Chapter 6: Wear something nice II

Tori’s POV

As instructed, I put on something nice, a dress I had been holding onto, hoping for the day I could wear it in front of Alpha Carlisle, sharing a quiet dinner together. I never imagined that day would come so soon. After washing up and dressing, I applied light makeup to conceal the exhaustion on my face.

As soon as I stepped out of my room, I immediately sensed that something was off. The entire packhouse carried a solemn atmosphere. Quiet, almost eerily so.

As I walked down the hallway toward the dining hall, a growing sense of unease settled over me. My palms clenched tightly, betraying my nerves. Standing before the towering doors, I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart.

When I pushed open the door, I wasn’t met with the romantic fine dining I had imagined. Instead, as I stepped forward, my eyes took in the sea of people dressed in black. At the center of it all, Raquel sat in a white dress, delicately dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.

The moment I entered, every head turned toward me. A stunned silence filled the room as all eyes stared at me in shock and disbelief.

I only fully grasped the situation when my heart pounded violently in my chest. My breath hitched, and my lashes fluttered as I locked eyes with Alpha Carlisle, who sat at the head of the table, his expression dark with fury.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy with grief, somber and serious, and some were even crying. It was clear they were commemorating the fallen warriors, honoring those who had perished in the war.

It might have been long overdue, but this was the only time our Alpha was present, and the war had finally ended, granting us the chance to grieve our losses. Many would never return home, and there were no bodies to bury, only the brutal memory of warriors torn apart like ragdolls by the vampires.

At the center of it all, Alpha Carlisle led the ceremony, offering comfort to the bereaved families. As his Luna, I should have been standing by his side, fulfilling my role and providing support.

But instead, it was Raquel who stood beside him, assuming the duty that rightfully belonged to me.

To make matters worse, I wasn’t just absent from my responsibilities, but I was dressed in a striking red dress, an inappropriate contrast to the mourning around me. Rather than offering solace, I seemed to have come there to celebrate, which wasn’t entirely false. My expression only intensified the weight of Carlisle’s burning gaze.

Such disrespect made him so angry that he instantly growled manacingly as he stood from his seat. "What do you think you are doing?" he questioned, taking a step forward toward me.

Before he could take another step, Raquel clung to his arm, her voice trembling with grief, laced with quiet sobs as if she were mourning alongside everyone else. The contrast between us couldn’t have been more stark she draped in sorrow, offering comfort like a true Luna, while I arrived late, clad in attire that had no place in a mourning hall.

The difference was glaring, and it didn’t take long for the pack members to turn their scorn toward me. To them, I had become the perfect target to shoulder their pain, dissatisfaction, and anger.

Murmurs spread through the hall, growing louder as disdain for me became impossible to ignore. No one even tried to hide their contempt anymore, openly voicing their criticism as if I weren’t standing right there. Their blatant disrespect was suffocating.

Before Carlisle could even question me, Raquel spoke up, her voice soft yet laced with carefully measured sorrow. "Carlisle, don’t be too harsh on her," she said, casting a fleeting, pitying glance at me. "I’m sure she didn’t mean to disrespect the dead… Perhaps it’s my fault. Maybe my presence made her feel threatened, and she chose today to assert her dominance over you—to remind everyone of her sovereignty. Y-You should comfort her instead."

"After all, she’s your Luna, and I—I…" Raquel let her voice trail off, never finishing her sentence.