*Music Recommendation: "I Love You" by Amma*
Belle screamed. This was not the reaction she had expected, and she felt frustrated. She couldn't understand why her aunt was behaving this way.
"Why do you think the Alpha would send us an invitation to a royal banquet ceremony to welcome the Moon himself?" Her aunt posed the question since Belle wasn't understanding.
Omegas were never invited to the gatherings of royals, no matter what — especially when that royal was the direct head of all werewolf packs all over the world. The Alpha of all Alphas. It sounded suspicious.
"Ma-maybe… hmm… maybe the Lycan King just wants to get familiar with the pack members…" Belle stuttered. She too thought it was strange. Everyone knew how mysterious the Lycan King was, but she just couldn't agree with her aunt right now. She was furious, and everything was because of Luna.
If only Luna hadn't shown up like she said she would and hadn't been rejected in the first place, Belle groaned, feeling frustrated.
"I don't care what you say or think, Aunt Marion, but I'll be going to the banquet. Maybe for once only I can go, and you can stay home to baby your sweet girl."
Seeing the expression on Belle's face, Mrs. Harristone couldn't be sadder for her. The elderly woman said, "Do you know what kind of person the Lycan King is?" in a gentle, calm voice. But it did little to calm Belle, because the girl snapped right back at her.
"And you do?" Belle asked. Mrs. Harristone couldn't stop the gasp of surprise from escaping her lips. This was the very first time Belle had talked to her in this manner. "For once, can't you care about me too?"
The two sisters had always been different, with Belle being the bolder and more determined one of the two. The woman knew that out of the two siblings, it was the older sister who was more interested in finding her mate among the crowd at the banquet that was going to take place in the pack house. Luna, meanwhile, was a lot softer and gentler. But this was the first time Mrs. Harristone was seeing this side of Belle — it felt like Belle was getting tired. She felt sad for the girl but at the same time worried for her.
As the tension in the room suddenly grew suffocating, they heard a quiet voice.
"I'd like to go to the banquet, Aunt Marion."
The aunt and niece duo turned in the direction of the voice, only to see Luna standing by the door. Belle and Mrs. Harristone both gasped in disbelief as they stared at her like they'd seen a ghost.
This was the first time in weeks that Luna had stepped out of her room. The amount of joy they felt was incomprehensible. Mrs. Harristone and Belle had been trying to get Luna out of her room, but it had all been futile, which was why they were so surprised to see her. Luna had noticeably lost a good amount of weight in just that short time. She had never been on the heavier side, but now she looked so pale and tiny. Her eyes appeared sunken. It was obvious she had cried a great deal from the swollen lines under her eyes and bloodshot eyes.
"Oh my baby!" Mrs. Harristone exclaimed when she saw how frail her niece looked now. She rushed to Luna's side at once. "How are you feeling now?" Their aunt asked worriedly. She was visibly relieved to see Luna outside of her room after two weeks since that day.
Luna took a step back. "Aunt Marion, I want to go to the banquet ceremony. Can we go?" Luna asked again. But what threw Mrs. Harristone was the look in Luna's eyes. Despite how timid and scared she looked, she seemed unwilling to take no for an answer. This startled Mrs. Harristone. Did something happen to Luna in the room? Or did she remember something from the past? she thought.
Belle, on the other hand, had a guilty expression on her face. The moment Luna walked into the room, her younger sister looked weak, and she knew she had not been forthcoming. As the eldest, she was disappointed in herself, but at the same time she thought it was all Luna's fault.
"Luna, hmm… did you hear everything I said?" Belle questioned. She felt awkward now that Luna was in the same room with her sudden outburst. She wondered if Luna had heard everything she had said. She hoped not.
Luna's tired eyes drifted to look at her sister, but she looked away immediately. She didn't want to see the expression on her older sister's face right now. "I didn't. I only heard from my room when you said the Lycan King was coming," Luna said.
Belle released the breath she didn't know she had been holding all along. She was quick to bounce back to her excited self when she realized that Luna also wanted to go. Belle went over to her younger sister's side and hooked her arm with Luna's before she turned to look at their aunt.
"See. Even Luna wants to go. Will you really say no to us now? Please, let's go, Aunt. It's not every day we're invited by the Alpha and get the opportunity to see what a banquet looks like." Belle eagerly waited for her aunt, who said,
"You girls don't understand… you can't just go there. Luna, will you be comfortable seeing the Alpha after the incident that night?" The elder woman asked Luna. She found it hard to say no to Luna when she had just experienced a traumatizing event that could happen to any wolf, and because this was her very first request since that night, it made it even harder to refuse. But the look on Luna's face was really giving her chills. Did Luna really remember the past? the woman wondered. She couldn't help but stare at Luna, who said.
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