The Alpha's Sacrifice

School

Killian’s POV 

“I know it doesn’t look very inviting, but this is where Muireann lives. She has been expecting you. She is very kind. You have nothing to worry about.” Nuala told me and pushed my chair up to the door and knocked.  

We waited there on the porch for what seemed like ages when the door finally creaked open. 

“Ah, I have been expecting you. Come in.” The woman was older with completely white hair and age spots covering her skin. She turned and hobbled further into the cottage. 

Nuala pushed my chair through the door and into the tiny cottage. It wasn’t as big as the cottage I had been living in and seemed very dark inside.  

“I have a bed made up for you, in the guest room,” Muireann said in her thin shaky voice.  

“Thank you for your hospitality, Muireann.” I said to the woman. She was sharing her home with me. At least for now. 

“I’ll leave you to rest. I will come and get you in the morning and take you to school.” Nuala told me in a tiny breathy whisper.  

“I’ll see you then.” I told her, actually looking forward to tomorrow. I gave her a small wave as she walked back out of the cottage. 

I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was, even if she didn’t see it herself. I turned back to say something to Muireann and she had vanished. How could an old lady move so fast? Where would she have gone? It was very strange and unnerving.  

I got myself out of my chair and went to the room Muireann had indicated was the guest room, closing the door behind me. The solitude and quiet of the cottage were welcoming to me. I was used to that at least. It had been a long day. I didn’t have anything to unpack because I had lost all my things when the rogues took our carriage. It didn’t matter though; I didn’t have a lot to begin with. I pulled the blankets back on the bed and readied myself for bed. I stripped down to just my shirt so I would be comfortable while I slept. I pulled myself up on the bed and turned over a few times, and used my arms to position my legs in a comfortable way. Finally, I laid back and pulled the covers up to my chin. The day had been exhausting. I went to sleep with thoughts of Nuala in my head.  

The next day I waited for Nuala to pick me up. I was extremely nervous. My anxiety was bothering me again as I waited. Would Nuala forget about me? No, Nuala was too nice for that, right? I glanced out the windows of the small cottage to see if there was any sign of Nuala. I didn’t see her. Maybe she wasn’t coming. I almost turned to go back to my room in defeat, but then I saw her out of the corner of my eye. 

Nuala hurried up to the door and knocked before letting herself in. I hadn’t seen Muireann all morning. I wasn’t sure what was up with her.  

“Hi Killian. Are you ready to go?” Nuala asked in her soft voice. 

The way she said my name made my heart flutter. How could she do that by simply saying my name? 

“Yep.” I answered, trying to hide the fact that she had any effect on me. 

“Alright, let’s go.” Nuala said and pushed my chair out the door. 

The ground was quite smooth and Nuala didn’t have any problems pushing my chair over it. I figured the school wouldn’t be that big. This was a werewolf community and I didn’t think there would be that many students my age.  

Nuala pushed my chair up to the steps of a very large building. This was the school? It was bigger than I expected.  

“How many students come to this school, Nuala?” I asked her. 

“Kids from every grade, there are about three hundred students all together. The younger kids stay at this end of the school,” Nuala indicated with a pointed finger where the young kids went. “And the older grades are further at the back.” 

“I did not expect this many,” I told her. 

“It’s really just a big square building, you won’t get lost or anything. It’s bigger because there is more than our pack with children here.” Nuala explained. 

Nuala turned to use her back to push the door open and pulled my chair in behind her. She turned my chair back around to push it down the wide hall. Some hooks lined the walls where coats could be hung. Shelves were above the hooks, some bags and books on them. Nuala continued to push my chair down the hall to where the older grades would be. I wondered how many were in our class.  

A few of the older students that would likely be in the same class came into view ahead of us. Nuala stopped walking. Why did she stop walking?  

“That is Conner, my brother and his friends.” Nuala pointed to the four boys in front of us. If I was to guess, I would say she was fearful of her brother. I wondered why. Shouldn’t they have a good relationship? Since he was the next alpha in line and she was also the daughter of an Alpha. 

The one she said was her brother perked up. He must have heard Nuala speaking. Even though her voice was barely a whisper. Werewolf hearing was insanely sensitive. He turned slowly like he was emphasizing the action, prolonging the inevitable. What was his deal? When Conner was finally facing us, he plastered a sneer on his face. 

“Well, well, what do we have here?” He asked dramatically. “It’s the loser, and what’s this?” He questioned again, obviously referring to me. 

“Leave him alone, Conner.” Nuala mumbled without any confidence. 

“Oh? Are you protecting the invalid now?” Conner went on. 

“Conner, stop!” Nuala said again. 

Conner stepped closer with an intimidating stance. He glared at Nuala. 

“What are you going to do about it?” Conner challenged his sister. His friends laughed. I didn’t know what I should do. 

Nuala hung her head and looked at the floor. She wasn’t going to challenge her brother. I felt useless at that moment, but I decided to stand up for her anyway. 

“What’s your problem, Conner?” I spoke up, not wanting him to talk down to Nuala. 

Suddenly, Conner’s hand was around my neck. He squeezed his fingers, probably bruising my neck.  

“My father might have let you come into this pack, but you are incapable and you will just bring us down. When I am alpha you won’t have a place here.” Conner growled in my face. 

“Get off of him, Conner!” Nuala pleaded. 

“Shut up, Nuala!” Conner said, shifting his attention back to Nuala. “Guys grab her and hold her.” 

Conner’s friends came around my chair and grabbed each of her arms. 

“Leave me alone!” She whimpered and tried to pull away from them.  

Conner looked back at me and the next thing I knew, Conner pushed my chair over and I fell onto the hard floor.  

“Ha! You are the weakest werewolf I have ever met.” Conner taunted. 

“Conner!” Nuala nearly shrieked his name when he punched me in the face. 

There was no way I was going to fight back. If I tried, he would probably hurt me more. So, I just rubbed my face where he had hit me.  

“What’s going on out here?” A voice came from the classroom.