"Curious, are we?" Shraddha teased her.
"Oh, speak already," Aadhira said. They started walking toward their classroom.
"When a werewolf bites his mate and mates with her, his scent gets mixed with his soulmate. This helps the other males identify who the woman belongs to. And if her scent is stronger than the other males, then the other males have to bow to her," she explained.
"And if her scent is less than the other males?" Aadhira asked.
"Then she will have to bow to them. AND NO MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE DOGS," Shraddha said.
"Last one... please?" Aadhira begged sarcastically.
"Okay," Shraddha said.
"How do you know all this? Last time I checked, we both sleep during 'werewolf education,'" Aadhira said.
"Jay thought it was important for me to know everything about werewolves before we mate," Shraddha confessed.
"Oh my god! You're not a virgin anymore?" Aadhira asked, bringing her palm over her mouth.
"A werewolf never waits, Aadhira. They are monsters—cold-hearted monsters," Shraddha whispered angrily.
Scenes of the first night flashed through her mind—when Jay had forcefully bitten and mated with her. A shiver of disgust ran through her spine, and she couldn't help but shake.
Aadhira placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She knew exactly how her friend was feeling. She couldn't imagine herself being mated to some monster.
"But I am thankful that I didn't get an Alpha as a soulmate," Shraddha confessed.
Aadhira agreed with her.
They entered the classroom and, as usual, sat on the last bench. The first lecture for every class was 'werewolf education.'
"God knows why we study about these dogs," Aadhira whispered, making sure no werewolf could hear her.
Shraddha smiled back and gave her a light nudge. "So that the werewolf students can score more than the humans," she reasoned.
"Nonsense! No matter what, these monsters can't study. Can't they see that these dim-wit dogs hardly score above 60% in the main papers?" Aadhira scoffed.
"And we hardly score more than 60% in the werewolf education paper!" Shraddha countered.
"True," Aadhira muttered.
'Werewolf education' was the only paper she struggled with. No matter how much she studied, she never scored above 65.
Thankfully, she received full marks in her other medical papers; otherwise, the university would have kicked her out.
Yes, Aadhira was a tremendously studious student—the most intelligent in the class. But she never received the honor she deserved, simply because she was human.
And in this world, a human's status was nothing.
Her memories drifted back to a time when monsters were nothing more than myths. She recalled the happy moments she had shared with her parents and other humans.
Everything had changed when the monsters declared war against humans for power.
Of course, humans lost.
Since then, the monsters ruled the world.
Her parents had died in that war, and she often wondered why she was still alive.
It had taken Aadhira three months to adjust to the new laws imposed by the monsters. Everything had changed. Even the world itself seemed unrecognizable.
Each species of monster ruled a specific region. Werewolves dominated Asia and Europe. Vampires ruled North and South America. Witches controlled Australia. And Angels—or Fairies—reigned over Africa.
Aadhira cursed herself for being born in India, which was, of course, in Asia.
She despised the werewolves who now stood above her.
But then again, werewolves were better than vampires... maybe.
She never imagined the world would change so drastically.
Her thoughts were interrupted when someone smacked the back of her head. She glared at Shraddha.
"Teacher!" Shraddha informed her.
Aadhira mouthed an "Oh" and quickly stood to greet the teacher.
"Good morning, students..." Mrs. Singh said.
All the students responded—except for the two humans in the class.
Yes, out of forty students, only two were human.
Once the class settled, Mrs. Singh spoke.
"So, I hope you all are ready for the speech you have to deliver," she said.
"Yes," the class chorused.
Aadhira and Shraddha exchanged worried glances.
What speech??? they both whispered to each other.
Before Mrs. Singh could start calling students to the stage, Aadhira quickly stood from her seat.
"Mam?" she called.
Mrs. Singh glanced at the human and couldn't help but feel disgusted. Aadhira didn't care. She was used to this reaction from both teachers and students.
"Yes?" the teacher asked.
"Mam, I think there's a mistake. We were not informed about any speech!" Aadhira said.
"That's your problem. I specifically mentioned this to the class representative. She informed everybody," Mrs. Singh replied.
Aadhira clenched her teeth in anger.
"But, mam, I was not informed!" she repeated.
"Me too!" Shraddha added.
"Then you should have asked her!" Mrs. Singh said.
What the hell? Aadhira cursed internally. She knew the class representative had done this on purpose.
"Yes, mam. We are sorry," she said through clenched teeth.
She was fuming, but she knew better than to argue—her internal marks would suffer for it.
She sat back down and stared at her textbook, which, ironically, had a wolf howling at the moon on the cover.
Aadhira grabbed her pen and stabbed the wolf's image.
Shraddha chuckled and whispered, "If only that actually worked."
Aadhira shot her a glare, pouting. "Get ready to fail this semester."
Mrs. Singh called the first student. "Come, Shanaaya."
Aadhira sighed in relief. She had some time to prepare.
She never paid attention in this class—she usually fell asleep during lectures about werewolves.
But today, she promised herself to listen.
Maybe I can get some information from these dogs, she thought.
A she-werewolf approached the stage and cleared her throat. She looked at the teacher, waiting for her to give the topic.
"So, your topic is the history of the werewolves. You have five minutes, so keep it brief," Mrs. Singh instructed.
Shanaaya began, "Good morning, friends. My name is Shanaaya, and I feel honored to talk about the history of werewolves.
"Werewolves, once considered a myth by stupid humans, now rule the world. But coming into power wasn't easy.
"Humans are selfish creatures who only care about profit. Their thirst for power and money knew no bounds, and the beautiful Earth was no longer what it used to be. Forests were destroyed, and greenhouse gases polluted the atmosphere.
"Supernatural creatures couldn't survive under these conditions. So, all of them—werewolves, vampires, witches—joined forces to restore the Earth.
"But to do so, they had to destroy humanity.
"There was a problem, though. Humans are creatures of the Almighty, and God loves them. The supernatural beings couldn't kill them outright.
"So, they approached the witches.
"The witches agreed with the werewolves and vampires. They used their magic to summon the fairies.
"The fairies listened to their grievances and decided to consult God.
"A month later, they returned with a divine decree.
"God allowed supernatural creatures to do whatever was necessary to save the Earth—even if it meant killing humans.
"But there was a condition.
"Each supernatural creature would now have a human soulmate.
"This created a dilemma. They couldn't slaughter humans recklessly anymore—what if a human turned out to be someone's soulmate?
"But after a week, they agreed. For the greater good.
"And so, the Great War began.
"Within two weeks, humans lost.
"Supernatural creatures took over.
"Humans who surrendered weren't killed, just in case they were someone's soulmate.
"But by then, three-fourths of the human population was gone.
"And supernatural creatures became the dominant species."