ONE

Werewolves.

These moon beasts came to rule about a century ago and have been in charge of every little thing since then. Humans are like slaves to these beasts. They resemble human, but vary from them in terms of strength, appetite, looks, height, weight, and desires. Everything a human has; they have it ten times more. It's to satisfy the cravings of the "beast" inside each of them.

In the country of Velkran, human men are used for three things:

Labour Roles- Miners, Farmers, Builders etc.

Security- Slave-Soldiers, Bodyguards, Enforcers etc.

Skilled Roles- Messenger, Medics, Record Keepers.

And human women are used for three things:

Domestic Roles- Care takers, Maids, Tailor etc.

Social/Political Roles- Entertainers, Concubines, Hostages etc.

Reproductive Roles- Breeding, Moon rituals etc.

All humans suffered, but women in reproductive roles had the worst fate. With female werewolves only coming into heat once every ten years, human women were used instead — little more than living ovens to breed the next generation. The werewolf gene always dominated, ensuring every child born this way was a werewolf. The practice was brutal, but effective for the wolves- fast expansion, strong bloodlines, no risk of human inheritance. This also made female wolves jealous, and would lead to worse treatment from them; specially if the human woman was brought in as a concubine.

But not many human women were strong enough to carry werewolf children, and so they suffered. The worst part was that, on rare occasions when a human child was born, both the mother and the child never survived more than a few days.

To test whether the baby was a werewolf, they looked for two things. First, a birthmark — something humans lacked. All werewolves, as part of their ancient curse, were born with the same crescent moon mark somewhere on their body.

Second, they checked for a reaction to silver. A small piece, like a coin, would be pressed to the baby’s skin. Silver didn’t kill werewolves, but it irritated them — like a painful allergy. If the baby’s skin turned red like a burn mark, immediately it was confirmed: the child was a werewolf.

Werewolves didn’t bother with human names. To them, humans were nothing more than tools — sorted by class, used as slaves, and discarded when no longer useful. Names were only used between humans, to werewolves, they didn't even exist. 

All humans were required to start working at the age of eighteen, and work till fifty. After fifty, they were free to do whatever they wanted, but that was the ironical part. Usually after fifty, all human workers were either dead, or so overworked that they would be bedridden. 

There was also a rule for every female to bear minimum of three children. Since population was scarce, and werewolves were over populated, they needed more human workers.

Alexandra's mother was a maid at a high-class werewolf's home. She cleaned the dishes and mopped the floors earning a menial wage. Whereas her father was a bodyguard to the Alpha of the country- Edward Anderson.

According to her father, Edward was possibly the cruellest Alpha to ever exist. He was ruthless to his enemies, treated his bodyguards like dirt, and expected obedience and loyalty from each member of the palace. If there was anyone who dared to rise against him, he would end them in the worst possible manner.

Once, many years ago before Alexandra was even born, a revolt was led by a famous man called- Thomas. Him and his group of twenty had managed to kill the guards around the perimeter of the palace, and were able to infiltrate the Alpha’s wing, until he was captured within three seconds of entering the building.

What happened after was worse. Thomas’s group was tortured by the Alpha’s army. They were passed around like playthings, used, abused, and beaten until they couldn’t remember their own names. Thomas however had faced worse. Edward Anderson had him chained to a wall, and each day one part of his body was ripped. One day it would be nails, the other hair, one day it was tongue. It went on for about a month, then Edward got bored and asked him to feed him to the animals.

This story still brought goosebumps on Alexandra’s skin. Her father scared for his family never dared to complain. But in quiet defiance, he taught his eldest daughter to hunt. By thirteen, Alexandra could track and catch rabbits, squirrels, fish, and even the occasional deer.

Over the years, she grew quick with a knife and precise with a bow. She especially loved the bow her father had carved for her with his own hands — not just a weapon, but a gift, a bond, a quiet promise of survival.

It was a scary world out there, so her father always made sure Alexandra was dressed as a man. Everyone who knew Alexandra's family thought the children included a son and two daughters.

Things were going well. Alexandra would hunt, and she would earn some extra coins to get more food for her family- her parents and two younger sisters.

Anna and Eva were only one year apart, but they were very different from each other. Not only were their personalities different, but so were their looks. Anna was a copy of Alexandra herself—same green eyes, and jet-black hair inherited from their father, whereas Eva was just like their mother- brown eyes and red hair. Surprisingly she had also inherited their mother’s delicate, charming and caring nature.

Alexandra had long accepted that she had to pose as a man in this dark world or everything she had would be taken away. She wanted a bright future for her sisters, and that was her goal. She would make sure they had enough money so that her sisters could marry rich and live a comfortable life, and not struggle like she had to.

Every single day, she gets up, brushes her teeth, washes herself in their small wooden bathtub, and then begins the process of her turning herself into a man. She ties two binders tight on her chest, then wears her father’s old shirt, his trousers that she had to stitch to get to the right size, her boots, and a jacket to button up everything else. For her hair, it was cropped short, but over the past year it had grown so she would from time to time wear a scarf over her head.

At exactly seven in the morning, she would be out of the house, hunting small animals and in an hour, she would be selling some of them to the upper-class humans, since no werewolves stepped in human villages unless they had to arrest someone.

By nine thirty, she would be back at home with the money, and the basic necessities she bought. Bread, milk, honey and some eggs. She had been trying to save enough to buy a goat, or perhaps a cow. This way she could sell the milk and earn some more money.

After that, she would take a small slice of bread, and head out to the woods again, this time with her bow and arrow strapped across her chest. She would then practice archery for some time, try to better her aim and then go back to fishing. If she caught enough, she would save some for home and sell the rest. Later in the evening, she would chop the wood, and carry it to her house.

Their house was just enough for a family of five. Small hall and kitchen, one bedroom for the kids, and other for the parents. However as Anna and Eva had been getting old, Alexandra was resorting to sleeping on the floor, and sometimes in the hall.

That was a typical day in Alexandra’s life. Her parents would be off to work, and her little sisters- Anna and Eva who were thirteen and fourteen respectively, would cook and clean. In the evening, Alexandra would also sit and teach what she knew to her sisters.

She had a few copies of second-hand books borrowed from her friend Billy who moved to a different village two years ago. She hadn’t been in contact with him since then, but missed him dearly. Billy’s father was a merchant, and had earned good enough money to send him to school. The school of course was for upper-class humans only. So, every year after Billy graduated, Alexandra would take his previous year books to learn by herself, and sometimes Billy would teach her.

This went on till grade eleven, and Billy’s father decided to move to a well-off village. Alexandra was hurt, but happy that Billy was going to a better place.

Alexandra and Billy had promised each other that they would come visit soon, but what else can you expect from sixteen-year-old teenagers? Alexandra wasn’t even sure she would be allowed to enter inside Billy’s village, let alone meet him.

Those moments with Billy became a memory, Alexandra was too scared to visit an upper-class human village, and Billy never came back. She had moved on of course; it wasn’t as if she had been crushing on him or something. Of course not.

And what good would it be, even if Billy had known about her feelings? She didn’t know what Billy liked. She was a boy to Billy, not a girl. Same gender relationships were not uncommon in human and werewolves, in fact werewolves were quite proud about their preferences. But Alexandra knew romance was not in the cards for her. She had to dress like a man for the rest of her life, and she couldn’t risk someone ever finding out about her. That would risk her entire family. And so, with a heavy heart, she had closed the Billy chapter.

It was a regular evening just like any other. The October wind was chilly, and Alexandra, her mother and her sisters were sitting close near the tiny fireplace, setting up dinner on the wooden table carved by her talented father.

They were just in their daily quiz of spellings when there was a loud knock on the door. One single, but very loud knock.

Alexandra paused and quickly got up, wrapping her jacket tightly around herself. She knew it wasn’t her father, because he would come straight inside.

She opened the door and found herself face to face with a werewolf. She knew he was one because her father had taught her how to recognise these creatures.

Shiny eyes.

Attractive features

Tall, Healthy body

Long, Lucious hair.

The man in front of her had all except the long hair. He had a hat on, and he wore a burgundy velvet uniform. He was from the palace no doubt.

“Yes?” asked Alexandra in a voice deeper than her own.

“Is this the home of Henry? Bodyguard to the Alpha?” he asked, his steel grey eyes staring at her.

Her heart was beating out of her chest. She nodded.

“I came to inform you that your father was killed. There was an attack.”

When Alexandra didn’t respond, he continued in the neutral tone, “Body will be burned with the rest. Orders from the Alpha.”

With that, the man turned around and left. No explanation and no time to ask anything else.