and she has friends there to make each day pleasant for her. She was also given a small apartment - fully furnished with everything she needs along with regular pay from her job.

My Mom was living proof that the beasts were, in fact, fair to us as long as we followed their rules and complied with the way in which they wished to run things these days.

Apparently, whenever I am picked by a male, they will be obliged to pay out money to my family too (which for me only consists of my Mom) as a thank you for our service and to ensure that she is taken care of fully in my absence.

As a result though, she won't be guaranteed to ever see me again... which breaks my heart to even think too much about.

"Tessa? Why aren't you asleep yet? We need to get up early tomorrow..." I turn my head to find Erin as she pushes herself up on to her elbows - eyes barely open in her half asleep state.

Erin, like me, was an only child who wasn't fortunate enough to have any family left after the war many years ago. Instead, Erin would regularly attend my visits with my Mom where she would be treated like a daughter all the same.

As a result of Erin not having parents, she was taken in by the staff here and was raised here in the facility in order to give her the best shot at survival and luckily, we had been roommates since day one!

"The storm... every time I doze off, it wakes me back up again." I complain, watching as she turns her head to view the soaked window with the wind whistling violently from outside it - the trees still shaking and the sounds of their fine branches snapping.

"Oh I see... I didn't even hear it..." Erin shakes her head slightly with a scoff, causing me to giggle at her.

As her lifelong roommate, I can confirm that she was an extremely deep sleeper who would often sleep talk or even walk on the odd night...

The uncontrollable habit was something we both regularly worried over though, thinking about the day when she would be selected by her given male.

Would it bug him? Or will he understand that it's just a part of who she is? We agreed that it would be best for her to inform any of the men interested in her right from the start so that they could decide from there if it would irritate them or not to avoid her being punished down the line...

"You should sleep Tessa! You never know when they will come, and you don't want dark circles hanging under your eyes when they do!" Erin jokes, releasing another yawn...

But before I could utter another word in response, the horrific orange light hanging above our bedroom door begins to flicker to life - before the familiar bellowing siren soon follows suit.

"Not now!" Erin groans loudly, as my eyes grow wide - glancing back at the window which was still displaying the current storm.

I dart upright, as Erin does the same, knowing that we don't have much time to pull on some warmer clothes along with appropriate footwear for the weather...

It was the evacuation alarm - the very alarm that nobody wishes to go off in such conditions - yet this wasn't a first time either that they had done this type of thing to us!

"Why this again?!" Erin mumbles out in a panic, as we scamper around the room like rats to find some appropriate clothes to wear...

"Come on Erin! You know what happens to those who don't get out of here quick enough!" I rush her, pulling on a large hoodie and joggers as she finally finds a jacket to pull over herself.

Last time the alarm went off, five girls were punished due to taking too long to exit the accommodation buildings...

We weren't supposed to waste time changing or finding warm clothes and instead - we were expected to exit as is - which nobody stuck to for their own sakes of keeping warm and dodging the flu from out there!

Instead, everyone would rush to find shoes and clothes, leaving less time to actually get downstairs and outside to make it for the line up.

"Ok I'm ready!" Erin confirms, before I grab her hand in mine and rush us out in to the bustling corridors.

It was all girls aged seventeen and eighteen in our building - all of which were eligible now to be selected as mates by the male beasts.

We had dealt with this alarm many times before now, which only made the staff tougher on us just to prove a point and to help avoid anyone stepping out of line.

It was a mere reminder of who was in charge…

"Ow!" Erin suddenly cries, yanking at my hand as she is shoved down on to the floor by a taller girl who pushes her way through without mercy...

My heart rate quickens as I pull her up to stand again, ensuring that we keep up with the flow of people exiting the building - the aim being to get lost amongst the crowd and to go unnoticed.

"Why are they doing this tonight!" Erin complains, as I shake my head in silent agreement with her rants.

The chaotic scene intensifies as we join the sea of hurried girls, all scrambling to reach the designated assembly point.

Flashlights scan the corridors, emphasizing the urgency of the situation (however something tells me that it won't actually be that urgent - mostly just a crappy drill) but we comply nonetheless.

As we reach the outdoor assembly area, a cold wind cuts through the air, causing us to huddle together for warmth before the slashes of rain begin to soak us through.

The orange emergency lights cast eerie shadows on the tense faces around us. The staff members, clad in their authoritative (and warm) uniforms, make sure everyone is present and accounted for as they begin to tick off registers for each year group.

The headmistress, a stern woman with a commanding presence, eventually steps forward, her voice amplified by the emergency speakers. "Attention, candidates. Due to unforeseen circumstances, tonight's evacuation is a precautionary measure to ensure that we still have our full numbers before the arrival of a very important pack tomorrow. Remain calm, follow our instructions, and we hope to be back inside soon when everyone is accounted for!" She states bluntly, pausing to glance us over.

“The arrival of a very important pack? They seem more uptight than usual… I wonder what pack it is!” Erin mumbles from beside me, as I nod in agreement.

“Take this as a reminder of just how fortunate you all are to be here, living under the ‘Dawn Laws’ for If it weren’t for our new leaders, you would all be stuck out in this storm with nowhere to go!” Mrs Felicity continues, as her staff dart around and continue to sign off their registers.

So it’s confirmed…

Tomorrow could be the start of the rest of my life… for better or for worse!