Chapter 117

Ollie’s POV

This time, the brothers do glance at each other. They seem to be speaking in some private language that I have no hope of understanding. Whether it’s a brothers thing or a quadruplets thing, I’m not sure.

Regardless, they silently seem to come to a type of understanding. Looking back at me, Conrad is the one who speaks.

“Fine. We’ll back off. For now. But if you try to disappear, we will find you, Ollie. You cannot escape this. Us.”

I try to stay strong but my heart hurts, torn in several different directions. On one hand, I don’t want to be separated from my mates. On the other, I know we can’t be together.

They stay a moment longer, each of them giving me long looks, before finally, they go to the door and disappear through it. They shift outside and vanish among the trees. Their scent lingers though, and despite everything, I still draw comfort from it.

What a kind of hell I’m in here. Unable to be with my four mates, but unwilling to fully let them go.

Maybe I should have just rejected them, pushing their hands. To avoid the pain, they would have had to reject me too. Then we could have gone our separate ways more amicably.

They couldn’t actually want me, knowing know who I am. Surely they are disappointed. I can’t be the kind of woman they were expecting, or that they wanted.

My thoughts are in a tangle, my heart locked in turmoil.

Unsure what else to do, knowing I can’t go home, I bring up my phone and I call my best friend Ella.

An hour later, Ella comes through the front door of the cabin carrying a duffle bag full of my clothes and other essentials. I sat down on the couch but otherwise did not move, still caught in the whirlpool of my thoughts.

Ella’s arrival does little to clear my head.

“Are you sure about this?” she asks me.

“No,” I say. “Not even slightly. But what other choice do I have? The brothers know now who I am and if I stay around long enough, it’s only a matter of time before they make efforts to force a claiming bite, whether or not I consent.”

Ella doesn’t say anything to contest that, likely knowing the same as me, that the brothers aren’t used to not getting everything they want and more. They might have given me some leniency here in the wake of learning the truth, but I know if I don’t fall in line, they won’t be patient for long.

Running away remains my only option.

“They’ll hunt you,” Ella says. “They will chase you to the ends of the earth.”

“I’m not so sure,” I say. “They’ll chase me for a while, but eventually they’ll give up. I’ve never been the right person for them, and it won’t be long before they see that. Any affection they had for Angel wasn’t real. It can’t transfer over to Ollie, not with how much they hate me.”

Ella starts to shake her head. We’ve had this argument before. She continues to believe, despite clear evidence to the contrary, that the brothers have developed feelings for me.

“Something happened on that island,” Ella says. “You told me so yourself. You felt their feelings show.”

“Their feelings for Angel,” I stress. “Maybe, in time, I could have revealed myself slowly, giving those feelings time to shift. But with everything happening so quickly… There’s no way they could come to care for me as Ollie. I’ll never be their equal, they told me so themselves.”

Ella’s frown deepens. “They will regret saying that.”

“Maybe,” I tell her, though I don’t really believe it. “But I won’t be here to see it.”

My plan is foolish but simple. I prioritize my own survival, running as far away as I can from the brothers. I’m certain that eventually they will give up the chase. They will accept that I’m not the one for them and they will reject me. When I feel their rejection, I will reject them in turn, and life can proceed on as it was always meant to.

Yes, it will be filled with hardships, but at least I will be free. And if I have a head start, maybe I can find a group of rogues and outcasts that will help protect me. I can’t be the only omega to run away from her fated mate.

Likely seeing that my mind is made up, Ella comes forward and pulls me into a tight hug. “We will always be friends,” she says, her voice filled with a sorrow that mirrors that inside of my chest. “No matter how far this takes you… No matter how much times has passed… If you need me, you only need to reach out to me, and I will be there.”

Despite all the problems I’ve faced over the years, I consider myself blessed to have made such a dear and loyal friend as I have in Ella. I don’t know what the future holds, but knowing she will always be there for me, even if we can never reconnect, gives me some of the strength I need to move forward.

“I will cover for you as much as I can,” Ella says. “But when they learn you ran, they will chase you.”

“Thank you,” I tell her. “I know.”

Pulling back from her, I give her a small smile, not wanting her last sight of me to be one of worry and fear.

“Goodbye, Ella,” I tell her.

Her returning smile wobbles as much as mine. “Goodbye, Ollie. Please, be careful.”

“I will,” I promise. Then, turning, I grab the bag she brought for me and head for the door. Outside, without a real heading, I turn north, and I begin to run.

Conrad’s POV

The shock of the revelation has yet to settle within me, even as my brothers and I return to the estate and sit together in the living room.

My nose did not betray me, I know. Ollie has the same smell as our Angel.

Which means she has to be her.

But that leaves so many questions, so much uncertainty…

How could the Moon Goddess be so cruel as to give us as a mate the same woman who earlier betrayed us? An omega? And the one woman who can’t seem to get along with the person foremost in our hearts – our sister Sylvia?

“Fate has been cruel to us,” I say, giving voice to my inner thoughts. “To give us such a fated mate.”

“You say that, but…” Wes sighs. “She is capable and strong. How many times has she stood against us?”

“Contrary and stubborn,” Declan adds. “Our mate should be agreeable.”

We all fall silent for a moment. Then Hugh speaks up.

“She knew we would react this way,” Hugh says. “That’s why she didn’t tell us. She hid from us because we are not trustworthy.”

“She should have kept hiding,” I say, though… I don’t know that I mean it.

Learning that Ollie is Angel has been… frustrating. But at the same time, it answers many questions about why I’ve always felt so protective of Ollie.

And why I’m so attracted to her…

“We have to prioritize our sister,” Wes says. “Ollie has never liked Sylvia. We cannot forget that now that this is revealed…”

His words lack conviction, like the one he is trying to convince is himself.

The truth is far more complicated.

I love my sister, but it’s a different kind of love than what I feel for my mate. And if I can’t have Ollie…

A deep unhappiness wells up within me.

I cannot lose my mate.

My wolf is even more stubborn than I am.

“This isn’t a choice between Sylvia and –” I start.

“What are you talking about?” Sylvia asks, suddenly sticking her head through the door. Her eyes are wide, tears welling within them. “Do my brothers not love me anymore?”