THE ALPHA'S HUMAN MATE

Who would have thought the human race would go through such an ordeal? To be taken captive by creatures they had no clue existed among them as they managed to stay off the radar for billions of years. It has been close to a hundred years since the beasts took over, ruling after the humans. There were strict laws given to be followed and not to be broken, or a punishment much worse than death awaits any poor soul. They called themselves the shape-shifters, having the ability to shift from man to beast. More specifically, wolves. This ability also gave them immense powers like speed, strength, heightened senses, and the gift to heal ten times faster than humans. They were taller, and the men were more muscular than the average human male. With all these powers combined, the human race had no chance against them. The beasts didn’t bother holding back; they were deadly and brutal. After taking over the world, every captured human was either killed or given the lowest rank if found useful. The older men and women who were found weak, sick, or injured were immediately brutally killed. The younger men and women at the age of eighteen and upward were either taken to the whorehouse to be used as the beasts see fit or taken as slaves, where they are constantly beaten, sometimes to death. The little children were trained from a young age about what they are needed to do and what not to do until they reach the age of eighteen. They were the kind of horror stories told to scare off little children. They had successfully managed to infiltrate every part of the world, each part ruled by a leader they called their alpha. But all tribes and packs, as they liked to call themselves, were ruled by royals, just like how the humans had presidents. The Royals are the strongest among them. Rumour has it that each royal possesses a certain kind of gift, making each of them special. Her life had been bearable since she was able to get through each day with her head down, like she had been told. That way, she could avoid any form of attention being given to her. Despite the number of times she tried to adhere to the rule, that didn’t mean she hadn't been punished. However, she was able to endure it; as long as they didn’t try to take advantage of her, she could push through every day. That was until her life took a turn for the worse when she was assigned to work in the other part of the palace as his maid, which meant there was no way for her to avoid him. With the amount of cruelty the humans had to face, it was nothing compared to him, the worst of them all. They called him. Aurelius Veyron. My eyes were red and heavy, my breath cold as ice. I sat there on my small wooden bed, legs up, cuddling tightly to my body as I struggled to stop the tears from falling from my eyes. I should be used to this. This wasn't the first time; I should have expected this to happen. You would think someone who grew up hand in hand with death won't be this affected anymore when a friend or family member dies. But who wouldn't bawl their eyes out after losing the only member of their family they had left? Everyone I ever loved is all gone from this cruel world. I had no parents, no siblings, and now no Liora. When I found Liora’s dead body, I was numb for a moment. Doing nothing, feeling nothing. I couldn't say anything; I just stood there, staring at her cold, naked body lying on the floor after being r***d countless times and left to die with no remorse. That had been six days ago. No matter how many times I wanted to scream my lungs out, I couldn't. We were told to carry on with our work like nothing had happened, like a young girl no less than eighteen wasn’t brutally r***d by their kind and left bleeding out with no care. The guards had taken her body and dumped it in one of their old cells, not caring to give her a befitting burial. After four days of her body rotting in the cold, dirty cell alone, it was given back to us to do as we saw fit. So, the younger maids gathered around, giving her a small, simple burial. That was the day before today. Yet, I still wasn’t able to cry. Even when they laid her in the ground, there were no tears. Even when the sand was used to cover up her body, no tears. When the maids gathered around to sing a final farewell like they did for every human that has passed away, helping them into the promised land, still no tears. So, when I woke up in the early hours of the morning, shaken within my wits, with tears falling from my eyes in a hasty manner, I knew it had finally hit me. I was all alone in this world. There were other humans like me, but none of us were that close, and we had to learn from a young age to be wary of them as well. As they won't think twice about putting you under the bus if it means getting a tiny bit of privilege from the beast or escaping any form of punishment. Drying my tears, I knew it was time for me to get up from the bed before the head maid got to the kitchen. Madam Celeste was like them, a beast. You might be wondering if she was a beast; then why work as a maid with the humans? It's simple. The beasts are divided into five different ranks. Firstly, the low ranks, born from both families without a hint of nobility in their blood. They work alongside the humans but with much better privileges than we humans could ever have. The average beast: They are, like the commoners, born with at least blood from one noble parent. Then there are the upper class. Unlike the commoners, both parents are from a noble bloodline, giving them an upper hand in politics and the like. Fourthly, the chosen ones. They are specially selected by whom they call the moon goddess, making them leader of their pack. They were also called alphas of a pack, having one of the highest positions in the bestiary. But they were nothing compared to the Royals. They had said to each possess a unique gift, making them more special than the rest. And there was him. The stories of his infamous accomplishment spread across the world, even to the maids, and it was anything but pleasant. He was a monster. The devil beast, like his people called him. I was fortunate not to have crossed paths with him and pray it remained so. It's true that I work as a maid in the palace, but the palace was divided into two separate buildings. One was for the king, while the other was where some royals stayed, and fortunately that was where I worked. I wasn't saying they weren't brutal, but they were a better fit than that of the king. Pushing my thought aside, I walked over to the small bowl of water beside my bed, washing the dried tears off my face. I changed into an old, ruined maid dress. Tying my hair up into a bun before putting on my worn-out slippers. Walking out of the room, I walked through the castle corridor to the back door, leading to the kitchen, where the rest of the maids stood. Puffing out a breath when I realised I had gotten there in a matter of time before Madam Celeste. I stood in line with the other maids, as we all waited for the head maid to make her way into the kitchen. No one said a word, our breath hectic, our body too weak to even utter a word. We heard a heavy footstep, stomping the ground like always. We all stood rooted in our spot, heads bowed down, as the head maid, Madam Celeste, made her way into the kitchen. It was part of the law given to us humans; we were not allowed to look into their kind’s eyes without being given permission, no matter their rank. “Heads up,” the head maid ordered coldly, and we all obeyed, raising our heads like we were being controlled. No one uttered a word; it was dead silence in the kitchen, like a graveyard. I laughed inwardly at the irony of it; after all, this was no different. “There will be a routine change starting from tomorrow. I expect you all to be here thirty minutes earlier than usual, or there will be repercussions,” she said sternly, with no hint of emotion on her face. Her eyes held nothing but hate for my kind; her height towered over ours, gazing down at us like we were nothing but dirt on her shoe. To think, in the same situation, she would have a little compassion for us, but it was all wishful thinking. “Have I made myself clear?” The head maid barked, purging me of my thoughts. “Yes, Madam Celeste,” we all yelled out as loudly as we could, our gazes anywhere but hers. “Good.” She said after some time. “Now scram off your mice. Have breakfast and get to work.” She concluded, stomping off, mumbling to herself. “I don’t know why the king won't just finish them off; they are nothing but pieces of rats.” Those were her words before she left the kitchen. When we were sure she was a safe distance away from the kitchen, I could hear the maid around release a breath of relief as they gathered in twos and threes, talking about the routine change and how they dreaded it. Once a year, there was a routine change done on both sides of the palaces. Those who were lucky remained here, at this side of the palace, but those who weren't fortunate enough were sent to the other side of the palace. I heaved out a sigh, looking around the familiar but lonely kitchen. After my family died ten years ago, my dad was in charge of the stable. When the king's favourite horse had gone missing, my dad was instantly blamed for it, even though he wasn't on shift at that time. He was, after all, a mere human and an easy enough scapegoat. He was immediately taken to the dungeon, where he was tortured for being careless with the King’s property. They released him weeks later, but his weak body wasn’t able to recover from the injury, and he died from it. My mother couldn't handle the pain of losing the one she loved, even though she had me and my brother Caelan. She ended up killing herself. It hadn't been weeks since our parents were both laid to rest when my brother Caelan was deployed to the east side of the world. Only for me to receive news about him being dead months later. That had been a dreadful year for me, knowing I was the only one of my family left alive. I admit, I had thought of many ways to end my life. To put an end to whatever misery is in this world, then I would be reunited with my family. Liora was the one who helped me, saved me and did everything possible to make me not feel alone. We became the best of friends, keeping each other company, and she was gone too, leaving me alone, all over again.