Chapter 1 –– Mating Suit

Sitting on the top of the roof, I stared at the solid earth ceiling above me. It was a thick layer of soil that separated us from the world above. I’d heard myths about it, claiming that up there there were no walls nor ceilings confining us. I wonder how it's like up there?

“Noam, what are you doing up there? Your mother’s looking for you. Hurry up and come down!”

“Coming, mama!”

I was so lost in my thoughts that I forgot that tomorrow was a big day for me. My mother had prepared something for me tomorrow and I had to get myself prepared in advance for it.

“Where was he?” my mother asked to my mama.

“On the roof, as usual,” she answered.

“Seriously, why do you keep staring at that?” she scolded me, telling me to stop doing it every time they caught me staring at the ceiling of the village.

I pouted and put on a grumpy expression on my face. I don’t care what she thinks about it, I’m annoying her on purpose.

“Come, we’re going to the tailor’s shop,” my mother grabbed my wrist and told me to come with her, without asking for my opinion.

I had just turned 16 a few days ago. According to the customs of the village, I was now ready to have a mate. I was supposed to be able to choose my own mate, but apparently, my mother had prepared some suitors for me. I wish I can just escape from this hellhole.

After walking around the village, we finally arrived at the tailor’s shop. The shop was run by an old man and his daughter. They specialised in making suits and dresses for special occasions, such as mating ceremonies, funerals, and baby showers.

“Ooh, you’re here, Chieftain,” the owner of the shop greeted us with his 5 year old daughter hiding shyly behind him.

My mother was the Chieftain of our tribe, Hyaena Tribe. She knew everyone in the village and considered them all as her family, including the tailor and his daughter.

I looked around the shop and saw a lot of pre-made suits and dresses hanging on the walls of the room, including fabrics from all different kinds of colours. This was my first time coming to this shop.

“Is this the groom-to-be?” he asked, while smiling at me.

“Better not,” I told him with a grumpy look on my face, looking like I was forced to come by my mother.

“Noam! Don’t be disrespectful!” my mother scolded me once more.

I stuck out my tongue to her, rebelling. She never not scolded me.

My mother sighed and facepalmed. The tailor chuckled at our interaction.

“Is the suit ready?” my mother asked, getting straight to the point

“Of course. Would you like to try putting it on?” the tailor asked me.

Honestly, I’d rather not to. It’s just a hassle to put on something just to take it off again. But after my mother glared at me, I sighed and had no choice but to comply to her command.

I changed my attire in the changing room to the suit that the tailor made for me. It was a custom made for my very soon mating ceremony, which was happening sometime in the near future. After I was done changing, I returned to my mother to show her how it looked.

“Wow....” the tailor’s daughter murmured, astonished by how I looked.

The tailor then placed a mirror in front of me. My mother and I looked at my reflection in the mirror, taking a careful look at my mating suit.

It was a white loose-fitting and long-sleeved thobe* paired with a pair of matching white trousers. The length of the thawb reached the tip of my ankles and had golden coloured motifs around the collar. I was also given a pair of matching gloves and socks, along with a pair of silver dress shoes.

First time looking at myself in the mirror after a long while, I never realised how long my hair was. Since my pitch black hair with some pink highlight had no volume at all, had I not part it sideways, the bangs would have fallen straight away and covered my droopy brown eyes. I look like a fucking emo. It was also getting in the way of my ears which were on top of my head, making them a little bit itchy when I moved around. I really should get a haircut after this. Despite having a slim and slender figure, the loose-fitting suit accentuated on the upper part of my torso, making my chest looked bigger and more muscular than it actually was, which was a good thing. I also felt relieved that the trousers were comfortable enough for my tail to move freely, as it would have been uncomfortable to tuck in your tail the whole time during the ceremony.

The more I looked at myself, the more anxious I became. I became more and more aware of how little time I had before I was married off to someone else’s child. I still couldn’t believe my mother was doing this to me. An arranged marriage on this day and age!? Urgh, so lame. Well, it’s not like I can complain. Almost everyone in the village got the same treatment when they turned my age. Yet, I still thought that it was such an outdated tradition to have to mate so early. Like, what are you such in a hurry for, anyway?

Everyone in this village, including my family and I, belonged to the Hyaena Tribe, which was one of the 7 tribes of a subrace called Werebeasts. Aside from walking on two legs, we had animalistic features such as animal ears, paw pads on the palms of our hands, retractable claws and fangs, and a tail; depending on our clan’s animal. My mother and I belonged to the Dabau clan, which was the clan of the spotted hyena.

Werebeasts–– also went by the name underground dwellers–– had been living beneath an island called Green Island for more than a thousand years. We were a subterranean society made up of 7 tribes plus a central government, to which we call “the realm.”

After having been isolated from the outside world for so long, evolution forced us to develop a secondary gender in addition to the original female and male sexes in order ensure the sustainability of our kind and prevent our extinction. These secondary genders are called alpha, beta, and omega. Betas make up for half of the Werebeast population, while alphas and omegas each make up for a quarter of us. Depending on their partner’s secondary gender, betas can impregnate and/or get pregnant; while alphas and omegas could only impregnate and get pregnant respectively. Betas are also the only ones who could mate with fellow betas, while alphas and omegas cannot mate with the same secondary gender as theirs. These apply to both the male and female sexes.

Our tribe lived in a village called the Hyaena Village. The tribe was a matriarchal society, with my mother–– an alpha female spotted hyena–– as the Chieftain. The Hyaena Tribe specifically valued alpha females over other genders. Thus, being born as an omega male, it was a no-brainer that I had to be married off to someone from another tribe to further strengthen our tribe’s position in the realm.

“So, how do you like it?” the tailor asked our opinion about the suit.

“We’ll take it,” my mother responded, without hesitation.

Without talking much further, my mother immediately took the suit and brought it home with me. Upon arrival home, we prepared ourselves for tomorrow’s event.

The next day, my family and I waited for my suitors’ arrival. Since today was only the introduction of the suitors who planned to mate with me, I was wearing a different suit than the one we bought from the tailor. Today, my mothers and I wore a traditional Hyaena Tribe attire, which was faux hyena fur coat and boots.

I honestly had no idea who my suitors were. I hadn’t even met any of them yet. I just hoped they were not creeps or weirdos since I was to spend the rest of my life with one of them.

My mothers and I waited in the living room, sitting on a cushion with a wooden table in front of us. I heard that the suitors came riding a badgermore** along with their families. They must be either someone rich, important, or both. Only the rich and important people ride badgermores, as most people usually ride a downkey*** or a tunnellama**** for inter-village travels. Even my family didn’t own a badgermore.

After waiting for about an hour, the first suitor finally arrived. My mama greeted them by the door and asked them to come into my house.

“Please, come in, Chieftain Hamza.”

The first suitor came from Caninus Village. The moment they entered the living room, I immediately recognised their traditional tribal attire, faux wolf fur coat and boots. There were four of them; a mated couple and their son and daughter. Since the daughter looked too young to be my bride, I assumed the son to be my suitor.

“Good day, Chieftain Nura,” the father greeted my mother.

“Good day. Please, have a seat,” my mother replied.

My mama poured them some tea before going back to her seat. My suitor then knelt on one of his knees and took me by the hand. He then introduced himself.

“It’s an honour to meet you in person, son of Chieftain Nura Dabau. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dawoud Dzib, an alpha male wolf and son of Chieftain Hamza Dzib. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He then kissed the back of my hand and looked at me directly in the eyes. His dreamy chestnut eyes gleamed like a sparkle reflected on a pebble. His nose bridge was high and his ears were covered in gray fur, just like a wolf. He had very thick fur around his tail, looking like a long fluffy cotton. He wagged his tail around softly, like a puppy hiding his excitement.

Judging from his appearance, he might be the same age or a year or two older than me. Despite his puppy-like attitude, he was undoubtedly an alpha male wolf.

Honestly, I was kind of cringed by how he kissed my hand. He was damn handsome, but I found his introduction to be a little bit too much.

“Hello. I’m Noam. A pleasure,” I introduced myself briefly.

“Ahem!” my mother exclaimed loudly.

Everyone was surprised by my surprisingly short introduction. My mother gave me a glare for having introduced myself so informally, especially on this kind of occasion. She telepathically told me to redo my introduction.

I sighed and did just like she wanted me.

“A pleasure to meet you, Dawoud Dzib of Caninus Tribe. I’m Noam Dabau, an omega male spotted hyena and son of Chieftain Nura.”

I even forced myself to smile this time. Urgh. I hate these kinds of formal situations.

After hearing my introduction, my suitor smiled and returned to his seat.

The whole time we were conversing, his little sister was watching us thoroughly. She looked like she was mesmerized by our interaction.

A few minutes later, another suitor arrived. Just like us, they also wore their traditional tribal attire, which was faux lion fur coat and boots.

I wonder how this next suitor is gonna be?

*thobe = a middle eastern ankle-length robe

**badgermore = a giant subterranean badgermole

***downkey = an underground donkey

****tunnellama = an underground llama with six legs and a big long back for carrying luggage