The Last Mate on Earth

Part 1 - Chapter 6

* * * Hope’s POV * * *

Exhausted and worried, I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I had spent the night tossing and turning, thinking about how the meetings with the prospects would go this weekend. My mind had kept drifting back to Hayden. What would happen once I had been paired with a prospect? Would I see him again? Would I get to spend time with him?

This morning would be the worst of all the meetings, the fear of the unknown and not knowing what to expect.

I raise from bed and walk to my bathroom slowly, trying to delay the inevitable. Once I am showered, parents Rita, Hannah and Liz enter my room. Parent Hannah gives me a tentative smile, parent Liz barely looks at me and, as usual, parent Rita is wearing a scowl on her face.

Parent Hannah works on my hair, working her magic as she turns it into a half updo work of art, while parent Liz gives me a manicure. All under the watchful eye of parent Rita, her lips pursed like she was sucking on a sour sweet.

I close my eyes as Hannah applies my makeup, a small amount of what she has told me is called foundation, blusher, highlighting and contouring. She handles various brushes, pads and pots so clinically that I feel she has done this a million times and feel like I am a patient in an operating room. The whole process is accentuating my features, while minimising any flaws. She applies eyeshadow and mascara, while Liz has now begun to paint my nails. “All done”, Hannah declares, and I open my eyes to look in the mirror.

She has braided my hair so that the plait looks like a headband, the back of my hair is in a chignon style with whisky tendrils cascading down. The makeup is subtle and highlights my face. My nails are painted in what Liz described as a natural French manicure style. The reflection looking back at me, looks like me but only more perfect and regal. “Time to get dressed. Come on, we do not have all day”, parent Rita snaps.

I slipped off my fluffy robe and put on the underwear that had been chosen by parent Rita. It is a pink fabric with pink lace around the edges. It is a lot prettier and a lot more girly than my usual attire, which is just basic cotton. Today I have no choice about what I wear, it has already been predetermined by parent, Rita and the bosses.

I look at the shapeless dresses that the parents are wearing today. They look like potato sacks from the kitchen with holes cut in for the head and arms. They reach the ground and are a horrid Earth brown colour. I find myself dreading what they have picked out for me.

A gasp leaves my mouth when parent Rita unzips a dress bag, before my eyes is the most beautiful pastel blue gown I have ever seen. It is a sleeveless A-line gown, with a plunging neckline. As I step in and the parents pull up the dress and zip it, I cannot believe how it celebrates my womanly curves. It is floor length, just like the parents' dresses, but the skirt is floaty from the waist, while the bodice is fitted. I look like a woman, and it feels strange. I twirl side to side, looking at myself in the full-length mirror and notice that parent Hannah is opening a box which holds my new shoes. I put on the silver-heeled toeless shoes and marvel at how my body somehow seems curvier and more womanly. What would Hayden make of me looking like this?

“You look stunning”, parent Hannah smiles, holding her hand to her chest as her eyes well up. She looks every part a proud parent. Parent Liz is smiling and I can tell that she is happy with how I look. Whereas, parent Rita, has a raised eyebrow and does not appear impressed at all.

I take one more glance in the mirror. This woman is not me. She is not the real Hope. She is the Hope that the world needs and the Hope that has the future weighing on her shoulders.

“Yes, yes. Very impressive. It is time to come, let’s go”, parent Rita snaps.

My heart rate increases as I realise that it is time. The penultimate moment that my entire life has been leading towards.

It is time to meet the first prospect and move one step closer to the survival of the werewolf race.

My eyes pop open in shock as I leave my room and see all the parents lined up in the corridor, down one side. While a line of guards occupied the other. I had not heard them approaching, which I thought was odd, as footsteps within the castle can normally be heard as they echo around the old bricks.

A lot of the parents have tears in their eyes, and express their thoughts on how beautiful I look, while shaking their heads in utter disbelief that today had finally come. “I still remember the joy at hearing her first words and now here we are. She is meeting her first prospect”, parent Anna sobs, earning herself a glare from parent Rita.

I smile at their comments, ignoring parent Rita. I really do not like her, not even a little bit. She is cold, rude and sinister. I walked passed the parents, who had in every sense been my parents growing up. Each with their own qualities and strengths. My legs feel shaky and wobble as I walk, or it could be walking in heels for the first time. I stood at the end of the corridor as we had practised a thousand times.

Taking a deep steadying breath, as my parents stand in position around me, a final guard so to speak, and prepare to make the final walk. The walk whose destination could change the future for us all.

Together, we walked forwards towards the lift that will take us to ground level. This level had been specially designed for hosting the prospects and for the meeting that was about to happen. I thought my stomach was going to leap out of my body when the lift began moving, descending to where my future would begin.

This was finally it, the moment I had been raised to succeed at. The ding of the lift as it reached its destination had me looking up at the doors. I was shocked when they opened to reveal a large male security team. I had never met the security staff before. My interactions had been strictly kept to only my fellow students, and only until they reached a certain age or experienced temptation. They tell me it is best to keep male and female beings apart once we reach a certain point in our life. That way there is no risk of temptation that could destroy the very hope they have built.

They will want to keep everything contained and controlled, they will want to avoid any unplanned circumstances. As I follow my security detail, I notice the little red light on the cameras and wonder what is being broadcast to the world. Or at least to those who still have access to a television. Will I live up to their expectations? I hold my head high and try to walk regally, as practised in my etiquette classes.

I glance at my guards regularly through my peripheral vision. For as long as I can remember, I have been told never to speak to them or make eye contact. Many of them have never seen a female and I could distract them from their duties. It could also give the wrong impression of me, which could cause people to lose their faith in what I stand for.

The walk is slow and tedious. We have to stop at so many doors and wait for the security team to make sure each area is secure before we enter it and pass through it. I have used this time to build their faces and make up stories about what their lives are like. What their personalities are like.

We approach what I assume is the final door, as the director is standing there waiting impatiently. He is tapping his foot with his arms folded, “The prospect is waiting”, he snapped as though we were late. Lateness had never existed in my world, everything had always been planned by the facility down to the final second. Perhaps he is nervous about the meeting, or even still annoyed about my behaviour that landed me in his office.

Director Philip used to have quite a bit of input in my life when I was younger and I remember him making the time to play. However, since I reached the age of ten, he has completely withdrawn and became stern and unforgiving. I sometimes wondered if I had done something to upset him. Not that I could ever ask him.

“Remember your lessons. We will be watching”, director Philip tells me, as he points to a viewing room that not only has a glass window to the meeting room, but also several televisions with the meeting room on their screen, each providing a view from a different angle.

Just as with every other milestone of my life, this will be recorded and aired to the world. They will keep copies of this forever, and if this prospect happened to be my chosen mate, today would be marked as an important historical date. The date it all began to change, the records played over and over again on repeat.

My whole life is a documentary to teach the possible future generations of our mistakes and to act as a warning to not repeat those same mistakes.

I can feel the pressure of this moment becoming too much, as my heart rate accelerates and my breathing becomes erratic. I take deep breaths, remembering my guided meditation breathing sessions, I take myself to my safe place and feel my body begin to relax. My safe place is the view of the ocean in Hayden’s company and him telling me that I can achieve anything I put my mind to. That I have more control than I know.

“I am ready”, I told director Philip, giving a firm nod.

“Good”, he says and gestures towards the door and turns on his heels and walks into the observation room, without even looking at me.

The man that I assume is the security leader, opens the door to the meeting room and the security personnel begin to enter the room. Several parents enter next, and then it’s my turn. I use my practiced walk to glide into the meeting room, the remaining parents and security detail behind me.

The meeting room is surprisingly light and has real plants scattered around the room. I remember my herbology class, the smell of fresh earth that nurtured the seed and grew the plant. Feeding it and sustaining it, the scent was soothing. There was a giant television on the wall that showed the view of the ocean that I enjoyed. They knew this view calmed me. Perhaps I was not completely in the bad books.

There are uncomfortable-looking armchairs around the table in the centre of the room. Occupying one of those chairs is a young man with an olive-skin tone. His black hair is curly, I cannot quite remember the name I need to describe it. It looks bouncy and I want to touch it. He has large muscles, and an ink pattern on his forearms.

As we enter the room, he jumps to his feet to greet me. I walk towards him, but something feels wrong. The room is too quiet, there is a tension that I cannot pinpoint. The parents look on expectantly, waiting for a spark, a connection or some form of magic.

I felt awkward as I approached him, extending my hand. “Hi, my name is Hope. It is a pleasure to meet you”, I told him, still holding out my hand for a handshake that did not appear to be coming.

“Jason”, he grunts, appearing more anxious than I am. He has sweat beading on his forehead, his hands tremble ever so slightly.

“Are you OK, Jason?” I asked him, taking another step forward.

How I wish this was Hayden in front of me, there would be none of this awkwardness. He would make a joke that had me snorting in laughter, and we would spend hours chatting away about everything and nothing.

“NOOO. NOT OUR MATE”, Jason growls, his eyes turning black and his body distorting. He seems to fold in on himself and there are several loud cracks. I blink and find that I am face to face with a werewolf.

An angry werewolf that growls in my face and whimpers. His eyes pleaded with me not to choose him as my prospect.

I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and start to drag me away, at the same time I see my security team pointing guns at the wolf. “LEAVE HIM ALONE”, I screamed. “He means no harm. He doesn’t want this. He just wants to be free. Please, let him free”, I sobbed, trying to run back to the wolf.

Some of the guards are shaking. Not many young people these days have seen a werewolf in the flesh. His trembling hand accidentally presses the trigger and he shoots the wolf. Jason howls in pain and anger, making the other guards switch off their safety and aim at him.

“NOOOOO”, I scream and somehow manage to break free of the hold that is restraining me.

I ran to the werewolf, which was Jason, holding my palms up, “It’s going to be OK. Can you turn back so that they can escort you out of the building and you will be free to find your mate?” I asked him, my hand reaching out to stroke his fur.

He leans his enormous head into my hand and whimpers. He appears to nod, and I watch as his wolf transforms back into Jason. It was mesmerising, it was magical and it was our gift from the moon goddess that we had disregarded.

“Thank you, Hope”, he whispers as he drops to his knees. “Thank you for understanding that we want our mate. Your mate will be a lucky man”, he tells me as he bows his head to me.

“Come on, let me get you out of here before the bosses decide otherwise”, a guard says to him kindly, handing him a robe to put on.

I remain standing in the same spot, watching them leave. This meeting didn’t go to plan, and the world has seen it. What would they think?

Feeling like a failure, I turned and walked to leave the meeting room and return to my bedroom. Nobody stands in my way or stops me. I can feel my tears building in my eyes, threatening to burst free and show the world my sadness. I mustn’t cry on camera.

Back in my room, I sat on my bed and cried. What if all the encounters are like this? What if nobody wants me? What if I fail to do the one thing I was meant to do?

My body shakes as my cries continue and continue. There is a gentle knock on the door some time later, and it opens. “Come on you. Parent Rita thinks being by the sea will help you and you know that I am not allowed in your room”, Hayden says, poking his head through the door while pointing to his feet to show he had not crossed the threshold.

My heart lifts at the sound of his voice and when I look at him my tears dry up.