The caravan from Ellisvale finally made its way to Castle Rouge at dinnertime the following day. Trunks, bags, provisions, and other personal effects were taken inside the castle. Each tribe was assigned a separate wing of the castle. Izzy, Kate, Susanna, and Maria were assigned to one room with two large beds, their trunks having been brought in and set up at the foot of each bed. The girls proceeded to pull out their festival clothes to air out and hang up in preparation for the upcoming festivities, shaking out the wrinkles in the fabric as they did.
The Kreil left camp early while the rest of camp was still sleeping. When the camp woke to continue their journey, the Kreil warriors had already spanned out ahead and behind the Ellisvale caravan to provide additional protection. As a result, Izzy still had not met Nate and Nate was no closer to finding his mate's name. Nate, Seth, and Logan rode in front of the caravan, scouting the path ahead to make sure no raiders were lying in wait to ambush them. As a result, they had reached the castle, tethered their horses, and secured their room before the girls had even seen the great castle in the distance from their wagon.
Nate, Seth, and Logan proceeded to the great hall where the rest of the Kreil warriors were gathering to discuss the recent raids they had seen on their journey north.
"There were three towns raided on the western road," Kyle was saying as Nate, Seth, and Logan joined the group. Kyle was pointing to a map, indicating where the raids occurred.
"We saw two on our journey. Here," Seth pointed to the map, "and here."
"What does the Council think about the raids?" Nate asked, looking at the Kreil ambassador. He was hoping Cliff would be able to provide more information from the other tribes.
Cliff was the Kreil ambassador to the Council. The Council consisted of one member of each tribe of shifters. The Council acted as a governing body over the shifter community, providing rules and regulations for the tribes to adhere to. Cliff also held the distinction of possessing a seat as ambassador to the Privy Council which was in charge of all seven kingdoms.
The Privy Council consisted of seven representatives one from each kingdom representing the creatures that inhabited the Lower Land. These council members were the bridge between the royal family and local rulers. They set the laws approved by the King. The King could impose his own set of laws but he generally allowed the Privy Council to do so.
The Council was in charge of The Hunt in the shifter kingdom, but The Hunt was decreed by the Privy Council. Many years ago, after watching the kingdoms fall into chaos in search of mates, the Privy Council created rules about when and how an omega could be claimed. They decreed alphas can only claim mates during three weeks in June and were not allowed to claim a mate younger than 18. While this was controversial at the time, the wisdom of limiting when and who could be claimed reduced raids and looting.
Each kingdom was allowed to set its own rules determining how alphas can claim omegas. In the shifter kingdom, alphas were natural hunters. They hunted food, enemies, raiders, even people when a tracker was needed. Hunting was a natural instinct and it excited the alphas. They found the most joy out of catching their prey and dragging them back home as a prize. This was why in centuries past, alphas would go on mad rages, ravaging cities until they could find their mate and drag her back to his village to plunder her senseless. The violence in the shifter kingdom was a large driving factor behind the modified regulations.
So, thus, The Hunt was born. It was aptly named as every alpha over the age of 18 without a mate was invited to participate each June in a hunt to find their omega mate. Omegas were not given a choice, if they were not mated and were over the age of 18 they were required to present themselves as an eligible mate to the council each June and in turn, participate in the hunt until they were 'caught'. A majority of omegas only participated in one hunt, but some went two or three years before finding their mate. A few very unlucky omegas went as many as six years before a mate was negotiated for them.
The Hunt was exactly as it sounded. Omegas were given a 30-minute head start and were set loose into the playing field. The playing field was a twenty-mile square plot of land encompassing forests, rivers, lakes, canyons, and mountains. The terrain allowed for an adventurous hunt to excite the alphas. Everything about the hunt catered to the alphas, omegas were there as the prize. Omegas were allowed to go anywhere within the playing field and were given five days to evade capture if evading capture was their goal. If an alpha didn't catch his mate, he was considered unworthy and had to try again the following year. After 30-minutes, alphas were released. They were only allowed their nose to track and capture their omega. Once they found their omega, they would bite her neck to claim her and bring her back to the castle. Once she was at the castle, she was officially his property.
Within the last few years, several tribes experienced raids in the month prior to The Hunt. Once The Hunt ended, the raids ended until the following May, like clockwork. The purpose of these raids was unknown, the raiders never stole and never stayed long enough to be captured.
"The raids seem to follow a pattern," Cliff said, gesturing toward the map. "This year they are along the path of the Ellisvale tribe, see?" Cliff trailed his finger along the path the Ellisvale caravan had taken, hitting several of the raid markers on the map. "The raiders don't seem to have the most up-to-date information, but the council believes the Ellisvale tribe has something that the raiders desperately want."
Nate looked up at Seth and Logan, concern etched in his face. He thought back to the sweet blond face from last night. His instinct to protect her was overwhelming.
"So, what do you propose we do?" Seth asked Cliff. As ambassador, Cliff would hopefully have a plan of attack approved by the Council.
"Ben and Kyle will interview the members from Ellisvale. Find out what the raiders want before the war is brought to The Hunt." Cliff said with authority. "The attacks this year have been more violent than prior years. A man died in one of the villages. They want something and they are getting desperate."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Ben asked, his brows creased in concern.
"We have no fucking clue," Cliff said in frustration. He gestured wildly at the map. "We will do rotating rounds here at the castle until we can get reinforcements from neighboring tribes. We only brought unmated alphas with us, which means every one of you will be otherwise disposed of for five days next week."
"Well, that's a bit pessimistic, don't you think?" Logan smirked.
"Yeah, I think I'll be out for about 45 minutes," Ben chimed in, nudging his neighbor. "Gage here will be longer, 3 hours."
"Want to bet on that?" Gage asked, shoving Ben to the side.
"Alright men, I will arrange rounds. You three will leave first thing tomorrow to gather more mated warriors to guard the castle during The Hunt. Even if it is just for 45 minutes," he chuckled and rolled his eyes and indicated Seth, Nate, and Logan would go round up reinforcements.
Cliff walked off toward the council room to provide an update. The council would be on hand for the duration of The Hunt. This was the biggest event all year and security was the top priority.
The rest of the men sat at the table talking about the upcoming Hunt. The raids were so common leading up to The Hunt that even Kreil couldn't be bothered to ponder the purpose any longer. Cliff seemed unduly concerned about how many had occurred this year but from the Kreil perspective, it seemed par on course. There hadn't been a death on a raid for well over ten years, so the news of a casualty was concerning.
"Nate saw his mate at the camp last night," Seth smirked. A dozen eyes glanced at Seth and then turned to smirk at Nate. Nate's neighbors clapped him on the back and offered their congratulations as everyone started talking at once.
"Who is she?" Kyle asked curiously.
"No clue," Nate added. He was never a man of many words.
"She has long blond hair and she came from Ellisvale. We camped with their tribe last night," Logan offered.
"My mum has a sister that lives in Ellisvale," Justin chimed in.
"Except your mum is hundreds of miles away, not helpful," Logan rolled his eyes as he pointed out the flaw in Justin's logic.
"Right, sorry, man, I've got nothing helpful," Justin added cheerfully.
"I heard they're changing the rules this year. Alphas have to confirm their mate to participate. If you don't confirm the name of your omega then you don't get to participate. If an omega isn't confirmed, she doesn't have to participate. It's supposed to help keep alphas from rogue claiming and it keeps omegas from wandering aimlessly for five days if no one's looking for her," Kyle added with a chuckle.
"I think that's just the motivation Nate needs to find out her name," Logan joked, clapping Nate on the back.
"The feast is tonight, you're almost guaranteed to see her tonight and find out what her name is," Seth chimed in.
"How much you want to bet that we all have mates in The Hunt this year?" Logan wiggled his eyebrows. "Fate always gives Kreil the best," he boasted. The guys at the table laughed and agreed.
It was almost certain they would all have mates in The Hunt. Kreil alphas only joined the hunt every three to four years, which meant that when they did finally come to the festivities they were almost always in their early twenties. This reduced the chance their mates were too young to participate in The Hunt. There were rarely large age gaps between mates, the biggest they were aware of is the five-year gap between Cliff and his mate, Amelia. Most gaps were only two or three years. Because of this, if an omega hadn't found her mate after five hunts, her father was allowed to barter a mate with an older alpha. This was strictly a business deal so the omega was rarely given a say. It was a way to keep bloodlines going and protect the most vulnerable omegas, the mateless. It wasn't guaranteed that your fated mate was still alive, so inevitably there were five to ten omegas each year who were given a yellow armband to wear in the hunt, indicating they weren't being hunted by their fated mate.
"I've got 100 silver coins on Justin not finding his mate this round," Logan laughed, "Any takers?"
"You're on!" Justin yelled, shaking Logan's hand. "You're going to be so pissed when you find out I have a mate here and you don't," Justin smirked.
"100 silver coins on Seth taking longer than a day," Kyle threw out.
"Fucking prick, it's on!" Seth said, grabbing Kyle's hand for a hard, firm shake and laughing darkly. "You are going to owe me 100 coins when you come back from The Hunt empty-handed and you find me in bed, balls deep in my mate," Seth smirked, slapping Kyle upside the head.
The group laughed as they all made their way toward the Kreil wing to get ready for the Summer Solstice Feast which would kick off the festivities before The Hunt.