My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 175: Festival of Lights

Violet

The streets had drastically changed from the calm scenery during the day, and it hit me like a wave.

The noises, the lights, the colours, and the crowds...

I stopped right outside the building, catching my breath. Whatever I had imagined the festival would be, this wasn’t it.

It looked far wilder than the calm events I had seen in Fresna.

The street was packed with bodies, wolves in both their human and shifted forms, moving and laughing and calling to one another in a constant stream of sound. Torches and bright lanterns hanging from tall poles lit up the road, and they were of so many colours.

Makeshift stalls were open, along with other strange ones and the smell of spices different from what I was used to surrounded me.

And the wolves...

A lot of them seemed to wear strange costumes while others wore elaborate masks. A number of people also painted their faces with strange symbols and those in wolf forms had their fur painted with similar markings.

A chant rose from somewhere deeper in the crowd, and the music was so loud it was as if the air itself was starting to vibrate because of it.

I had adjusted my senses, particularly my hearing, but seeing everything in front of me like this was strange.

"Here."

Rowan held out a small pouch that clinked when it moved.

"A few coins," he explained. "For whatever you need. Games, food, snacks, and other forms of entertainment. It’s the local currency."

I took it, not knowing what to say. I wanted to thank him but the words wouldn’t come out.

He reluctantly took a step back away from me. "If you need me in case anything happens—"

"I think I will be fine..." I looked up at him. "Thank you."

He nodded then turned and walked away, his form swallowed almost immediately by the crowd.

I stood still for a few seconds, not knowing what to do at first until I started moving.

For a while, I just wandered around, taking in the sights. Food stalls lined the streets I would pass and I would see strange, and at times, off-putting delicacies that were apparently from the sea. This capital also seemed to have pastries too, and some were coated in fine white powder.

After some consideration, I decided to try some of them and they tasted sweet. There were also cut fruits I tried and as I moved on, I relaxed a bit.

To my surprise, I came across a few Omegas who seemed to be enjoying themselves and I wasn’t sure why, but it felt so strange to see them mingle so seamlessly with other wolves that I even started to think something was wrong, which disturbed me.

This was how it was supposed to be.

I just hoped there were other territories that maybe didn’t treat their Omegas horribly?

Music drifted from somewhere nearby. Drums beating at a steady rhythm, along with stringed instruments that created melodies that blended with the noisy crowd.

I followed the sound and found a large, clearer street where musicians played. People danced around them and I watched for a short time while I ate the rest of the pastry I had gotten. It was mesmerising to see how carefree they looked.

Not too far from there, I came across a row of stalls where people gathered in front of some of them.

I didn’t exactly understand until I had watched for a while to realise they were playing some sort of games or activities in these stalls. Some wolves would take turns throwing circular rings onto thin small poles to try and let them land.

There were other strange activities happening, but I stopped to watch this one.

A young woman threw three rings. Missed all three. She frowned and mumbled under her breath as she turned away.

The vendor, who was a cheerful older man, noticed me watching.

"’Want to try?’ he asked, holding out three rings.

I hesitated, then nodded.

He handed them to me. They were heavier than I expected, but I was able to throw them into the pole.

It was surprisingly easy and the vendor looked surprised which baffled me.

He handed me a small carved wooden token as a prize. It looked like a small toy and was in the shape of a fish.

The realisation that I could actually get some sort of reward for participating in these activities made me happy for no reason, and I went about, moving from stall to stall and playing different games.

Each time I won something, tokens, small trinkets, toys, and even a ribbon that the vendor tied around my wrist, I felt the lightness in my chest grow.

I realized, with sudden clarity, that I couldn’t remember ever feeling like this.

I was enjoying whatever this was.

I just kept moving through the festival, playing games, watching performers, letting myself bask in the comforting feeling. It got to a point where I had to buy a strange bag called a tote bag so I would be able to keep the items I had won and the pretty things I had bought.

Rowan had given me a lot of money, and I didn’t know it had been so much.

[ - ]

I was following the smell of something sweet when I sensed Rowan close by. I contemplated leaving the area entirely so as not to cross paths with him, but I decided I wouldn’t let this spoil my evening. I wanted to taste what I was smelling.

But against better judgment, I found him standing near a torch lit part of the street, his head bent slightly as if he was listening to someone speaking to him.

My steps faltered when I recognized the woman from earlier today.

The one with the big chest and the sultry smile.

She stood close to him, her head was tilted in that same coy manner.

I could only see Rowan’s back and not his face to be able to tell how he was reacting to her.

Something sharp and uncomfortable lodged itself in my chest.