Marcel:
I didn’t expect her to come.
When Alessia had mentioned inviting her, I had prepared myself for refusal. Eloise didn’t strike me as someone who stepped willingly into crowded rooms full of wolves, nor did she give me the impression that she would be willing to accept an invitation that would actually celebrate a wolf.
So when the doors opened and she walked in… for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
She wore red, not soft crimson, not muted wine… Red.
It wasn’t overly adorned. The dress was simple, elegant, fitted just enough to show strength rather than fragility. Her dark hair fell loose around her shoulders, and though she tried to hold herself like she didn’t care who was looking… she knew that everyone was looking.
The room shifted the moment she crossed the threshold.
