Second Chance Mates Festival

Emery’s Dry salt pans as far as the eye can see surrounded us on both sides of the bus. It was a quiet ride but that hint of excitement as we got closer to the Brave Heart Pack territory was evident. I did not know what to expect. It was my first time being so far away from home so I was very anxious. It was not likely that I would find a second chance mate since it was my first time attending, but I would at least try to have fun and enjoy myself, not for me but for my mother who believed that I was still heartbroken over my fate mate.  'It was just for a week anyway.'   That's what I kept telling myself so that I wouldn't turn back and go home. It had been about 2 years since I had been rejected by my mate the reason being he had brought a pregnant female back to the pack after his training in this very same pack. I was devastated then but I could not let the child grow up without their father no matter how much my heart was breaking.  I wouldn't let someone else go through what I went through. That was the reason I decided to accept his rejection. “I heard he is attending again.” The girl next to me said in a soft tone, taking me out of my thoughts. She had red hair that was almost orange in colour and had the palest blue eyes that I had ever seen. “Who?” I asked. She gave me a strange look before I added, “It’s my first time here.” “Oh! Sorry, I thought you were a veteran. You don’t seem nervous like all the other newbies at all,” she said with a smile. I must have been doing a good job of hiding my nervousness but then again I had been hiding my true feelings for a long time, I didn't think I had gotten so good at it. “I’m talking about Alpha Sin.” She finally added. “Who is Alpha Sin?” I asked. I knew who he was. Everyone knew about the Alpha that took down the Lone Wolf. She looked at me with humour in her eyes, “He is the Alpha of the Brave Heart Pack.” She said before adding sarcastically. “Brave Heart Pack is the pack we are currently in.” “I know that much.” I said letting out a huff at her sarcasm. "I wanted to ask why it's such a big deal." “Did you expect him not to attend the festival on his own territory?” The girl sitting in front of us said as she peaked behind her chair in interest, “I don’t think he’ll take part in much, he’s just there so that more she-wolves attend in hopes of gaining his attention.”  The blonde girl was really pretty. She had the type of beauty that people would describe as timeless. “I heard he is really picky.” My neighbour laughed. “It’s his third time attending.” She said turning to me. “He just needs to find himself a nice girl who will keep to herself, it’s not like his pack needs a Luna anyway," the blonde girl said,  "I'll admit he has been running the pack well by himself all these years," she laughed, “My name is Lacy, by the way, it’s my second time attending,” she said as she extended her hand for a handshake. “It’s nice to meet you, my name is Cameron. It’s also my second time attending.” The girl sitting next to me said. “Oh, mine is Emery, it’s my first time attending,” I said to both of them, “Hopefully, you two veterans can take care of me while I’m here,” I said with a nervous laugh. I was half-joking and half-serious. They both smiled at my little joke and we went to a chat a little bit more seeing as how we had about an hour before we reached the inner territory. “I’m from the Blue Moon Pack,” Lacy said proudly. The Blue Moon Pack territory was located on the west side of the continent. Their pack was mostly desert area but the unique thing was that their desert met the ocean which was such a pretty site that attracted lots of human tourists to their pack lands. They also mined diamonds and other precious metal elements so their pack was very rich. They were desert wolves so their warriors could withstand the harshest of weather and thus they were one of the toughest warriors on our continent. It was the first time I had ever met anyone from there. “Oh! That’s cool, I hear everyone in your pack has tan coloured wolves. The colour of your fur blends in with the sand dunes right?” I said excitedly. Tidbits about the most random things excited me, I had spent a lot of my time reading, so I knew a bit about most packs. “Yeah, maybe we’ll run into each other during the run later and you can see my very pretty wolf first hand.” She said. “What pack are you from?” “I’m from the Clear Water Pack.” “Your Alpha is Alpha Stephen!” Cameron exclaimed while both Lacy and I looked at her quizzically. I tried not to let the smile fall from my face. “If your thing is general knowledge about packs mine is knowing about Alphas.” “Like that explains anything,” Lacy said letting out a giggle as Camerons face turned red. “Okay, it’s a lie.” Cameron said before continuing. “My brother was there a few years back for training. Your pack is one of the few which has wolves that can really swim. It’s so cool.” She added. My pack was really small compared to theirs since most of the pack land is taken up water bodies like lakes, waterfalls and rivers but due to fishing as well as us being a trading hub in our region of the continent we were able to have a higher standard of living than most. Our nickname was the water wolves since our warriors spend a lot of time training in the water. “Yeah, it is. I really love the water.” I replied with a smile. “Which pack are you from Cameron?” “I’m from the Evergreen Pack, it’s a bit further away from here than your packs so I’ve been travelling for over a day,” Cameron said. The Evergreen pack had one of the largest territories and was mostly made up of thick dense forest and although there was not much to be mined on their lands like the Blue Moon Pack, their pack was made up of some of the most brilliant minds in the whole wolf realm. 7 out of the 12 members of the Alpha Council leaders had come from her pack. “You must be very tired,” I said looking at her before adding jokingly. “You must also be very smart. Your pack has the oldest books about our species. I would love to visit sometime.” “If I only I was paid every time someone said that,” Cameron said tiredly faking a yawn. “That is the biggest stereotype people have about our pack,” we all laughed at that. “You can come to visit anytime, I’ll host you.” She added. “I am 100% gonna take you up on that offer,” I said excitedly. The chatter with the girls helped relieve any anxiety I was feeling and made the rest of the time in the bus fly away and soon enough the salt pans gave way for lush greenery that signalled that we were closer to entering the centre of Brave Heart Pack territory.