[[OLD]] A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Four

I frowned slightly as I put the stain remover on a familiar and overly stubborn stain on one of Ellie's dresses. I had been fighting with it for several days now and Ellie hadn't been able to tell me what it was she had gotten on it. I was fairly certain it was a type of oil like Vaseline or lip chap or something waxy. Either way the stain wasn't coming out and it remained as a slightly darker shade from the rest of the dress.

"He kicked Mellie out." At the words I did my best to tune the conversation out. It was always hard. The laundry building was small and it was nearly impossible not to eavesdrop on the Omegas who were doing laundry along side me. "She lasted two hours." I tilted my head and leaned closer to the stain as I rubbed the remover into the fabric a touch harder. I wanted it to be gone. Ellie said it was fine but I knew it wasn't. There was no reason for father or Lisa to come at me because I hadn't done the laundry properly.

"Why does the Alpha continue? That's five Omegas in the last week, clearly the old Master-At-Arms doesn't want anyone around him." At the words I pursed my lips. I was trying really hard not to eavesdrop but they weren't exactly quiet and I was getting marginally bored fighting with the stain. However their topic of conversation tickled in the back of my head. The last I heard of the Master-At-Arms was his mate had died on her birthing bed. Which was an awful tragedy. Too many babies had died in the past few months and to learn that a female had died as well was tragic.

Not that I really talked about it with anyone. Simon was the main one who told me what was going on in the pack and Ellie occasionally told me things but Lisa did her best to keep us separate. I frowned again and lifted up the dress to look closer at the stain. I had a feeling the stubborn thing was getting bigger. I didn't like that at all. I set the dress back down and headed for the cupboards to grab some dawn dish soap.

"I would feel sorry for the male but he's a drunken asshole. He made Lennie cry you know. It took ages to get her to calm down after he yelled at her." The words were tsked out and I grabbed the half empty bottle of dawn and headed back to my counter.

"I know. The Alpha keeps sending us over there but thank the goddess we have some use outside of cleaning duties because I would hate to see what he would start resorting to in order to keep us there." The female omega's voice dropped a fraction and I glanced at them. They were busy folding clothes and I turned back to the dress. I used the dawn to soak the stain, rubbing both sides of the fabric to make sure it was completely coated.

I didn't know where to place the old Master-At-Arms but I knew he had been removed from the position and that was only because Simon had told me during one of our hair days. I was glad Simon at least told me that much, it was hard being othered from the pack. I understood I was more mundane than shifter, that I didn't have a wolf but I still felt really isolated. I always had.

It was bad enough that Lisa was tightening her grip and not letting me out as much after the incident with the Delta. Father had refused to bring the matter to the Alpha and there was no punishment for it so Lisa had barely allowed me to leave the house. What was worse was Simon had agreed with her, although I had noticed he and father had been fighting more. Simon thought father's unwillingness to protect me like he should was bullshit.

I let out a small sigh and set the dress down, letting the dawn sit for a few minutes as I moved over to the washing machine and dryer I had been using and switching the loads over. "I just pity whoever is going to be tossed to him next." The other omega said it low and try as I might I couldn't help but listen to the conversation. Laundry day was boring on the best of days and with me not being allowed to head over to the craft hall to continue quilting, it meant I was forced to sit and watch the laundry spin around and around.

"I thank Mene that I am needed in the kitchens most of the time so it won't be me." At the reply I grabbed the basket and carried it over to the folding table. I started to pull out clothes, quickly and precisely folding the clothes as I pulled them out.