Chapter 11

OAKLEY

Once we got home from shopping and had taken all the bags to my room I took a shower and started to prepare for the festival. I hung the blue dress on my closet door while I put all the other dresses in the closet. I went about putting away all of the other items we had bought so I could find the make up and hair products that I would need.There was a soft knock at the door. It didn't sound like my grams and I don't know anyone in the pack yet so I wasn't expecting anyone. I went to the door and opened it to be greeted by a petite brown haired, brown eyed girl with freckles on her nose. She looked to be about my age."Hi! I'm Melissa! I work for your grandmother. She called me to come and get ready with you because she thought you might need a friend and someone to be able to gossip with." She said with a bright smile. It wa s then that I noticed the bag she had and the dress hanging over her shoulder."Um hi, im Oakley." I greeted her. I stepped aside so she could come into the room, closing the door behind her."Don't mind the mess. We went shopping today for everything I would need since I didn't bring much with me from home." I said."Oh no worries! I can help you put it all away tomorrow if you would like." She said as she hung up her dress and started pulling things out of her bag. Shoes, makeup, hair products and such were spread out on the bed."Sure. That would be great." I smiled. I thought that it would be nice to actually have a friend. I didn't have any friends except my best friend in my previous pack because Amber made sure no one wanted to be my friend. But I was not going to let that ruin my evening. I pushed those thoughts away.Melissa and I started with our nails. We painted them with colors that would match our dresses. Mine being blue and hers green. Then we did our makeup and hair. I styled my hair into ringlet curls and pulled the sides back with a clip. After that we decided to have a snack before we put on our dresses. The festival would have tons of food but we had no idea how long it would be before we could eat and apparently getting ready takes energy that made us hungry.After we had our snacks it was time to put on our dresses and shoes and get going. The festival would be starting soon. I was a little nervous because packs from all over attended these festivals. Not entire packs but the alphas and their families and some chosen wolves from the pack. A lot of unmated wolves that became of age to see if they can find their mates. It was a great idea in my opinion. She told me the new alpha came up with the idea.Once we finished our snack we headed back up to my room so that we could get our dresses and shoes on. We exchanged phone numbers as well and made plans for the next day incase we didn't see each other for the rest of the night once we got to the festival.We went downstairs to meet up with my grandparents. Melissa said her mate would meet her at the festival. He was a warrior in the pack. My grandparents were waiting for us by the door."You guys look so beautiful!" My grandmother exclaimed as she smiled at us. My grandfather nodded his head in agreement. He was not a man of many words. I wondered how he did with training the young shifters when he did not talk to much."Where is the festival held at?" I asked as we headed out to the car. I hadn't even thought about it before but I knew the packhouse was not big enough for such an event."A couples miles away, still on pack lands, is a really big building that was built for events. It has a big ballroom, a kitchen, a dining hall. It's really beautiful when it's made up for events like this." Melissa said. That made sense. It also made sense why we were riding in my grandparents car to get there and not walking.We drove a few miles through the woods down a road on the other side of the pack grounds that I hadn't seen before. I knew that we ran the whole pack lands along the border but we must have not gone to this area. Of course if it was being prepped for the festival then I could understand. We came into a massive clearing with a field of many colored flowers and just a ways into the field was a parking lot and a massive building. It had a banner welcoming everyone in gold and silver writing. There were some balloons and streamers hanging on either side of the doors to enter. Security guards stood at the door and just inside the entry way was a hallway that was crowded with many different wolves, I'm guessing from other packs. There were balloons and banners and streamers in golds, blacks and silvers all over the place and tables with white flowers lining the wall. It was beautiful. There were signs pointing out where the ballroom was, were the dining room was and were the bathrooms were.I smelled a delicious smell of coffee and what smelled like cinnamon apples. Thinking it was something they were cooking for the festival."I smell coffee." I said out loud."They probably have some in the dining hall." Melissa said as she looked around distracted. She finally found who she was looking for. A tall man approached and I assumed he was her mate. I was correct when he kissed her and put his arm around her."Oakley this is my mate Nathen. Nathen this is Oakley." She introduced us. We exchanged pleasantries and chatted some as we moved inside more as other people kept spilling in the doors. We made our way to the dining hall were the delicious smell just got stronger."Mate" haven whispered in my head so quietly that I was pretty sure I heard her wrong."Well if it isn't Oakley." Said a voice from behind me that I had hoped I would not have to hear for a very long time. I turned around to see my half sister Amber with Derek on her arm. He was staring at me like he was trying to commit me to his memory. Behind them were my father and stepmother. I was happy to see my dad and I have him a hug and told him such. Before we could talk more he was pulled away by an alpha of another pack. I figured we would catch up later.I turned to see Melissa standing next to me with her mate and Amber staring at me from where she was originally standing. My grams came over just as Amber was about to say something. She decided she had better not and walked off.A few hours into the festival and I was worn right out. I was having an amazing time. I managed to avoid Derek, Amber and Bailey and meet a few members of the pack. I was also able to chat with a few members of other packs as well. Melissa introduced me to a few others that were the same age as us and they told me about how they like to go to this lake on the weekends that is on pack lands and that I should join them next time. It sounded like fun.I went through the evening catch glimpses of the amazing, delicious smell of coffee and cinnamon apples but never managing to find the source. There was coffee in the dining hall and apple pie but it didn't seem to smell the same. I decided to try and follow the scent but was cut off suddenly by Derek."Can we talk please?" He asked.