*Two weeks later. Back to the present.*
"Aunt Marion! Aunt Marion!" Belle called the moment she entered the gate of their house. She pulled open the sitting room door, waving a white envelope with a red seal in her hand, looking around the room and realizing her aunt wasn't there.
Belle made her way to the backyard. She looked around the place where her aunt always stayed during this time, either washing or hanging wet clothes. Still not finding her aunt, she went back into the house.
"Aunt! Aunt Marion!" Belle called again, this time making her way to her aunt's room. Before Belle could open the door, she quickly hid the white envelope behind her back, then turned the doorknob and entered the room.
"Aunt Marion!"
"Stop shouting, Belle. How many times do I have to tell you this is not how a proper lady should behave? Or is this the way I taught you to act?" Aunt Marion questioned, busy arranging clothes in the drawer. Belle shrugged her shoulders, as if she couldn't care less. "What is it this time, Belle?"
"Can you take a wild guess, Aunt?" Belle smiled at her aunt, making sure the envelope was well hidden behind her. She looked at her aunt, waiting desperately for her to guess wrong so she could drop the bomb.
"I'm really not in the mood to play this silly game with you right now. All I can think about is your younger sister. So don't bother me." The woman said, fed up with Belle's antics.
Belle was already getting frustrated. Couldn't her aunt see that this was good news? She wouldn't let her ruin it by bringing up the incident at the pack territory, Belle thought, but didn't let that bother her. This was the first time in weeks she'd been happy, and she wouldn't let anyone ruin this moment for her — not even her younger sister.
"Look what I received at the pack house today," Belle said. The girl was smiling brightly as she finally withdrew the envelope from behind her back and held the red-sealed envelope up so her aunt could see it properly. Well, right now it couldn't be said that it was still sealed, because it was obvious Belle had opened it and read whatever was written inside. The seal was already broken when she brought it out.
Aunt Marion set the clothes she had finished folding down, took the envelope from Belle's outstretched hands, and read through the contents. Her gaze darkened the more she read the invitation letter.
"You girls will not be going!" their aunt declared immediately. She dropped the letter on the bed and went back to what she was doing.
"What?! Are you kidding me right now?" Belle yelled. She had just resumed work at the pack house yesterday, and this news came today. Belle felt like the Moon Goddess had finally answered her prayers after what happened at the pack run. She couldn't believe her ears. "What do you mean, Aunt Marion?"
"You know what I mean. This banquet ceremony or whatever it is — our family will have to skip it." Mrs. Harristone said apprehensively.
"Wa-wait, I don't understand," Belle stuttered. "This is a banquet ceremony to welcome the great Lycan king, and you want us to miss it? What did I ever do in my past life to deserve this?" Belle exclaimed. She couldn't understand why her aunt was refusing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"You girls are not going, and even if you were, you shall not be attending." She paused with a heavy sigh before continuing, "You know your siste—" Mrs. Harristone was about to say, but Belle cut her off before she could even form the word "sister."
"I knew it! I just knew it!" Belle screamed. This time she was really fed up. She was fed up with everything. "It just has to be because of Luna again, doesn't it? Just two weeks ago, I wasn't able to complete the pack run, again all because of Luna, and now this…" Belle's voice was already shaky, and she sounded close to tears.
"Belle, really, it's not just because of Luna. It's both of you I worry about. You girls aren't ready for this kind of thing right now. Trust me, I want what's best for you." Mrs. Harristone tried to explain as she finally put the clothes away and went to meet Belle, who was standing in the center of the room. She could tell the girl was close to throwing a tantrum.
"Really?" Belle paused, her hands on her hips as she turned to face her aunt completely, her anger close to the surface. "Whose idea was it that we go back home to cater to Luna's needs on the day of the pack run?" she questioned.
"I did that for the both of you," Aunt Marion tried to defend herself. "For the love of the Moon Goddess, your younger sister was rejected and passed out cold. How could we leave her alone at that crucial time?" the woman almost screamed.
Belle laughed a bitter laugh. "You didn't. You did that because you only cared about Luna. It's always about Luna. Why didn't she come to the pack run in the first place, despite how much I begged her to, and decided to skip it? Only for her to show up at the peak of the ceremony, fully dressed. Like who does that? Yes, I care about Luna, but I also care about myself. You should have gone with Luna alone that day and left me to participate in the pack run. Maybe by now I would have found my mate and wouldn't need to bother about this banquet. But that didn't happen, now did it? You want to stop me from going there too."
"That's not true…" Mrs. Harristone began to say before she caught herself. She was already sure Belle wouldn't listen to anything right now. But the girls couldn't go to the banquet ceremony. What if he saw them? the woman thought. She needed excuses. And why was he suddenly coming to Shadow Howlers Pack? Did he know they were here? she wondered.
"You can't go there. And that's my final decision," Mrs. Harristone said adamantly, turning away from Belle so she wouldn't see the girl's expression.