Chapter 3: Castle Rouge

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.

Izzy laughed as she looked around the room, assessing the dresses and reordering them by event. “It looks like a modiste shop here!”

Susanna smiled and glanced around the room. She was filled with trepidation, she didn’t want to leave her best friends or her sister. She knew her mate would be good to her, but change wasn’t always welcome. Even if there was an adventure to be had.

“Come on, Katie, let’s get something to eat. I am starving!” Izzy exclaimed as she looped her arm through Susanna’s. “You will have the best two weeks of your life, Suse, I can feel it. This is going to be a life-changing Hunt, my soul is about to burst from the excitement.”

Susanna laughed as she glanced at her friend, “Everything with you is the best time of my life, Iz. I just don’t want to leave you or Kate when I go to my new tribe.”

“Well, Suse, you and I will just have to make sure that we aren’t going to a new tribe if we find our mates are from different ones. You and I can head home with Daddy and Uncle Marcus this year. Between the two of us, we can surely outsmart a few silly hunters,” Kate boasted as she followed after Susanna and Izzy toward the smell of roasted chicken. They were hungry and food was their first order of business.

The Kreil left camp early that morning, well before the rest of camp had woken for the day. 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 out 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 Elail Council. The Elail Council consisted of one member elected from each of the twelve tribes of shifters. The Elail 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 oversaw 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. Cliff represented the kingdom of Elail, comprised of the twelve tribes of shifters.

The Elail Council oversaw The Hunt in Elail, but The Hunt was decreed by the Privy Council. Many years ago, after watching the kingdoms fall into chaos as alphas searched desperately for their mate, 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 and guaranteed omegas were not rogue claimed by a man other than her mate.

Each kingdom was allowed to set its own rules determining how alphas can claim omegas. In Elail, alphas were natural hunters. They hunted food, enemies, raiders, even people when a tracker was needed. That was what the Kreil tribe was known for, their tracking abilities. Hunting was an instinct for shifters, 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 Elail was a large driving factor behind the modification of the 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'. Most 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, a man not fated to be their mate.

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 meant to excite the alphas. Everything about the Hunt catered to the alphas, omegas were merely 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 a 30-minute head start, alphas were released. They were only allowed to use their natural abilities to track and capture their omega. Once they found their omega, they would bite her neck to claim her and carry her back to the castle. Once she was at the castle, she was officially his property to do with as he pleased.

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 anything and they never stayed long enough to be captured. Most wore masks and couldn’t be identified, they were like ghosts, sliding in to frighten and leaving before anyone thought to fight back.

"The raids seem to follow a pattern," Cliff said, gesturing toward the map. "This year they are following 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 the prior 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 Elail 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 addressing the two men standing slightly behind him. They nodded and he continued, "The attacks this year have been more violent than prior years. A man died in one of the villages, no one has ever been hurt before. 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 boasted, his face covered with a smirk.

"Yeah, I think I'll be out for about 45 minutes," Ben chimed in, nudging his neighbor. "Gage here will be longer, 3 hours. No, maybe 4 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 the next day.

“You’ll need to find your mates tonight, there’s a new process for claiming this year,” Cliff said as an afterthought to the three men before nodding and rolling up his map.

Cliff walked off toward the Elail 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 their 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 next to their tribe last night," Logan offered.

"My mum has a sister that lives in Ellisvale," Justin chimed in, pursing his lips thoughtfully.

"Except your mum is hundreds of miles away, so that’s not helpful," Logan rolled his eyes as he pointed out the flaw in Justin's logic.

"Right, sorry, man, I've got nothing to add," Justin added cheerfully.

"I heard they're changing the rules this year. Alphas must confirm their mate before he can 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 either. 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.

“That must have been what Cliff was referring to,” Seth nodded toward the door Cliff had left.

"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 sticking his chest out proudly. The guys at the table laughed and agreed.

He was right; 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 continue the bloodlines and protect the most vulnerable omegas, the mateless. It wasn't guaranteed that your fated mate was still alive by the time you joined the Hunt, 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, his eyes narrowed in challenge.

"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 days of festivities before The Hunt.