Second Chance Mates Festival

Chapter 2: Registration

Emery’s POV

As we neared the centre of the Brave Heart Territory, an impressively designed banner written ‘The Brave Heart Pack Welcomes You to the Second Chance Mates Festival 2021' was displayed on what seemed to be a water tank. That was when my nerves started to kick in. 

The feeling was not one that would have you running off stage but the good kind that you would get before getting something that you worked hard for. 

I felt like I deserved to be here, to find myself a mate. This was the first time I had felt like this since my mom had suggested that I come.

What looked to be teenagers lined both sides of the road to the campgrounds waving red flags and balloons and cheering excitedly. Cameron was definitely more excited than me as she peeked out of the window and cheered back at them, which only made them cheer louder. 

The bus came to a stop in a large parking lot that had a small tent that housed the registration desks. We finally got off after the 3-hour drive and we were ushered by the volunteers to the registration desk. There, we were given a form to fill out that included our names, the pack we were from as well as our ranks within those packs. They also gave us details about where we would be staying.

After filling the forms we were given armbands that showed our ranks. Although the laws about mating between ranks were lax, some packs still held them in high regard hence why we were given the armbands even if we wouldn't get to use them much. Red armbands were for Alphas, blue armbands were for betas and other warriors, Green armbands were for higher-ranked wolves like pack doctors, yellow armbands were for regular pack members and white armbands were for omegas like me.

I noticed that Lacy's armband was yellow and Cameron’s armband was green. They did not seem to mind that mine was white which was a relief since I was not sure I would be able to make any more friends here. I had always been okay by myself so I never found it easy to make friends and although omega wolves were not weak, there was still some prejudice against us, in fact, some packs still used omega wolves as slaves, as archaic as that is.

“Let’s go over there, I think the welcoming ceremony is starting soon,” Lacy said as she pointed towards the gathering crowd. I put my armband in my pocket and we moved towards the crowd that was gathering in front of the stage in the auditorium that was behind the tent.

As more of the crowd gathered, I looked around and saw that there were more males than females. There were also a lot of different packs in attendance. It made me feel less like I was the only one to ever be rejected or lost a mate because seeing all of these wolves here made the whole ordeal seem less novel.

“Welcome everyone. I am Beta Michael Simmons and I will be playing host for this year's festival,” The handsome man on stage said as everyone clapped. “Usually it is the Alpha that leads but Alpha Sin is away on pack business right now.” He paused as all of the females booed. There must have been more than a few female wolves hoping to woo the Alpha.

“Don’t worry he will be back in time to join the run this evening,” he said with a chuckle. He flashed a smile before he continued. “Every 3 years the Alpha Council organizes this festival in the hope that wolves who have lost their fate mates can find their second chance mate and tie their cut strings of fate to them. All of you here are looking for love, your fate mate was taken from you due to one circumstance or another but you are able to come here and look for someone else to bring you the warmest comforts, to be your source of strength and to nurture a new future with, that takes a lot of bravery and courage so you should all give yourselves a pat on the back for that." He paused for a bit before continuing. "I don’t want to take too much of your time, we have about 3 hours left until the run so I will wrap up here and let you all get settled into your rooms. Thank you for making the journey out to our pack and I hope that this trip does not go in vain. May the Moon Goddess bless you all with second chance mates. Enjoy your week here,” He said as he finished his speech and descended down the stage.

We all clapped. Beta Michael had given such a good welcome speech.

Since Lacy, Cameron and I had registered at around the same time, we had been assigned to the same cabin. This was a relief since I would get a chance to get closer to them. I was hoping that I would be able to form a friendship with them that would last even after the festival was over.

“Let’s get our bags and head over to the cabin,” Cameron said.

We walked towards where our bags had been offloaded from the bus.

“Why did you pack so much? We are only gonna be here for a week Lacy.” I asked as I stared at her 3 suitcases.

“I wanted to have a variety of outfits to wear. There are a lot of activities this week.” She replied, “Trust me I have been here before so I know what I’m talking about.” She said in a serious tone.

“Don’t be led astray, it seems like someone here just doesn’t know how to pack lightly,” Cameron said. “Once you meet a wolf you like you most likely won’t be needing much clothing.”  She added laughing. Lacy and I joined her in her laughter. “Let’s get going I want to take a nap before the run.”

I grabbed one of Lacy’s bags and we started moving towards the cabin area which was in the opposite direction of the auditorium.

In the cabin, there were 3 beds pushed against the walls of the cabin. There was no bathroom in there, so I guessed that we would have to use the communal bathrooms outside. Cameron immediately crashed on the bed nearest to the door and was fast asleep before Lacy dragged the last of her bags through the door.

“She must be really tired,” Lacy said.

“Yeah,” I replied agreeing with her. “I am too so I gonna take a nap as well,” I said.

“Okay, I’m gonna unpack and then explore the grounds for a bit. I’ll wake you both up about an hour before the run so you can get ready.”

“Thanks,” I said getting into bed.

I guess I did not know how much that ride took out of me because soon enough I was out like a light.