The Alpha's Sacrifice

Perfect

The voice came from a tall and slender woman. My guess was that she was the teacher. The boys holding Nuala quickly let her go before the teacher noticed.  

“Miss Reid. We were just helping Killian here. Nuala was clumsy and knocked his chair over,” Conner claimed.  

“I see. You all best hurry and get in here class is starting.” The teacher told us. 

That was interesting, the teacher didn’t even question his story. I guess it was a perk of being the future Alpha to the pack. 

The four boys walked into the classroom swiftly. Nuala helped get my chair upright and I pulled myself into it again. I rubbed my jaw where Conner had punched me. It continued to hurt. The impression I got was that I couldn’t do anything about it. Challenging the Alpha’s son was not a good idea and I didn’t want to be kicked out of the only pack that had been willing to take me. I listened as the teacher droned on about some subject I wasn’t the least bit interested in. Finally, we were released for lunch.  

“There is a dining hall here, and the cooks prepare lunch for all the students,” Nuala informed me.  

“Good, I am starving.”  

Nuala just smiled at me and wheeled me to the center of the school where the dining area was. The lunch hall was huge. I took in the scene quickly. Conner was clearly adored by many of the students. The girls were fawning over him in the far corner of the room at one of the long tables. Some other small groups of students had formed at some of the other tables.  

“I’ll grab a tray for you,” Nuala offered. 

“Thanks,” I replied. 

She walked up to the counter where the cooks were and grabbed a preloaded tray. After bringing it back to me, she plunked it onto my lap, along with hers. Freeing up her hands to push my chair again. I heard some laughter coming from Conner’s table again. In a second, he was beside me and flipped the trays of food off my lap. The guy was really starting to annoy me. 

“What is your problem, Conner?” I asked, looking directly at him, which was probably a mistake given the fact that lesser-ranked werewolves were not supposed to make eye contact with higher-ranking individuals. The guy was being a jerk though. 

“You better watch your tone with me invalid.” Conner warned, staring down at me, trying to break my resolve.  

One of Conner’s friends decided it was a good idea to pick up the food that had been thrown on the floor and dump it back onto my lap. 

“You can both eat the trash off the floor since that is what you are,” Conner said gruffly. 

“Dad is not going to like your behavior, Conner.” Nuala said, barely above a whisper, but still audible to those around her. 

In the blink of an eye, Conner’s hand was around Nuala’s throat and he must have been squeezing tightly from the whimpers and gurgles Nuala was making. 

“No one is going to tell him. Are they?” Conner warned, with a menacing look, still not letting go of Nuala’s neck. The guy had a thing for grabbing people around their neck apparently. 

 All Nuala could do was try and nod. She held tightly to Conner’s wrist, trying to break his hold on her. How was this guy supposed to be the next alpha of this pack? Conner slowly released his hold on her. A loud gasp came from Nuala as she was finally able to inhale a breath of air. Conner and his cronies went back to their own table, leaving Nuala and I alone finally. 

“Are you hurt, Nuala?” I asked her softly. 

“It’s not the worst he and his friends have ever done to me,” Nuala replied, her voice raspy from Conner’s maltreatment. “I’m sorry about him.”  

“You have nothing to be sorry about. You aren’t the reason he is like that.” I told her. 

It wasn’t like she could have done anything to make him behave like that, right? It was his problem and his attitude that needed to be adjusted. 

“He blames me for everything. If I don’t do everything perfectly, then I am not good enough. Even for my father.” Nuala said to me.

“That seems a little unfair,” I told her. 

“Not for the daughter of an Alpha. We are expected to be perfect,” she told me, while rubbing her neck. “Not allowed to show emotion, but be confident at the same time.” 

“I wish I could help.”  

It was true. I wanted to help her. Something about her made my heart flutter in my chest. I kind of hoped she would be my mate, but my guess is her father and brother would not approve. It wasn’t fair. What were the odds of her being my mate though? She was the Alpha's daughter for goddess sakes. Surely she would have a strong mate. I didn't even know how my wolf would react when I turned eighteen. I hoped my wolf wasn’t ashamed of me or affected by my ailments. I suddenly was worried about my wolf. What if my wolf couldn’t walk either? Then I realized it wouldn’t really matter much, as we weren’t allowed to let our wolves out with all the hunters around anyway.  

Still, I wondered why Conner treated his sister so badly. No one else seemed to think it was weird. What had happened?  

Nuala’s POV 

A few tears slipped down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away. Showing emotion like that was not something that the Alpha's daughter was supposed to do. I was expected to be in control of those emotions at all times. Killian was sweet, probably the only one my age who had treated me nicely for a long time.  

He was also really handsome. I don’t know if he knew it or not, but I could tell he was stronger than he thought he was. His lean muscles were well defined. His face was slim, but there was something about his eyes. Those blue eyes were able to pull you in. I could have told him anything. Killian’s eyes were a safe place that called to me. I wanted to stare into his eyes forever, but I couldn’t bring myself to make too much eye contact. I had been punished many times for making eye contact with my brother and father. 

I remembered one time when I had been stuffed into a dark closet for a few days for my insolence. The many times I had been slapped across the face for even briefly looking up were too many to count. My father was a great Alpha, many said he was merciful and kind, but I didn’t know for sure. Maybe he just took his anger out on me because I looked like mom.  

My mother, and mate to my father, had died because of the hunters. She was a good Luna. A Luna was an Alpha's mate and generally had her own duties as the female leader of a wolf pack. I was blamed for her death because I had wandered outside of the pack lands. Mom had been so worried about me she changed into her wolf to find me faster. She was shot while running towards me. The hunter thought I was about to be attacked. I have thought about that day so many times. I deserved how they treated me. It was my fault. I should have just stayed in the pack lands. I just needed to follow the rules and nothing bad would happen ever again. At least I hoped so.  

Finally, the school day was over and I was able to take Killian to the little cottage he was staying at. I needed to get home quickly though. I wanted to stay and talk. I could tell Killian wanted me to talk to him, but I couldn’t. I had to get home. If I was late, I would be punished again. Plus, I also had some chores to do.  

The pairing ceremony was coming up and I had to start getting things ready for that. Without an acting Luna, it was my job to make sure the party happened without any issues. If I did anything wrong, I could be beaten and I don’t want that. Not only was it my job, but it was my punishment. A constant reminder that if mom were still here, she would be taking care of all this.   

I walked into the castle; it was oddly quiet. I hoped my father hadn’t been drinking again. He was mean when he was drunk. I tried to stay quiet, slinking past his study without notice.  

“Nuala!” My father’s deep voice thundered from his personal lounge.