"You two must be excited," my mom says in a high-pitched voice, peering at Katie and me in the rearview mirror.
It feels like we've been driving for days, when in fact it has only been a few hours. Katie stayed over last night so that we could make an early start.
From my house to the Pack Retreat upstate it takes about four and a half hours. That's four and half hours of my life I've had to spend with my mom acting like a giddy pre-teen, and four and a half hours I'll never get back.
Outside the window all I can see is forest. Trees whip by as we speed toward the festival.
"We are, Mrs. Remus," Katie says, nudging me in my side.
"I remember my first festival," Mom says. "I found the whole thing quite overwhelming at the time. And I had a terrible problem with leeches. I remember we all came back from a hike and I was covered in the slimy little suckers!"
"Mom, gross!"
"Then I met your father and he showed me how to use salt to get them off and, well, things only got more wild from there…"
"Double gross!"
My parents have always been completely head-over-heels, sappily, gushingly in love. Mom in particular can never pass up an opportunity to embarrass me with her not-safe-for-children mushiness.
"Don't be such a prude," she says, swiping an arm behind her and gently slapping my knee. "The festival is the chance for you kids to find your mate under the best circumstances. The blue moon in a few days gets rid of so much hassle. All that sniffing and dancing around each other. There's no need for that with the blue moon. You'll know right away."
I roll my eyes and return to staring at the passing woodland, wishing we could just turn back.
"And who knows," Mom continues. "You might find your mate right under your nose."
I glance sideways at her reflection in the mirror and catch her looking from me to Katie, smiling suggestively. She's always thought the two of us might end up being mates. Not that I would mind being mated to Katie, she is my best friend after all. But I've just never thought about her in a romantic sense. She's been my adventure buddy since we were little kids and my fiercest ally as an abnormal teenager. We have an amazing time together and I love her, just...more like a sister.
Finally, Mom notices my pointed stare, begging her to stop. She giggles then looks back at the road.
"How did Mr. Remus make you feel when you first met?" Katie asks. Why is she encouraging her?
"Are you asking how I knew he was my mate?" Mom asks.
"I…" Katie stammers, her pale cheeks turning pink. "I guess."
My Mom tilts her head to the side and thinks about the question, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.
"Well...it's a bit like skydiving, like you're falling but you're not afraid."
"Mom, neither of us have been skydiving," I say.
She laughs.
"No, I guess you haven't. In that case...it's a bit like the feeling you get when you're hungry, only you don't know what you want. You keep looking in the refrigerator and nothing feels like it's going to hit the spot. Then you remember the jar of pickles at the back of the top shelf in the pantry and suddenly you know for sure… Pickles! That's what I want! That's the snack for me."
Mom goes quiet, and there's a strange, happy-yet-faraway look in her eyes.
I glance at Katie and even she is getting a little weirded out by my mom's trance-like state.
"You ok, Mom?"
She blinks a couple of times and suddenly she's back in the car. She readjusts the steering wheel and laughs a little at herself.
"Sorry, I forgot what I was doing there for a second."
"Well, keep your eyes on the road, please," I say. "We'd like to make it to the festival in one piece."
I stare back out the window as we take a left down a long tree-lined street. We must be getting close.
I gulp and take a breath. My mom nearly drove us off the road thinking about mates. It's obvious this whole situation is dangerous.
After about twenty minutes these tall, skinny flags appear, lining the path and fluttering in the breeze. They have the pack's insignia printed in the middle and alternate colors from green to yellow to purple. The colors of the Elite Pack.
Eventually, the path leads to an open field, where hundreds of cars are parked. Mom pulls into an empty spot and we get out, grabbing our bags from the trunk, and strapping them on our backs.
"Well, this is where I have to leave you," Mom says, and I worry she's going to cry. "The retreat is just up there past those trees, you'll see it when you reach the top of that rise. Good luck, kids!"
Houston, we have lift off! Mom starts crying as she pulls both of us in for a massive hug.
"You're going to have such a nice time!"
When we can finally pry ourselves away from my overzealous mother, she takes my face in her hands and kisses my cheek.
"I love you, kiddo. I hope the next few days make you happy."
I roll my eyes but even I can't help getting a little choked up. I'm not completely heartless.
"Love you too, Mom."
After a few too many goodbyes and one last panicked search for a potentially forgotten toothbrush, Katie and I leave my mother and make our way to the top of the hill.
"Gosh, there's so many people here," Katie says, looking astounded at all the cars and the other wolves all struggling with giant packs.
"Who knows, our mates could be out there."
"Ha, yeah," I say.
We reach the trees my mother mentioned. Below us on the opposite side of the hill sits the retreat. It's mega.
At the base of the hill is a giant cabin, it looks woodsy and rustic but is probably the size of freaking Madison Square Garden. Behind the main cabin there are at least a hundred smaller cabins and behind them is a green grass field the size of a football stadium. To the right of the retreat is the shore of the lake and a boat house. Deep blue-green water reflects the trees and mountains that surround it. Lining the perimeter of the camp is the edge of a forest, which stretches for as far as I can see, rising into the foot of the mountains.
For a moment Katie and I stand there, awestruck.
"This is wild," she says.
I'm truly gobsmacked. After all the years of hearing about the retreat, I'd assumed it was some run-down, Friday the 13th campsite but this is...next level.
"Shall we?" Katie says and I nod again. We take off running down the hill.
When we reach a gravel-covered area out front of the main cabin I'm suddenly overwhelmed by just how many other wolves there are.
"Everyone is so...so…" Katie stammers, unable to finish her sentence.
"Hot," I say, knowing exactly what she was going to say.
Wolves are usually pretty gifted in the looks department, what with being all preternaturally strong and all. But seeing this collection of hotties en masse is kind of...intimidating.
The girls could all be models who've stumbled out of the pages of a sportswear catalog and the guys all look like celebrity personal trainers.
With all these beefcakes around, the chance of someone wanting to be my mate is negligible. Maybe I can get through the weekend swimming, eating smores, and not having to worry about my eternal fate.
"Have you guys got your invitations?" a squeaky voice behind us asks.
Katie and I turn to find a short dark-haired girl, holding a clipboard, and staring at us with a toothy grin, so wide I'm worried she's about to strain a muscle.
"Hi," I say.
"May I see your invitations?" she asks again.
"Oh yeah, sure."
I shoved my invitation somewhere in my pack on the way out of the house and I've completely forgotten where I put it. Flustered, I toss my bag onto the gravel and start searching all the outside pockets before digging into the main compartment.
"Here," Katie says, having produced her still-crisp invitation from a plastic wallet she's attached to the zipper of her pack. "Katie Andrews."
Katie sticks out her hand and the girl with the clipboard reciprocates.
"Eleanor Peng," she says, shaking Katie's hand too vigorously. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm one of the festival volunteers and I'm in charge of distributing cabin assignments to new arrivals. Aren't you just pumped for the festival? I know I am!"
Eleanor laughs awkwardly as I continue to search in my pack.
"We're both really excited," Katie says, placating the crazed camp attendant.
"And imagine who you could end up being mated to!"
"It could be literally anyone," Katie says, doing her best to play along, although even she's struggling to match Eleanor's enthusiasm.
"Yes but this year it could be someone particularly special." Eleanor leans toward Katie with a conspiratorial glint in her eye. "This year will be the first time Jasper Apollo will be here."
I look up from my frantic searching.
Jasper Apollo. I know the name. Of course, I do. Jasper is the son of Jericho, our alpha. He's next in line to lead the pack.
For some reason the sound of his name sends a strange warm sensation to my toes and the tips of my fingers.
"Just think," Eleanor continues. "You could arrive here today a complete nobody and wind up mated to the alpha's son!"
She bursts into her distinctive awkward cackle again and I'm shaken from my reverie. I go back to searching my bag.
Finally, I find my crumpled-up invitation and hand it to Eleanor.
"Fantastic," she says, having a meltdown behind her eyes.
"Sorry, it...got squashed."
"No matter," she says, before unleashing another hyena-like outburst. She glances from the invitations to her clipboard and back again. "Katie you're in cabin B14 and Max you'll be in cabin C27."
"Oh, I thought we'd be in the same cabin," Katie says, disappointed.
"The cabins are separated by gender I'm afraid," Eleanor says. "With all the extra energy from the blue moon, we don't want to encourage any wolves to jump the gun before the Mating Run."
"Oh, no of course not." Eleanor hands Katie back her invitation, and she accepts it, blushing a little.
"Well, have an amazing festival. There will be drinks in the Alpha's Hall in the main cabin at 6, followed by dinner and a welcome soiree. That gives you a couple hours to get settled in. Me and the other volunteers will be here all festival in case you need anything."
Something tells me the other volunteers probably aren't taking this quite as seriously as Eleanor.
"May the Moon Gods light the path between souls!"
Eleanor waves manically before crossing the courtyard to accost another set of new arrivals.
I smile at Katie who shrugs at me and smiles in return.
"I guess we should find our bunks," I say. "Meet you back here in a couple of hours?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," Katie says.
---
It takes me a few minutes of hopeless wandering before I find my home for the next few nights. My cabin is toward the back of the configuration and right next to the woods. Inside there are four sets of bunk beds. A couple of them already have bags placed on top. I head for the bunk closest to the window and toss my pack onto the top bed.
I hoist myself up and immediately notice the view outside the window. The woods and the lake, with the mountains behind them, are framed perfectly by the cracked window frame. It's breathtaking. I'm suddenly really glad I brought my sketch pad with me. If nothing else I can probably get some great drawings out of this weekend.
A couple of bros enter the cabin laughing and slapping each other on the back.
"Hey man! Name's Todd! Looks like we're going to be roomies!"
I roll over and sit up. Todd is a big, big guy with pale skin, orange freckles, and cropped ginger hair. He's muscle-y but in that soft kind of way.
"Hi," I say, in a higher pitch than I intend.
"This dweeb here is Simon," Todd says, whacking his friend on the back.
"What's up?" Simon says. Todd's friend is almost his polar opposite. He's still got muscles but he's much leaner, with black hair, and umber skin.
"Hope you don't mind snorers," Todd says, laughing at his friend's expense.
"You dick I don't snore," Simon retorts. "Hey, I call top bunk!"
"No way man, I called it in the car!"
"Doesn't count unless you're in the room, my man!"
It's like they completely forget I'm even here, as they start wrestling, each trying to claim the top bunk opposite mine.
I lie back and sigh. "It's only four nights," I tell myself.
But I wish I didn't have to share a cabin with a bunch of bros. I wish I could just be in a cabin with Katie and no one else. And I wish there wasn't all this pressure to find a mate.
Everyone seems so excited to be here. And with the news that Jasper Apollo is coming, I'm sure that excitement will be dialed up to an eleven.
I dig into my pack and pull out my sketchbook, before hopping down off my bunk. I need some air and I don't think Beavis and Butthead even register me leaving.
I head from the cabin straight into the woods.
"You just have to make it through four nights."