"Oh my gosh it's beautiful!" I whispered, amazed at all the decorations throughout the castle. Clay was beside, trying hard not to laugh as we made our way to the entrance. Hundreds of people were around us, everyone wearing fancy dresses or tuxedos. I myself was in a light baby blue dress with a corset style lace up back and a ring of beads along my waist.
(A/N - Paisley's dress is above!)
"Come on, your parents are waiting for us," Clay laughed, trying to hurry me along with lots of troubles. I was too fascinated with the decorations to even realize what I was suppose to be doing. "Paisley!" I finally snapped out of my trance and looked at my mate.
"Right, we have to go meet me parents," I said. He wrapped an arm around my waist and we continued down the hall towards the entrance of the ball room where the ceremony was taking place. Thousands of people were going to be here, and I was going to have to go up into the stage and accept an award in front of all of them. Just the thought of it made my heart rate pick up.
"You okay?" Clay asked, looking down at me. I met his eyes and nodded.
"Just nervous about going up and accepting my award," I sighed. He knew that I was nervous and he nodded in understanding, kissing my temple.
We entered the ballroom and quickly found my parents, as barely anybody was here. My mom pulled me into a hug. "You look amazing, honey," she said, pulling out of the hug and holding me out at arms length and looking at me. "Where's Avalon?" My mom asked.
"Bathroom," I said, laughing a little bit. Because of her pregnancy, she's been constantly having to pee left and right. My mom nodded in understanding, laughing with me.
"Hey dad," I smiled, hugging my dad.
Arms wrapped around my from behind and I gasped, my heart rate spiking. I turned around and realized it was Nadia. "Hey!" I said, hugging her tightly. "You look so much better!" And she did. Her skin was back to its honey olive complexion and all of her bruises were gone. She looked completely healthy, not like she had just been through hell and back within the past month.
"Thanks. For saving us and everything," she whispered, pulling me in for another hug.
"All I did was escape," I said, knowing that I was blushing. I already knew I was going to get a lot of this tonight but I feel like I really didn't do anything. I escaped and ran. It was the rest of the alphas and their warriors that really saved the alphas daughters.
"You escaped and was able to tell your dad where we were and he rescued us! Whether or not you were apart of the actual rescue, it never would have happened if it hadn't been for you," Nadia said. "Don't feel like you don't deserve it because you do."
More and more people began to fill the ball room. Clay and and I had made our way to the dance floor and were dancing with each other, making each other laugh. "Paisley!" A girl screamed, and I turned around to see Sarah trying to squeeze between people with her crutches, a young man around our age helping out. I hurried over to her so she wouldn't have to and pulled her in for a hug.
"I'm so glad your okay," I said, pulling away. "How's your leg doing?" Clay had filled me in on what had happened after I had gotten shot in the shoulder, and one of the things he told me was that Sarah had broken her leg.
"It's healing quickly. I only have to be on the crutches for about another week. The only reason I've even been on them so long is because the bone completely snapped in two," she explained.
"That sounds awful!" I gasped.
"Anyways, I wanted to thank you for saving all of us. It never would have happened if you hadn't escaped." I nodded, pulling her in for another hug. "Oh, and this is my mate, Brian," she introduced, gesturing to the man who had been helping her earlier. "Brian, this is Paisley and her mate, Clayton."
"Nice to meet you both," he said, shaking both of our hands.
"It's nice to meet you too. Take care of her," I said.
"Alright, it was nice seeing you. Hopefully we can hang out soon," she said, hugging me one last time before hobbling off on her crutches, Brian following her.
An hour or so later, King Matthew and Queen Aurora walked up onto the stage. I began to make my way to the front, knowing I would have to go up there and except my award.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" King Matthew started off, and everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to him immediately. "First of all I would like to thank you all for joining us. It truly means a lot. Now, second of all, the reason we are all here tonight. As you all now know, the alphas daughters have been being kidnapped over the course of the past twenty years. Paisley Whitefield was the first one to be found and rescued.
"She then set out with her mate, Alpha Clayton Becker of the Whitethorn Pack and his head tracker, Phillip Thompson after her younger sister Avalon was taken. She managed to save over half of the daughters before they got captured. She managed to escape and run all the way back to her pack and tell her father, previous alpha Xander Whitefield, the whereabouts where the rest of the daughters were being captured.
"Tonight, we are here to honor Paisleys bravery. I would like to present her with a special award for saving not only my daughter, but all of the other daughters as well."
I walked up the stairs to the stage, my heart beat racing at at a thousand miles a minute. Pais calm down. It's okay, Clay mind linked. I took a deep breath in and breathed out slowly. It's not like I had to make a speech or anything. I just had to accept my award and then I could get off the stage.
King Matthew handed me a large plaque, a little bigger then a piece of paper. "Thank you, Paisley, for everything that you have done." I bowed before hurrying off the stage. Everyone seemed to want to rush over and thank me, and it must have been at least a half hour before I finally made it back to Clay. I finally had time to read what was on the plaque.
To Paisley,
For rescuing all of the alphas daughters, and
very well saving all the packs in the process.
King Matthew Queen Aurora
The rest of the night passed in a blur. People were still coming up to thank me, Nadia had met her mate. He was a man named Vinnie, from the Ash Wood pack. From the ten minutes that I had met him, I was able to tell that he was just as mischievous and daring as Nadia.
Layla and Lynn came up and thanked me for saving them along with their parents. Chloe and Bella came up and gave me a hug, congratulating me on my escape. Alison came up with her parents. She still looked weak but her face was getting more color and she was gaining a little weight, which was a good sign. Hillary came up with her newfound mate Aaron, the head warrior of her pack, and Beth came and gave me a hug, almost in tears as she said thank you.
Right before the end of the ceremony, Ana came up holding hands with a dark haired man, and I knew right away that she had finally found her mate. "Paisley, this is Ethan, my mate." The smile that grew on her face was one of the. sweetest things I had ever seen.
"I'm so happy for you, Ana," I smiled, pulling her in for a hug.
"Thank you," she smiled. "Hopefully we'll see each other soon."
"Definitely," I smiled. Her and Ethan then left the ballroom.
Not many people were left, but I didn't feel right leaving until everyone had gone. And finally, after another fifteen minutes, everyone had gone except for the king and queen. I approached them, bowing as I stopped in front of them.
"Thank you for this. For throwing this ceremony and everything," I said.
Aurora answered, a soft, kind smile on her face. "No, thank you Paisley. You saved all of the alphas daughters," she said, pulling me in for a hug.
"Thank you, Paisley. I don't know how may times I can say it before I truly feel I have done it enough," Matthew said.
"You have said thank you enough," I said quietly. "You threw this ceremony and invited all of the packs to join us. That's one of the biggest 'thank you's' ever."
Aurora nodded. "Hopefully we'll be seeing you soon."
I bowed again, saying goodbye before leaving with Clay. "I'm exhausted," I yawned quietly, laying my head on Clay's shoulder.
So what'd you guys think? There's only one chapter left and the epilogue!!!
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