Chapter 4: The Summer Solstice

Tables were packed with plates and cutlery, meats and roasted vegetables, greens and desserts. They were laden with flowers spread among the dishes, decorations gracing the tables. The festival was a show of immense wealth meant to impress the shifters present. The food seemed endless, and staff continued to refill the dishes as they ran low. A constant stream of replenishment streamed from the kitchens to the grounds where the feast was set up. The tables of food were standing throughout the courtyard in the back of the castle. More tables stood in the fields beyond, benches attached for the participants to eat after their day of travel. All of the tribes had arrived and were mingling throughout the grounds, the game of cat and mouse had begun. The hunt brought thousands of guests, which required hundreds of additional tables. The wooden tables were fashioned specifically for the events of The Hunt, having been made years prior and stored in an underground, unused dungeon in between hunts.

The girls looked around in awe. They were dressed in simple summer gowns with carefully embroidered hemlines, their slippers dainty with solid soles fit to mingle in the grass. They took an assessment of the tables within their view and settled on an order in which to visit each place.

“Roasted meat and vegetables first,” Kate mumbled and the other two agreed as they set out across the yard toward the tables piled high with food fitting for the welcome feast.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to try everything, there’s just too much to sample,” Izzy said softly as she looked around in awe. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed as she smiled at the people she passed.

"Don't you find it a little bit odd that we are here celebrating the fact that in a week's time, most of us will no longer be virgins?" Susanna said bluntly.

Izzy quickly covered Maria's ears with her hands, shooting a glance at Susanna.

"Well, that's definitely one way to think about it," Kate agreed thoughtfully, not caring that there was a child within earshot.

"It really is a barbaric tradition. Bite me, break my hymen, invoke loads of pain, knock me up then let's celebrate!" Susanna said bitterly.

Izzy pointed Maria toward a table with colorful sweets and indicated she should go get one to try, "That pink one looks amazing, go grab one, Maria! Your daddy is just over by the fountain, there," she pointed toward Marcus and Maria rushed off in a flurry of skirts and smiles.

"Oh, seriously, Suse, calm down. You're just focusing too much on what Madame Rochee was talking about earlier and not enough on the beauty of mating. Just think, in a week's time you will have someone to kiss you goodnight every night, someone to wake up to each morning. You'll have the single most well-equipped individual to deal with your sadness and provide you with joy. Yes, having children may be a bit painful but think of all the joy they will bring you, too. Think of how wonderful it will be to be held in your mate's arms as you fall asleep each night. Could there be anything more wonderful?" Izzy sighed, her eyes staring dreamily off into space as she looped her arm around her sister's and Susanna’s and pulled them along toward the table with piles of food in the front courtyard.

Susanna watched her sister as she skipped away from the dessert table, a plate with a pink cake in her hand. Maria stood by her father, smiling up at him as she licked icing from the corner of her mouth. Marcus laughed and helped her clean her face with his handkerchief.

"Yes, Suse, don't forget, someone will be there to find your cold, dead body when you finally keel over in old age," Kate added cheerily, nudging Susanna in the ribs as they both erupted in giggles. Izzy rolled her eyes and laughed as they all made their way toward the pile of plates.

The Summer Solstice Feast was taking place outdoors to take advantage of the warm, June weather. The point of the feast was to welcome the hordes of people who had congregated here to celebrate and participate in The Hunt. Every member of this year's Hunt would be at the welcoming feast and thus began the mating games. The first of which was a sort of unofficial scavenger hunt. The welcome feast was inevitably a time for omegas to search desperately, though demurely, for their mates. Alphas in turn made it into a game, as they naturally did with anything, and they made a point to hide from their omegas all week to keep them searching and wanting. To be found on the first night was nothing short of humiliation, and so the dodging and escaping began as alphas found their mates from afar and avoided being found in return throughout the night. It was an unspoken rule that every alpha participated in. It helped that the alpha nose was more sensitive to scents and able to pick up his mate's scent long before the omega could. The evasion made the early events all the more enjoyable for the alpha. The anticipation started to build at the opening feast and smoldered all week until it practically burst during The Hunt.

Maria walked back over, having demolished her cake and joined the line with the girls, getting a plate and piling it high with roasted meat. Her plate suspiciously lacked any vegetables, but she looked up with glee and noticed that no one was taking note of her diet that day.

"Do you think she's still a virgin, though?" Kate asked darkly, looking ahead at a woman with a bodice tied so tightly her breasts were practically spilling out of the top.

"It's possible she's not. That said, I don't think I know any girls that slept with other people before being mated, do you know of any?" Susanna whispered at Kate and Izzy. 

"Maria, go find Richard and your daddy with your plate, they're just over there," Izzy gestured toward their fathers, trying to save Maria's ears from the crass talk Kate and Susanna felt necessary once again.

"For goodness sake! She's 8, you could wait to talk about such things!" Izzy scolded. 

"Come on, Izzy, do you think that woman might have slept around?" Kate prodded.

"No, surely not. She just has ample breasts, they'll keep her mate warm in the winter, I'm sure," Izzy snorted as she spoke, realizing how ridiculous she sounded as she spoke. She prodded Kate in the ribs, "Don't be unkind, I'm sure she's a lovely lady. Maybe she can't afford clothing that fits well. Be nice, Catherine!" 

"You're right, Iz, I'm sorry. It's just I've always wondered if there were people in the tribes that test out the wares ahead of time, ya know?" Kate winked as Izzy blushed and Susanna laughed.

“I wouldn’t mind knowing what to expect,” Susanna muttered as she gazed around the people nearby. They took their plates to a table and sat, eating properly while glancing around the courtyard.

Kate laughed in astonishment, “You mean you wish you had slept with Robbie last summer when he begged you to?”

Susanna snorted, “Goddess, no. He was disgusting. I wouldn’t mind knowing the mechanics of it all though. Like, what do you do? And how?”

Kate looked down at her plate, her brow puzzled. “I suppose you’ll find out soon enough. Be sure to let me know how it goes. The mechanics of it, at least.”

The girls laughed heartily while covering their mouths with napkins, trying not to look as ungraceful as they felt.

"My word, your mate is in for it," Izzy added, wiping her mouth gently and setting her napkin aside. 

The girls were finishing their first plate of meat and roasted vegetables and surveyed the remaining tables carefully.

“There’s a salad table?” Izzy offered as she looked to the left of the courtyard. Kate scrunched her nose in distaste and Susanna shook her head quickly with a shudder.

“Alright, no salad then,” Izzy corrected. She gazed toward the other side of the courtyard, “Ah, fried foods.”

Kate and Susanna jumped up and nodded, Izzy laughing behind them. They made their way toward an assortment of fried dishes and came back with a second plate, sitting in the same seats they had vacated a few moments earlier.

"Do you think they're here?" Izzy asked quietly, watching the crowds carefully as she took a bite of fried shrimp. There were thousands of people milling around the courtyard, it would be virtually impossible to pinpoint where their mate was even if they did scent him here. The courtyard itself was huge, spanning as much land as the castle itself. They would never find their mates in this maze.

"I'm sure they are. It's not likely that we won't have mates here, it's almost guaranteed in fact that we will find them this Hunt. Do you really want to ruin the surprise now though?" Susanna asked Izzy. "Don't you want to wait and be surprised on the Hunt? It would make the chase so much more exciting. Imagine hiding and then being knocked over with a scent that makes your mouth water, something that smells like sandalwood and vanilla..." Her voice trailed off as she sniffed the air.

"Sandalwood and Vanilla?" Izzy asked Susanna in confusion. "Are you alright, Suse? You look pale." She glanced at Kate but Kate shrugged in response, no wiser than Izzy was.

"I think I smell him," Susanna said softly, her face going pale. "Oh shit, this isn't good. I can't find him in the crowds, but he is definitely here. I am certain my mate is here." She said the last sentence desperately, her voice edged with panic as she realized that she really was going to be starting a new life in just a few short weeks. "Do you think he's from the same tribe as one of your mates? Oh please, goddess, let one of you be with me. I don't know how I'm going to handle being separated from either of you!"

Susanna was glancing left and right, trying to find a man that looked like he was watching her. She saw nothing and, in her panic, failed to see the Kreil men standing by the fountain watching their table.

"You mean you'll miss my endless optimism?" Izzy joked, grabbing Susanna's arm and wrapping it around her own. She pointed to a passing waiter holding a drink tray and she reached out to grab a passing drink. She nearly fell back in her chair reaching for the glass.

"You have to be quick around here," she murmured quietly.

"You know I will," Susanna rolled her eyes and responded to Izzy's first comment. "Though I might miss Kate's pessimism even more than your optimism as it does seem to be more like my own."

"Oh hush, you! Your love is equal, admit it, you need my optimism to balance both of your pessimistic demeanors so that we can exist in harmony. This is why it is clearly obvious to me that we are all going to the same tribe. Fate would not break apart this trio so callously. Three men shall not break our bond. The world would never be the same if we were forced to live apart," Izzy said dramatically.

"Well, that's a bit much, Iz, but I hear you," Kate laughed as Izzy and Susanna laughed along with her.

"Shoot, I've lost the scent. That was the best scent I've ever smelled," Susanna looked longingly around the feast, wondering where her mate was and how she would find him.

"We will walk around after we eat, we'll find him! Now that we know you, at least, have a mate here, we have a task! Find Susanna's mate! Let's finish eating first," Izzy said. 

The girls finished eating their plates of fried food and went in search of dessert, there were many alphas to discretely sniff through this evening and they would need sustenance to make it through.

“Kate, look at that pie. It’s pecan. Grab me a piece, would you?” Izzy pointed to a pie on the same side of the table as Kate. Kate grabbed two pieces and slid them on her plate before walking further down the table.

“Oh my word, this is key lime. I can not believe they made key lime pie,” Susanna nearly drooled as she put a piece of key lime pie on her plate as well.

“Get me a piece too!” Kate exclaimed as she looked over at the key lime pie with longing. She was more interested in the desserts than she was in finding her mate at the moment.

“Oh, Suse, look, these are cream puffs! Remember when Nanna made these for us and we ate so many we nearly got sick?” Izzy smiled as she piled the side of her plate with cream puffs. Susanna wrinkled her nose as she looked at the puffs.

“I do, yes. No need to grab me any of those,” she said with distaste as she recalled tasting cream puffs every time she burped for a week. She would never be able to eat them again.

Izzy laughed merrily and added an extra puff to her plate. She had no such problem with cream puffs.

“Oh no!” Izzy exclaimed in dismay.

“What?” Kate looked up sharply and Susanna turned back to glance at Izzy with worry.

“I don’t have enough room for the brownies!” Izzy lamented. Kate snorted and Susanna giggled as they took in the size of Izzy’s plate. It was piled high. Higher than it had been at the previous two tables, easily.

“Of course, you do!’ Susanna said as she stepped back and shifted a few puffs into a tower. “Right there!”

“Oh, perfect, thanks Suse,” Izzy laughed at her friend and added a brownie to the empty space. She ladled caramel on top and eyed it greedily.

“That looks good,” Kate nodded and walked around the end of the table to add a brownie to her plate as well.

“Indeed,” Susanna said as she, too, ladled caramel onto a brownie sitting on her plate.

The girls took their plates back to the table and sat, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter as they did.

“This might be better than finding my mate,” Kate said as she eyed her plate with satisfaction.

“Mmmhmm,” Susanna agreed, her mouth already full of pie.

“It does come in a very close second,” Izzy closed her eyes as she took a bite of the caramel brownie, humming in satisfaction as she let the sweet sensation spread over her tongue.

If the food was any indication, they were going to have a fantastic Hunt.