"Is it completely necessary to do this?" Lou complained, tugging at the starchy fabric of her suit collar. "I mean, what does it matter if I'm in a suit or not? It's all posh nonsense any way, and weather or not I'm dressed fancy doesn't make me any more or less weak!"
"That was my great-great grandfather's suit, and I would ask that you treat it with more respect," Draven hissed. "And yes, it is completely necessary for you to dress in the finest we have available. You are representing our pack after all, and if the others think little of you, they'll think little of us as well."
"I still say this is all bullshit," Lou grumbled.
She glanced at her companions with some frustration. Of course Draven was wearing a similarly styled victorian-era Tuxedo that emphasized his pale skin, raven hair, and blood-red eyes. He seemed to think the style was comfortable so naturally he wouldn't be understanding. Maud got to wear her regular date-night dress, a simple sleeveless gown that hugged her figure starting just above her bust and ending at the thighs, and under those she wore fishnets stalkings. She seemed to be enjoying herself and the attention her simple but sultry attire was drawing so Lou doubted she'd be any more sympathetic to her cause. Then there was Azreal. She wasn't quite sure what exactly he was wearing, weather it was a robe, a gown, a dress suit, or a bizzare combination of all three, but regardless the thing looked a lot more comfortable than her suit.
"Stop grabbing your breasts!" Draven snapped as Lou tried to adjust the fabric squeezing her chest. The tight fit and stiff fabric was irritating her piercings in a less than pleasant way, even though she'd put tape over them in an effort to protect them.
"Not until you let me change into something that's not crushing the life out of my boobs!" Lou snapped. "If you'd let me undo the top couple of buttons, it might be a different story."
"Are you going to make me repeat myself?" Draven scolded. "Really alpha, you are enough to make a grown man scream."
"Are we sure that the packs are going to let us in?" Azreal questioned out of the blue as they neared the grandiose building with the address matching the summons they'd recieved. "I mean, I know you and Maud will be ok, Lou, but Draven and I aren't wolves, and wolves tend to get really fussy about non-wolf antendees."
"They'll get over themselves, or I'll break their jaws," Lou replied simply. "Vampire and spellcaster or not, you guys are my betas and it is important they realize it. Who says a pack has to be exclusively wolves? You ask me, that's how things went to pot for us in the first place."
"You make a fair point," Drave agreed with a grim expression. "Had our forefathers possessed more allies, things likely would have turned out much differently."
For a few moments, the party fell silent as they reflected on what they'd been through leading up to that night. For decades, the Sanguine Syndicate had been little more than a joke among the thirteen North-American packs. Originally the disciplinary committee of Astrea City, one of few cities on the continent exclusively for supernaturals, they had quickly made enemies of most of the other packs.
Lou was unclear about the specifics, but allegedly tension had continued to rise for decades following the establishment of the city upon the completion of the westward expansion and subsequent establishement of the thirteen packs. It had all come to a head fifty years prior when the Alpha of the pack at the time had attempted to arrest another alpha. The truth of why the arrest had been made and who incited first blood had become muddled with time, but one undeniable truth was it had led to a bitter war which resulted in the expulsion of the pack from the council.
Without the protection and rights offered by the treaties of the council, the Sanguine Syndicate had been forced to watch and adapt as other packs encroached on and claimed chunks of their territory to the point where the pack was virtually driven from the city as well. Lou wasn't sure there was a pack member alive that could remember a time they hadn't been dwelling in tents on the boundaries of the enchanted city. Not until she had taken over at least.
Lou's rise to power had brought about the reclamation of acres of their territory as well as much needed growth of their numbers. An unwanted misfit herself, Lou had accepted any and all who wished to join provided to proved loyal and willing to work alongside the rest of the pack. The addition of elves, spellcasters, and even vampires to pack ranks had quickly made their pack a force to be reckoned with. It also meant Lou had that many more mouths to feed.
"How shall we make our grand entrance?" Draven questioned.
They had stopped just inside the gate and were staring at the gilded double doors. The drive was virtually free of cars, to Lou's delight. It meant that most of the atendees had already arrived and she had a slightly better chance of slipping in unnoticed.
"I see a side door," Lou stated. She started making her way for it before they others could stop her.
"Side door?!" Draven looked genuinely offended by the notion. "Why should we go in the SIDE door when there's a perfectly good FRONT door wide open and waiting for us?!"
"Because if I run into that Abram bastard, I'm liable to do something I'll regret," Lou replied. Remembering his smug face when he had personally delivered her invitation as well as a few of the requirements the council had set in order for her to reclaim her's packs position on it made Lou want to reach back through time and space so she could sucker punch him in the gut. Of all the packs, Blue Crescent had been the most hostile and condescending.
"You can play nice for one night, Lou, just one night!" Draven exclaimed. "I promise, it's really not that hard."
"You'd be surprised," Lou replied. "You haven't had to deal with these assholes yet."
"Lou please-" Draven started another attempt to change her mind but she silenced him with a gesture. They were just a few feet away from the building now, and they could hear some kind of argument occurring within.
"Oh good," Lou smiled and spoke softly, "it sounds like they're distracted. We should be able to sneak in without any trouble!"
Draven heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes but didn't bother trying to stop her. No doubt he had resigned himself to giving her some kind of 'I told you so,' lecture later, but Lou wasn't about to give him the chance. Everything was going to work out the way she wanted, she was going to make sure of it.
Careful so as to make as little sound as possible, Lou crept over to the door and slowly turned the knob. Excited by her success so far, Lou edged the door open. Unexpectedly, it stopped against something. With a frown, she tried to put a little more pressure into it to slowly move whatever was blocking the door. It didn't budge. Taking a breath, Lou pulled back the put a little more force into her effort. This time, whatever the obstacle was gave way, but Lou's victory was dampened by the sound of shattering glass.
"Fuck me," She cursed under her breath as she threw discretion to the wind and strode confidently through the door.
Sure enough, she found herself standing over a quailing waitor covered in all types of drinks and broken glass. She felt bad for ruining his night, but she couldn't afford to be seen as waek. Better they think she was an asshole and did what she did deliberately than write her off as a clumsy, careless little girl.
"What the hell were you doing there?!" She demanded as she hoisted the man up by his collar and set him on his feet. "You trying to get killed or something?"
"I was... you... what?!" The poor guy looked utterly baffled.
"Get out of my sight, you're an eyesore wearing all that booze," Lou snarled. "What you doing blocking doors anyway?"
He looked as though he wanted to argue, but said nothing though he pointed frantically back and forth between the doors before retrieving his trey and hurrying off as was ordered. Lou made a mental note to write an apology for the scene she had caused, they would likely insist she did so anyway.
"This is the part where I say, I told you so Lou," Draven hissed in her ear as he and the others stepped through the door and moved around the shattered glass behind her.
"Shut up," Lou growled back, though her eyes were locked with Alpha Abram's and what seemed to be the rest of his family. This was EXACTLY what she had been trying to avoid.