Chapter 102

Ollie’s POV

As the week continues, every day is filled with moments of tenderness and joy. I’ve had sex nearly in every room, on every surface, and I have yet to spend one single night in my bed alone, with a different brother joining me every night. It makes me wonder if they really did organize a schedule of some kind, to make sure everyone had their turn.

I don’t know, but I’m grateful for it, especially as it means that I can spend as much time with each of them as possible.

Like this, it’s been so easy to forget our true roles outside of this island. I’ve even almost left my room, forgetting my mask a few time, though I quickly remember before anyone can see.

It’s like I’m caught in a perfect daydream, a happy little distraction. Here, on this island, they are not the vicious quadruplets who turned their backs on me, and I’m not the ex-adopted sister now relegated to act more as their servant.

Here, we are equals. And we are lovers.

I try to cling to each precious moment, hopeful to make it last, but despite my best efforts, the days fly by too quickly. Too soon, it is the eve before the end of this blissful vacation. The brothers haven’t been able to take their hands off of me all day, sniping with each other about which one should hold me now and next.

Only when it’s time to get ready for dinner do I finally leave them to head to my room alone to change.

I want to look nice for our last meal together, and I suspect they do too. I’m not the only one retiring to my room to dress up.

From the closet, I retrieve the dress I had stored in the bottom of my suitcase on the flight over. Immediately, I hung it in the closet to straighten, hoping to air out some wrinkles. There are no wrinkles now, but I suspect that’s because Delilah must have seen it and had it steamed.

I’m grateful, because it looks like a dream on me now.

It’s purple silk, floor-length, with a scooped neck and no sleeves. I wear my hair up in a loose bun, hoping to make my neck seem longer. I even brought a special mask, decorated with matching violets, to complete the look. With a thin layer of makeup and a silver necklace, my look is complete.

Satisfied, I step out of the room and start to head down to the dining room. From the stairs, I can hear the brothers talking.

“We can’t let her go,” Hugh says.

“We agreed to…” Declan replies.

“To hell with what we said,” Hugh replies.

That he wants to keep me so badly startles me. Hugh, I thought, would be the first one to want to let me go. He despises attachments and has never truly entertained them in the past. I can’t imagine that he would feel special affection for me, enough to change his ways, even if I am his mate.

“We can’t just keep her prisoner,” Wes says.

“Why not?” Hugh demands. “She is our mate. Staying together is what we are supposed to do.”

I pause on the stairs, a shock of fear striking through me.

Yes, I’ve adored every moment spent here with the brothers, but the lack of free will is what scared me away from giving them my true identity in the first place.

To hear them so freely talk of taking it away lets me know I made the right choice.

Even as my wolf within me whimpers a wordless disagreement.

She wants to be captured, I guess, but to me that is a nightmare. I’ve personally experienced every bullying moment, every passive aggressive comment, every ounce of their hating me for things I never had any control over.

I will not let myself be victim to that again, for the rest of my life, a prisoner.

“I’m sorry,” my wolf whispers in my mind. “I am with you always, of course.”

I find some comfort knowing she is on my side in this, at least for now.

“We will let her go at the end of the trip,” Conrad says, ever the leader, taking charge. “Do not forget the lives that are waiting at home for us. We cannot abandon our pack for our desires, no matter how… lovely… they may be.”

“But she’s planning on leaving,” Hugh says. “She told me so. If we let her go, that could be the end of it.”

“Then it’s the end of it,” Declan adds. “We will not go back on our word.”

“Unless…” Wes says, thoughtful.

The rest of the room goes quiet, as if waiting for him to continue.

I lean towards the wall, trying to get close so I can hear what he might say. My heart is in my throat, my anticipation boundless.

“Well,” Wes says, a little more nervously now, likely having the room’s full attention. “What if we convince her not to go?” After this first hesitation, he rushes forward, speaking quickly now as if to not be interrupted. “She’s been having the same weekend as us, likely feeling these same feelings. Maybe, if we ask right, she might not want to leave so badly after all…”

“Perhaps she would even tell us her identity,” Hugh adds, almost like an afterthought.

I hate to disappoint them, but I know, if they learn my true identity, that they will only be more so. For those reasons, as well for the sake of my own heart, I’m determined not just to keep my identity a secret, but also to never fully commit to being their mate.

Hoping to put a stop to their conversation and their pointless dreaming, I continue down the stairs, purposefully making noise as I go so they will know I am approaching.

When I enter the dining room, they are facing me. Each is wearing a suit, though at varying levels of undress. Declan is the most formally put together. Conrad and Wes are missing ties. Wes’s shirt is also untucked. Hugh doesn’t have a suit coat on at all, nor a tie, and his sleeves are rolled up to the elbows.

Declan approaches me as I stand there dumbfounded in the entryway, my mouth hanging open.

Gods, they are all so terribly handsome.

Placing his hand to the small of my back he leads me to the chair at one end of the table. There, Conrad holds the chair for me, then pushes it in as I sit down.

“Thank you,” I say to them both.

From this seat, I’m sitting between Wes and Declan. Conrad is at the other end of the table. Hugh is tucked into a corner, grinning at me.

“You look beautiful,” Wes says.

And for the first time, I notice that they are all looking at me with a similar expression to the one I had been giving them, though… their surprise and affection is much more attractive than my open-mouth gawking must have been.

“Thank you,” I say.

“No need for that,” Declan says. “Unless…”

I look at him. He glances at his brothers and then over to me.

“Angel,” he says. “Perhaps you would like to share with us your true identity?”