The Alpha's Sacrifice

Decorating

Nuala’s POV

I could feel their eye’s one me, Conner’s friends and the so-called body guards that were supposed to be watching me that is. I shivered at the feeling; it was giving me the creeps. I hated it when I only thought people were looking at me, but know I knew they actually were and I did not like it in the least bit. Maybe if it was the kind of attention because I was an attractive woman that they couldn’t keep their eyes off and I was dressed up nice, but it wasn’t like that. This was ordered of them and I was expected to work under these conditions. Hopefully I could block out the uneasy feeling that their glances caused so I could focus on getting the ballroom decorated. The party would be tomorrow and Conner expected perfection as always.

“If you need anything ask Sean to get it for you, no one else leaves this room until the decorating is complete,” Conner stated.

I looked over at the pile of ribbons and decorations in the corner. I had already ordered the flower arrangements for the few tables and corners, but they would not be delivered until the morning so they stayed looking nice and fresh for the day. At least I had been allowed to do that, in the past it had been left up to me to make sure the flower arrangements were done by me alone too, but I guess our father figured that this event needed to be extra special so he allowed it this one time. For today I would be putting table clothes and centerpieces on the tables and making sure the ballroom floor where people would be dancing was polished and clean.

Conner turned and left the room, who knew where he was going, I didn’t really care. I set to work on the glass centerpieces for the tables, filling the vases with smooth river rocks and some water topped with a floating candle I had made myself. My mother had taught me how to make candles before she was killed. It was a somewhat tedious process, but it was an artform that I enjoyed. The candle floated properly when set atop the water and I sighed in relief. It was something that would have been tragic had it not worked, I spent so many hours doing the candles and planning the decorations.

My stomach started to grumble; I hadn’t eaten anything since the picnic that Killian had prepared for us. My heart sank at the thought of Killian. He was so kind to me and didn’t deserve what my brother had done to him. I gathered my nerves, if they expected me to decorate the whole ballroom, I wouldn’t be able to do it on an empty stomach. When I felt I had mustered enough courage I opened my mouth to speak.

“Sean?”

“What is it?” He growled back at me, punctuating each word.

“I need something to eat. I need my strength if this is going to be perfect like Conner wants it to be.” I reasoned.

“I suppose so,” Sean agreed reluctantly. “Iain!” Conner yelled over his shoulder, “Go to the kitchens and get Nuala something to eat.”

The one Sean had yelled to, turned and walked away in the direction of the kitchen. I hoped he wouldn’t be long, as my stomach rumbled again. I looked at the bucket of wax and the cloths I would have to use to polish the floor. It would have to be done before placing the tables. I got down on my hands and knees and got to polishing. By the time I had completed half the floor my muscles were screaming at me with every bend of my elbows and other joints. It was at this point that Iain finally returned from the kitchens. It took him long enough; I was starting to wonder what he had been doing that took so long.

He brought the platter over to me and half dropped it on the floor, I could have yelled at him for making a small scuff in the freshly applied wax, but I didn’t want to cause myself anymore trouble. I would just have to buff it out. I looked at the food, it looked as if he had helped himself to some of it, but I was ravenous, so I grabbed the half-eaten biscuit and dunked it into the half bowl of soup, which was no longer even warm. With the few bites of food, I felt a little more comfortable and finished polishing the rest of the floor.

I looked at the tables I would have to arrange, all of them were round ones. Chairs lined the walls of the ballroom as well; they were made to match the tables. It was just a matter of getting, everything in place. I slowly hauled my already aching body over to the tables and started to pull them to the locations I had decided would be the best setup for the event. I had to be careful not to scratch the precious wooden floor. Any marks and I would surely never hear the end of it. Once arranged, I looked over my work, I thought it was good, now all I had to do was put the table cloths on and the centerpieces.

There were several boxes, in the corner near my decorating supplies. They were filled with the different colored fabrics. I just had to choose which color I would be using. Of course, it wouldn’t be my favorites, I would have to consider Conner’s, which was red and black. Together it was sophisticated, but I would have chosen blue or purple with a bright yellow and orange. It was hard to find red flowers at this time of year. Conner wouldn’t even consider that though. He didn’t care how hard he was making it on me. I decided to go with red table clothes and black ribbons on the centerpieces filled with the water and candles. It would be pretty with the white yarrow flowers and white daisies.

Smoothing the wrinkles out of each tablecloth, I was careful to make sure they all looked flawless before finishing up. I would have to wait for the flower arrangements until morning, but everything I could get done was done. Iain and Sean were still hovering, watching my every move. There was no sense in trying to escape. I walked closer to speak to them.

“I’m finished.”

“It’s about time,” Sean groaned. “I’ll get Conner.”

I wanted to groan too, just barely managing to hold it in, as I would be locked back up in the tiny closet that was my room, again. I knew if I tried to fight back that I would not win. I was strong, being as I was an Alpha’s daughter, but I couldn’t take on all of Conner’s friends in a fight. I resigned myself to being more like the submissive omegas, but I didn’t mind really. The omegas were very overlooked and unappreciated, but were still an important part of the pack.

Iain guarded me until Sean retuned with Conner who escorted me back to my little room without a word. I stepped through the door and I heard the click of Conner locking the door behind me. I slumped onto the bed and curled into a ball; my muscles were so sore from all the work I had done today. My stomach grumbled too, all I had eaten was the small biscuit and partial bowl of soup. I drifted off to sleep with thoughts of Killian in my mind.

Killian’s POV

I laid awake staring at the ceiling, still covered in bruises that were not healing up to well. I wondered briefly if my wolf would heal my inability to walk, since I heard that after getting your wolf rapid healing was a benefit. However, my wolf still seemed to be waiting to come to me, or had completely rejected me. I wasn’t sure. The bruises and cuts would surely have been healed by now if my wolf had joined me.

Tomorrow was the pairing ceremony and Sinead wanted me to go, but how was I supposed to go when I was still wounded from the beating I received? I didn’t even have a wolf to tell me who my mate was so what was the point of going?