Delta [Epsilon #2]

Chapter Seven

The hall was vast, to say the least. 

Mahogany tables lined the space. People of all shapes and colours moved about the seats, settling beside friends or starting up conversations with strangers. Jovial laughter cracked and boomed about the space, wafting up towards the glass dome ceiling only to echo back again. I noticed how the deep yellow-and-red stained glass of the dome permitted very little light in, giving the dark room a warm, golden ambiance. A large, crystal chandler hung from the centre of the dome, the bottom-most pendant fashioned into an eight-pointed star.

My eyes moved, trying to take everything in. Gold shapes patterned the white walls, shapes I soon recognised to be eight-pointed stars. Paintings of all textures lined the walls. Some depicting rolling hills, whilst others showcased castles before a night sky. My eyes weaved in-between the tables, at the people who sat upon them. There was no denoting features of rank, and it seemed, no segregation. I blinked. It was almost as though the pack hierarchy didn't exist here, and... and a part of me appreciated that. Thinking about Omegas talking to Thetas, seeing eye-to-eye... it warmed my cold heart, just a little. 

"Where do we sit?" came Raina's quiet voice, so quiet I almost didn't hear it over the clamour. Everything bombarded me -- the smells of spices, the loud echoing voices, the colours, the textures... my head started to spin. 

"Definitely not over there." Azure pointed towards a table situated at the front, the only table, I realised, that had some form of rank segregation. Two golden thrones sat there, along with several smaller seats also cushioned with gold. Alpha Osyn sat in his throne, eyes focused on Luna Darla as she whispered something in his ear -- a story lost amongst the sounds of quiet chaos. My eyes looked over the other faces there, and my eyes landed on one figure in particular. A man with brown-red hair, streaks of grey showing through. His face looked slightly older than the others', his brown eyes slightly wiser. Gauss. 

"Over there." Azure nodded towards a space I couldn't pick out amongst the sea of heads. "There's a free space at that table. Come on."

Slowly, we walked towards a table with several empty spots. As we entered the main clutter, I began to notice the eyes sticking to us like glue, an infection that seemed to spread as word of our presence got round. Silence settled in our wake as we walked, the jovial laughs replaced instead by low mutterings -- nothing joyous or warm about them. 

I didn't care, though. In fact, I was used to it, and judging by Azure's composure I guessed she was, too. Raina, however, didn't look to be taking it so well. She kept her face down, her cascading hair hiding the cheeks that burned bright red. I noticed how she was sticking closer to me now, as though to use me as a shield from all the glares and stares. Part of me pitied her for it. Another part of me, a cold part of me, knew she needed to toughen up. 

I stared up ahead, towards a space big enough for the three of us. I noticed Azure glaring daggers at everyone she could, moving in front as though to shield us from their cold eyes. To my surprise, a few of them looked away, but I couldn't blame them. There was nothing more unnerving than Azure's cold stare, not when her eyes are like the arctic shelves themselves. 

Finally, we approached the table and sat. As I was about to settle in, the boy next to me turned and looked at me, a sneer engraving his brutish features. My face didn't move, and neither did my body. I stared at him for a few moments, still, almost like a predator watching its prey. The silence ticked on for a moment too long before the boy hastily looked away, his face slightly pale I don't feel any pride in it. I sat.

I noticed that Raina had wedged herself beside me, with Azure at the other end. The people before us deigned to met our gazes, and I recalled a distant time, a distant memory of someone telling me, 'They hate you because they're afraid of you.'