Chapter 106

Ollie’s POV

My heart leaps into my throat, but I quickly swallow it down. Inside of me, my wolf perks up. I give her silent warning, do not show even a hint of our true scent.

“Angel?” I ask.

Wes continues to stare at me, his eyes searching my face. “Yes,” he says.

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” I say. It’s not a lie, exactly. After all, Angel has never been my name, just a nickname given to me by my mates.

Wes frowns ever so slightly. For a moment, a flash of disappointment crosses his face, telling me that this isn’t the answer he wants. But then, in the neck blink, determination fills his eyes instead.

He steps closer to me, far closer than he’s ever moved to me as Ollie, right up into my personal space. From there. His hands take my arms at the elbows, keeping me in place as he slowly, lowers his head down to the corner of my neck and shoulders. He turns his face into me, nuzzling under my jawline, and sniffs.

Knowing I’m being scented, I freeze. Inside, I’m begging my wolf not to give us away.

I hold my breath.

This time, blessedly, my wolf sees my side of things and does not reveal us.

Wes raises his head and steps back. He continues to look at me, as if he’s trying to see something he couldn’t smell. Then, with a huff, he turns from me and walks away.

He doesn’t explain himself, and I don’t ask, worried that questions would only invite him to stay. The longer he would stay, the more certain I am that I would eventually reveal something.

When he’s gone, I exhale in relief.

I thought I had been so careful on the island, but now that we’re home, I realize that perhaps I was careless after all. If I had truly been careful, I never would have gone to begin with. Being close with them, being intimate, allowing some of my internal walls to fall, to let myself be vulnerable…

In hindsight, perhaps it was something of a miracle they were only starting to put the pieces together now rather than before.

This means that I have to be even more careful moving forward. The sharks are in the water and they have the scent of blood.

One wrong move now, and I’d be caught.

No matter what, I can’t allow this to happen.

For several days, I keep a low profile, barely leaving my room except to go to meals, and even then, only with Ella at my side, ready to give me backup.

She isn’t always helpful, though, as she whispers to me, “What’s the worst that could happen if they knew? They adore their Angel.”

I shush her, ready to let the words hang between us without response. But then, of course, I feel inclined to reply and whisper back, “They adore Angel. They despise Ollie.”

That difference is fundamental. Because if Angel and Ollie are combined for the brothers, which feelings would take prominence. The love for Angel? Or the hatred of Ollie?

I hope for one, while fearing the other.

Truly, I’d rather not know than risk learning that they would still hate me, even revealed to be their mate.

For these several days, the brothers avoid me as I avoid them and all feels returned to how it once was, with the lives of the quadruplets separate from my own. They don’t even reach out to their Angel by the text. Everything is quiet.

Perhaps because Angel refused them. Maybe they hate her now too.

Too soon, the fall semester begins.

On the first day of college, I trail along behind Sylvia on campus, always two steps behind, never walking at her side. She gave these orders before we even set foot out of the car.

Always walk behind me. Do not speak to me unless spoken to. Don’t make eye contact with any of my friends, or anyone that I’m talking to at all, actually.

She wants people to know that I’m lesser than her, including me. And so far, it seems to be working. As I’m not allowed to look at anyone, no one is looking at me. Do they even consider me a student? Or do they simply see me, eyes turned down demure and assume I’m nothing but a servant?

What would I think, if I could see myself without knowing who I am?

I already know the answer, and it makes me frown.

Yet, as much as I try to play the dutiful servant, attending to Sylvia’s whims while avoiding looking at everyone, I do keep my eyes open for any sign of Professor Hunter.

As he’s a professor here, and a man outspoken enough to write controversial articles, I imagine he must have a big presence on the campus. It’s a large campus, but if I keep my eyes open. If I look in the right places…

Maybe I can find the right opportunity to sneak away and finally have some help.

For so long, I thought this might be my only lot in life, but if people like Professor Hunter are out there, fighting for the rights of all Omegas, then maybe there’s some hope after all.

Hope for change. Hope for a future.

Hope for a life all my own, where I could be my own person, and not be Sylvia’s servant or a love slave of four Alpha brothers.

I’d have options for myself.

It feels almost… impossible. A foolish kind of dream that won’t amount to anything.

But then I see him, Professor Hunter, walking into a lecture hall.

I gasp without even meaning to. It’s as if he walked straight out of my thoughts and into reality.

Sylvia is gabbing with her friends, not paying attention to me at all. She hasn’t even glanced at me in the past twenty minutes. Maybe she wouldn’t even notice if I suddenly disappeared.

Do I dare take the chance? Knowing how much I’m likely to be punished if I’m caught?

Yes.

I know right away, without question.

Yes. A chance like this is worth the risk.

So I fall back as Sylvia and her new friends press ahead. I walk quickly across the sidewalks, hurrying to the lecture hall. There, I open the door and sneak inside.

I glance around. There are several doors in this entryway, with long hallways leading far to the left and the right. Unfortunately, there’s no sign of Professor Hunter, so I have no clue which way he went.

I start forward anyway, eager to start a search. I have such limited time and –

A hand grabs me by the wrist and starts tugging me up a hallway. Their touch is relentless, their fingers like a vice around me.

Just as I start to struggle, I realize the hand belongs to Declan.

“Declan? What are you doing?”

He doesn’t answer, just keeps taking me where he wants me.

I’m his prisoner as he leads me away from the main hallways and into a stairwell. There, he drags me to the opening under the stairs, slams me against the wall, and kisses me.