Delta [Epsilon #2]

Chapter Eleven

Kyra

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(A/N: going to post the next chapter right after this one, since it's quite short.)

I dragged my feet all the way back to the palace. It was well into early afternoon by now. In all honesty, I found the prospect of returning to my friends within twenty minutes of my 'training'  embarrassing. I didn't really want to explain how I upset the Delta, so I opted to explore the grounds for a few hours instead.

By the time I was done, my hair was singing with the heat of the sun, and my skin was beginning to show the first signs of burn. It was definitely much warmer here than it was in the Southern Court. Or maybe my being locked in cold dungeons had skewed my perception of temperature. 

It took me a while to find my way back to my room. When I passed by the circular lobby on the way, the sudden influx of tension forced me to stop. I turned my head, squinting towards the loveseats up against the wall. Azure sat in one, Raina in the other, both with their arms crossed and staring away from each other. I knew in an instant that something had happened. 

I hoped maybe I could slip past without them seeing me, but no such luck. They turned to me in an instant. Trapped, I scrambled for words. "Hey guys... uhm, something wrong...?"

"I'd watch what you say, Kyra," Azure deadpanned. I blinked, but her cold eyes moved past mine to the large marble pillar to my left. "Surveillance is spying on us."

Raina shot her a lethal look. I didn't know what she was on about until a familiar boy rounded the pillar, his smile sheepish.

"Awh, how did you know?" Though he looked put-out from being found, his tone was light. Playful. It struck me as odd again, how a werewolf could be so... lively.

"Didn't I tell you to leave?" Azure snapped, glaring. "As for your question, your presence sticks out like a sore thumb. Do you also forget we have a strong sense of smell?"

I sniffed the air. Sure enough, there was a distinct scent of peppermint, one emanating from the boy. It occurred to me that this was probably the first time I'd ever actually noticed someone by smell in my human form. 

The male gave a mock pout. "Aw, come on! My cologne smells great! A friend of mine took it from a human town near our borders."

Ah. Cologne. No wonder I could smell him.

"And besides, I can't just leave," his grin widened, "I have my orders. Besides, it takes more than stink-eye from a terrifying woman to get rid of me."

Azure's glare turned lethal. Raina snickered, something that was quickly silenced by Azure's intense stare. The boy looked to me, as though awaiting my reaction, but any sort of humour was wasted on me. I wasn't in a mood for laughing. I sighed. 

"And Azure, Raina, why do you look about ready to kill each other?"

"Because Azure is convinced Luc wants to kill us," Raina supplied, her pale eyes flicking to the boy. I stared at him for a moment, momentarily lost in his hazel eyes. Such a pale shade of brown, I realised -- almost like the crumbling leaves of autumn. A gaze that should have been cold, yet radiated the warmth of summertime. 

"That's not what I said," Azure hissed in response. "I said he can't be trusted."

Raina scoffed, throwing her hands in the air. "Whatever. I trust him. Deal with it."

"Why are you even here, Raina?" Azure spat, leaning forward now. With the way they stared at each other, I was sure lightning would fork between them. "You called me a bitch and then fucked off. I assumed you didn't want my company, did you? So why did you come back?"

Raina called her a bitch? Raina? Oh, this was worse than I thought. 

But then I noticed the strange edge to Azure's tone. She masked it well with her anger, but I'd become attuned to things others would dismiss as ordinary. Pain. There was pain in her voice.  

"I'm not here for you, I was waiting for Kyra." Just then, Raina turned to me. She shot me a smile that was obviously false, ignoring Azure as though they'd never bickered in the first place. Azure looked about ready to explode, but Raina addressed me instead. "So, Kyra, how are you?"

I hesitated. I debated telling them I was okay, even though I was far from it. First the interrogation, the nightmares, and now the shitty mentor I have to deal with. But I hesitated for a moment to long, and suddenly telling them I was okay wasn't an option. I sighed, plopping myself down on the right-most loveseat. I placed my head in my hands.

"I'm doing terrible. The Delta's hell to work with. He's constantly trying to intimidate me or one-up me. It's intolerable."

"Ah, he's always been like that."

I lifted my head. Luc was grinning at me, though there was definite sympathy in his eyes. "I haven't been alive long -- definitely not as long as him -- but from what I've heard, he's never been any different."

"How old is he?" Azure deadpanned. Raina and I shared a glance, surprised Azure had even addressed Luc. The boy, thankfully, took her cold tone in stride. 

"Oh, at least seven-hundred. Maybe more. I know that Deltas can live for thousands of years, though."

I blanched. Seven-hundred?

"And why do you all allow him to do what he wants?" It was then that I realised what Azure was up to. She was testing Luc. She using questions to find inconsistencies in his answers, to confirm her distrust in him. 

But it seemed Luc had anything to hide. 

"Simple. There's nothing we can do." He shrugged. "He's disrespected Alpha Osyn more times than I could care to count, occasionally the Luna, and he also disrespects our god, Ignir. We don't appreciate it, and many of us hate his guts for it, but I'm sure the feelings are mutual. But, again, we can't do anything. He is our military power. Without him, we would be nothing."

I tried not to take in the magnitude of his words. The Delta was the military power. How strong must one wolf be in order to rival whole armies of other territories.

"The balance of his power... the Lunar and Emotional magic," I jumped in, surprising myself. "Has it ever been knocked out of balance?"

Luc's eyes shadowed, that amused light gone in an instant. A shiver passed through me. 

"Once, or so they say." His voice was low, as though afraid someone would overhear. "Long ago--"

He stopped, catching himself. Then, as though every bit of dread had been sucked out the room, the light rushed back into his face. He looked at his wrist in an exaggerated motion and gasped. "Would you look at that! It's almost dinner--"

"Dinner's two hours away. Plus, you don't even have a watch." Azure deadpanned.  

Luc shot her a devious grin. "Yes!" he dropped his voice to a whisper, "but I'm secretly a time-traveller, and my watch is invisible. Don't tell anyone!"

One wink, and he was gone, turning on his heel and racing down the hall

Luc's absence became apparent almost immediately, like blood draining from the corpse, any joy in the room drained away. I kept my hands in my lap as the air around us seemed to thicken, making it hard to breathe. I thought over Luc's words. 

The Delta was seven-hundred years old, and held the power of armies. I knew the fact should make me cower, make me want to run out and grovel for his forgiveness, but it didn't. I felt... nothing. The shock of the words had passed, and any fear I should have felt never came. 

At some point, Raina departed, Azure following shortly after. I just sat there feeling nothing, even as I repeated those frightening facts over and over again in my head. After an hour of losing myself in my own thoughts, I finally stood. As I did, only one question plagued my mind. 

Would I ever be able to feel again?