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.'
I stared at their downturned eyes. Afraid, indeed. But I wasn't afraid of them.
I turned to see Raina staring at me, an unsure look plaguing her features. Though our entrance stirred tension, some still lingering among the space in the form of muttering and stares, it had almost returned to the usual dynamic.
I stared ahead, towards where the Alpha and Luna sat. Luna Darla shot me a small smile, whilst Alpha Osyn didn't deign to look my way. Expected. I continued to turn my gaze over the people at the front, searching for a dark figure with white hair. Nothing. The Delta wasn't here, and I wasn't sure if I should feel worried or relieved.
The scent of seasoned meat caressed my senses, and it was only then that I acknowledged the food lined in the centre of the tables, arranged like a buffet. Even so, everyone's plates remained white and untouched. Strange... why weren't they eating?
I got my answer when Alpha Osyn stood, the hall falling silent in his wake. Something in his eyes glimmered at the silence, at the power he held, and only one word came to mind -- greedy.
I'd known someone else like that...
"Good morning, people of the North!" he boomed, his greeting met by a barrage of smiles and quiet cheers. "For this meal, we are grateful to Ignir, for it is he who protects us all."
Everyone nodded their agreement. I threw Azure a look, but she looked just as lost as me.
"So please, let us provide our gratitude by sending up a prayer to our gracious God of the North, Ignir."
Simultaneously, everyone bowed their heads, and then it clicked. This territory worshipped... a god. I blinked. Having only ever known the Southern Courts, I'd always assumed that everything in the werewolf world was uniform. If the Southern Court didn't worship a god, then neither did the others -- or so I'd thought. In truth, I hadn't thought werewolves to have the capacity to worship a god.
Unsure of what else to do, I bowed my head along with the others, Azure and Raina following suite. However, before the Alpha could open his mouth to utter the words of the prayer, a loud boom sounded to our right, one which had everyone jumping up in their seats.
I stared towards the doors that had been thrown open, towards the dark figure in the centre. Delta. His black combat clothes were snagged and shabby, as though he'd decided to go for a run through thick woods. His white hair was tousled this way and that, eyes cold as he scanned our faces.
An unsettling silence fell over the room like a blanket. We all watched on as the Delta marched in, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he'd walked in during a prayer. And, judging by the look on everyone's faces, I deduced that doing so was a grave infraction.
My eyes moved to the head of the room. The Alpha had his hands braced on the table before him, face white with fury. His dark eyes tracked the figure of the Delta, and I could feel the explosion moments before he even opened his mouth.
"Again, Delta? What did I say about walking in during the prayer! Have you no respect?" The vein in his temple ticked like a time bomb. The Delta lifted his gaze, regarding the Alpha as though he were a fussy child rather than a leader. He scoffed.
"I could care less about your prayers. I just want some damn food."
Sure enough, he sauntered towards the head table, where several portions rotisserie chicken and cooked rice lay. The court remained wholly silent as he picked up a plate and noisily scoped the food onto it, the clanks of his spoon dreadfully loud in the near-silent hall.
Luna Darla's face was tight, and Alpha Osyn looked on the verge of exploding. However, it seemed he managed to reign in his anger for just a moment, for he snarled in a very restrained tone, "You should have a little more respect for our god, Delta."
The male lifted his head and glowered at the Alpha. For a moment, he said nothing. Then, he tipped back his head and roared a humourless laugh. "You want to know what I think our your god?"
Slowly, with a loaded plate in one hand and nothing in the other, he spun on his heel and stared at the chandelier in the centre of the room, at the star dangling from it. The Northern Star, I realised, as he aimed a vulgar gesture towards the decoration, sending a ripple of soft gasps through the hall.
The Alpha's face was red, eyes bulging as though his own fury were choking him. Even those around me -- those who had gone into shocked silence -- were now bristling at the Delta's actions. Still, no one moved, and as the Delta scanned the hall with a smug look on his face, I knew why. No one could take on the Delta. No one, not even their own Alpha.
Just as I thought the room would snap in half with the tension, the Delta stormed out the hall and shut the doors behind them, their booms echoing eerily in the silent hall.
No one said anything. The Alpha looked like he may curse out the sun, and he probably would have, if Luna Darla didn't place a delicate hand over his. She whispered something to him, and his shoulders relaxed. No one said a word as Osyn began to mutter the words of the prayer, staring down at his wife's hand as though that was the only thing grounding him. As people bowed their heads, eyes on their plates, I found mine locked on the doors. Part of me wondered what had happened to the Delta, what had made him turn on his own god. Somehow, I got the feeling Azure and Raina were wondering the same thing, too.
As the prayer came to a silent finish, and the hushed clatter of silverware filled the hall, a thought occurred to me. Maybe the Delta's cold exterior wasn't just there to scare people. Maybe... maybe it was hiding something, too.