Chapter Eleven: Midnight Feast

                                    

                                          
Dong, dong, dong.
                          
The tolling of a bell jolted me from my sleep. I rubbed my tired eyes, still half asleep.
                          
Seeing a mass of lupine headed somewhere, I left the boulder. 
                          
Where was everyone going?
                          
"Oh, right!" I remembered, talking to the setting sun. "The feast is tonight!"
                          
A felt a shiver of excitement as I made my way over to what I supposed was the dining area. I glanced around, but none of my friends were in view.
                          
Pausing at the thought, I mulled over the statement. Friends. I hadn't had many with the Feline. Only Adrian. And someone...else. Now though, I can say it without a doubt. The Lupine were more of a family to me than most of my old tribe. The tribe I grew up with. Funny how those kinds of things work.
                          
"Hey," A gruff voice muttered behind me. "Get a move on, The rest of us are hungry you know. First-years need to learn their place."
                          
Surprised, I got out of the way in a hurry, my face hot. "Sorry." I was sure making a mess of my reputation, and I'd only been here for half a day. Then again, what reputation? This new camp was supposed to be a clean slate on my life. Supposedly.
                          
Resuming my search, I found Ray and Jerry waving me over. 
                          
There they are.
                          
Jerry nudged me as I took a seat. "So are we going to hear about the great story of Dakota and Melody?"
                          
I smirked. "Undoubtedly."
                          
Ray leaned over and half-whispered extremely loudly. "So did anything interesting happen?"
                          
Sighing in annoyance, I replied. "No. Disappointed? We were trying to save your sorry lives. And besides, it's not like that."
                          
Ray rolled his eyes, but only smiled knowingly, glancing at Jerry. They both snickered.
                          
Well then. I bet now they were going to play matchmaker. Good luck with that, have fun while you're at it.
                          
"Um, when does the feast start?" I asked, wanting to hurry up and eat.
                          
"Just about now." Ray and Jerry chorused.
                          
With a grand boom of a huge bell, the cooks entered, bringing with them amazing aromas. I found it hard not to drool in anticipation.
                          
No wonder Brooke had had to leave so quickly. Looking at the number of dishes, I wouldn't be surprised if our tribe couldn't stomach it all.
                          
Then again, we were Lupine.
                          
Contrary to our meager traveling rations, there were other dishes besides meat. Plates were filled with fruit pies, small bread rolls, and even salads.
                          
Alpha Micha raised his hand for silence. The Lupine quieted after a few moments of chatter, and the Alpha's voice carried across the huge hall.
                          
"To a great victory, to our injured comrades, to the Lupine!"
                          
The cheer was repeated and with a roar, the tribe went to feasting.
                          
Apparently, there was a very organized way to do this 'feasting' thing. Ray explained it in a really long complicated way. 
                          
To cut things short, basically, the first-years were served last.
                          
Lucky us.
                          
Passing time by chatting idly with the others, my mind wandered. I was so dazed and lost, I didn't notice when Dakota and Brooke plonked down at our table. Nor did I heed the great bell ring to finally call the first-years to eat.