The selection was being held in one of the large ball rooms in the palace. The silver marble painted wall gleamed, reflecting the golden hue of the large chandelier hanging in the middle of the room.
Fancy wall length curtains covered the semi-translucent window, leaving only the open doors as a source of natural light. Aria hadn't seen the entire palace, but the ballroom alone was an extravagant show of wealth. Wealth that her people worked for.
Gold ornaments lay around like rocks on the beach. Humans toiled day and night to mine them, while the Werewolves wore them around their neck without breaking a sweat.
Aria stood with her back against a pillar at the entrance, seething. Ladies and men from other provinces poured in, each one giving her weird looks. Her dirty denim jumpsuit looked completely out of place; it was a surprise the palace guards didn't throw her out at first glance.
The woman who stood by the door taking their names and provinces only eyed her worriedly before moving on to the next person.
"Come on, Aria." Prati tugged at her wrist. "Let us get a seat."
Aria could sense the girl's nervousness, so she obliged and let Prati pull her to a table at the far-left corner of the ballroom. Only ladies where in this room, still there had to be at least five hundred of them. Aria spent her time studying the designs of their dresses, while Prati and two other girls at their table came up with multiple hypotheses, each one more ridiculous than the last about what they would be asked to do.
A moment later, human servants came around to serve them their meal while werewolves mounted the stage. There were two men in long-sleeved t-shirts and slacks, and two women in simple dresses that showed off their bodies.
Prati and the other two girls, Jill and Freya struggled to find the right cutlery while Aria poked at the chicken like she expected it to come alive. When she was sure the chicken was dead, she scarfed it down with little care for the forks or knives.
At least she got a meal for the day.
"Ew," Freya snarled, her blue eyes widened with shock. "Could you at least pretend to have class?" she tucked her wavy blonde hair behind her ears casting a nervous glance at the waiter.
"Why should I?" Aria fired back between mouthfuls. She really was having the time of her life.
"She's your friend?" Jill asked Prati, eyeing Aria with the corner of her eyes. "There's no way she's getting picked." She added with clear disgust in her tone.
Prati squirmed nervously in her seat, playing with her food just like most of the girls were. Aria knew most of them were as hungry as she was. Most of them had starved in order to fit into their dresses, and others like her simply could not afford the luxury of eating whenever they wanted.
Aria wanted to let her know she in fact didn't want to be chosen but her mouth was pre-occupied with more important matters. Like gulping down the wine. She struggled to suppress the moan that bubbled in her throat, it was nothing like she had ever tasted.
This was what kept the humans coming back year after year. This was what they hoped for, she could see the hunger in their eyes, the hunger for a better life.
The werewolves dangled luxury like a carrot before their eyes to keep them working, but she knew they would never get it. She had watched her parents chase it for years, until they lost their lives in the process.
Nothing in the world would make her sacrifice her being to please another.
"Respectable citizens of Fengari," a woman on the stage spoke, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Her brown hair was pulled into a right bun. Aria could not make out the colour of her eyes, even so, everything about her commanded respect.
"Respectable," Aria scoffed in her mind as she reached toward the middle of the table for something that resembled a mixture of potatoes and chunks of meat.
There was a moment of clamour as people set down their cutleries in a rush, others pulled out mirrors from places Aria couldn't even begin to imagine. And then there was pin-drop silence.
Aria, cleaned sauce of her mouth with a napkin, struggling to hide her disgust at how proudly the werewolves stood, looking down on them. Like lambs before a slaughter.
"On behalf of the Alpha's of all the provinces and his highness, the alpha king, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all." She smiled brightly, irking Aria even more.
The sound of applause resounded in the room. She waited patiently for it to fully subside before she continued. "I and my partners will be your judges for tonight" she gestured at three other people who stood with her on stage.
Murmurs erupted in the room, even Aria was confused and intrigued. Usually, only one Alpha was in charge of the selection, alongside a secretary who took note of the people.
"I know this is a bit different than the previous years," this time she spoke over the noise. "And there are new rules too."
Prati's cold, clammy hand grabbed Aria's underneath the table. She squeezed the nervous girl's hand, in hopes of reassuring her.
The woman, Claudia as she mentioned eventually introduced the new rules as stated by the Alpha king. Every one was supposed to walk to the front, give their finest curtsy and state what they think their dream Fengari kingdom would look like.
In the midst of all the commotion a tall man walked in, flanked by many muscular men. His dark-coloured hair was slicked back with not a single strand out of place.
Even from the distance, Aria could see how defined his jaw was. His blue three-piece suit, matching his eyes, strained over his muscles as he climbed up the stage. "He is a fine man," Aria thought, following him with her eyes, just like every other girl in the room. "It's a shame he's a werewolf."
"That's the Alpha king," Freya whispered, earning a gasp from the two other girls. Aria suddenly felt disgusted at his very existence. She'd expected the alpha king to be an old balding man, but he only looked to be a little over thirty.
He sat on a chair in the middle, while the rest of the werewolves remained on their feet. He clapped his hands, declaring that the program could begin.
While whispers erupted from the nervous girls, Aria only wondered where she could find a plastic bag of some sort to pack the rest of the food.
She looked up eventually when she could no longer move from being stuffed with everything her hands could touch.
"Aria," Prati whispered, frantically tugging at her jumpsuit. "It's almost our tables turn"
Aria, who had not been paying any attention at all, looked around in confusion. "Our turn for what?"
"A speech on what we think about the kingdom of Fengari, and what we think would make it better," Freya offered with an eye roll, clearly not sharing in the nervousness of the two other girls.
At her words, Aria couldn't help but burst into laughter. She couldn't think of anything she would say that wouldn't have her head rolling in a matter of seconds.
"Table ten! Your name, your province and proposal."
Aria ceased to laugh at Claudia's words. Suddenly everything seemed real. Her life was on the line at this point, and the only way out was to lie like most of them were probably doing.
There were two problems with her plan. One, she absolutely detested werewolves. Two, she was terrible at hiding how she truly felt.