I couldn't sleep. My friend from the North Shore pack, Jessica Pratt, was sleeping in the bunk above me. Soft snoring could be heard from beneath her sheets. There were about twenty of us in the room with the beds squeezed close together, Jessica and I had demanded the beds on the far wall as it had the most space. The cheap cots were borrowed from several packs for the festival that was beginning tomorrow. There were even wolves sleeping outside and in the hallway. Jessica had taken a few leaves from her healer to get her to sleep deeply. I regretted not taking any from mine. The only other wolf awake in the sleeping dorm was Veronica. She was praying quietly to the moon by the window, I could not hear her, but I could see the tears fall and hit the Boor. The moon's soft glow bathed Veronica's pale skin in her light. I assumed she was praying for her mate. Brown eyes looked up at the moon, shiny with salty moisture and she moved a coffee brown strand away from her face.
She was approaching her thirties and had been attending the Moon Blessed -estival since she turned fifteen with no luck. Her pack had been shipping her over to every gathering they could in hopes of finding her mate. Even though she was the only surviving child of her Alpha, her pack did not allow females to be an heir. Only males can be Alphas. I turned on my side, giving her some semblance of privacy in a room with twenty other she-wolves. The biggest festival in the werewolf community was starting tomorrow and I couldn't sleep. Tomorrow, I would have a chance to meet my soulmate in the first of several events.