Solstice Howl

04

They gathered all of us in a large group and put us in categories of age. How they found out my age, I have no idea, but the monsters grouped me with fifteens, sixteens, and seventeen year olds.

Thankfully, that meant Nova was with me. Her emerald dress hung on her undeveloped body loosely and her hair fell in golden ringlets down her back. She latched onto my hand with a vice like grip, holding it as if it were her lifeline.  There was a 15-17  year old group and an 18-25 year old group. To which, the 18-25 year-olds held most of the girls. I recognized quite a few ashen faces and gulped apprehensively.

"Unmated human females from the ages 15-17, follow me." The monster barked. He briskly walked to a large van that was made to hold ten people and we sullenly trudged behind him. I glanced behind my shoulder and took one last look at all of the older girls from my village, knowing deep down I'll never see them again.

As we were pushed into the truck, I closed my eyes and sent a quick prayer that I'll somehow find Carter and we can get away. It's a 1/4 chance that I'll be a mate to a wolf so, if I can't get away, I'll be trialed and most likely executed by the monsters.

I shook off that thought and led Nova to the seats in the back.

"Nova, I have a plan." I whispered in her ear, watchful of the werewolf guards sitting in the front, who could be listening in on our conversation.

"You do?" Her hopeful voice had me almost smiling and I gripped her hand tighter, "I do."

It isn't a very good one, and can get us in a lot of trouble, but I'm not about to tell her that. Plus, it's not as if we have many options.

We rode in complete silence, all of us.

Some are sobbing silently, some are peering out of the window unemotionally but, we were no doubt all solemn.

After twenty minutes of driving, we pulled into a large crowd and were ushered out of the vehicle, following the wolf-guard obediently. He led us over to a lot larger group, one holding happier females, werewolves. Us humans huddled together, not wanting to be close to the monsters.

"I hope mine isn't a human male." One of the female werewolves pouted, Her flawless face contorted into a puckered expression .

"It doesn't matter who it is, as long as we find one." Another one, this one tall said, twirling her hair wistfully.

"I hope I have an Alpha," The obnoxious girl once again spoke, "Preferably Alpha Romano."

"He is very attractive," the tall girl agreed, "He's been searching for his mate for three years now, this is his sixth Solstice. What if its one of us?"

"If its one of us, it would be me."

That's it, I tuned both of them out and focused on my very unthought out plan, pulling Nova closer to me. I tried unsuccessfully to find Carter over everyone's head but since there are so many tall males, he blended in.

More and more people are arriving and I couldn't help the nerves and unease to creep into my stomach.

"Are you nervous, Mya?" Nova asked shakily.

"Very," I hoarsely whispered and once again looked for Carter in the crowd hundreds and thousands of people.

"Attention!" A sudden booming voice had halted everyone's conversations. The moon hung in the sky brightly, as if this were a day to celebrate. "Our Solstice Moon is about to begin!" A man was standing atop a box and had a large megaphone, screaming into it. Once he yelled that, howls of excitement broke out, males whooping and females giggling. The male cleared his throat. "Werewolf females, human females, and human males have a precise five minute head start to run into the woods so their mate can track their scent. Once the time is up, it is fair game to the male wolves. Females, ready yourselves. Since there are so many of you, you need to all split up. Good luck. Let's begin our countdown!"