Chapter 12

Ollie’s POV

Fortunately Ella and I had the presence of mind to change into our school clothes after leaving the forest. Our gowns are still in the trunk of the car.

That’s my only solace as Diana and the four brothers step into the hallway. My heart skips a beat when I see Hugh, but unlike earlier this evening, rather than lustful curiosity, his gaze now is filled with disgust and disdain.

Scarlet is holding down our scent. He can’t have any idea it’s us. That should be a relief to me, yet, despite myself, I still feel somewhat disappointed.

I swallow that feeling down, reminding myself that avoiding them is exactly what I want.

“Ollie, were you told you could be out this late?” Conrad walks toward Ella and me first, with long confident strides. As he comes closer, his nostrils work, sniffing the air. Immediately, he glowers at me. “Have you been out drinking?”

I think to lie, but for him to know… Do I smell like alcohol?

“Where were you?” Conrad demands.

I can’t answer that, not without potentially giving myself away to Hugh. I can’t mention the party or the forest where Ella and I ran. That too would reveal too much, as I’m not supposed to have a wolf to be able to run with in the wild.

I open my mouth but I can’t think of a lie fast enough.

Conrad’s eyes narrow the longer I take.

“You won’t answer?”

“I…”

Conrad turns his icy gaze on Ella instead. “Where were you, Ella?”

“I went to a dance party. Then I went for a run afterwards, but Ollie wasn’t with me of course.” Ella stumbles over her own words. She’s better than me at coming up with a lie, but she’s unaccustomed to it as much as I am. Her parents are usually so understanding that she doesn’t need to lie to them.

As far as I know, the secret of my wolf is the first and only time she’s kept something from them.

“I didn’t run into Ollie until I saw her at an intersection,” Ella continues. “So I stopped to pick her up, and here we are.”

Conrad narrows his eyes. I can’t tell if he believes her or not, but he still bites out, “Fine.” His focus shifts back to me. “That doesn’t explain where you were, Ollie. I want answers. Now.”

“Oh, Ollie,” Sylvia says in that false meek way of hers, when she’s working on setting me up for some kind of fall. “You went to that wild party on 15(th) street, didn’t you? The one with the drugs and the hookups? I know you wanted to go. I told you not to. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

“15(th) street?” Hugh scoffs. “Gods, Ollie. Were you trying to whore yourself out?”

“What kind of party is that?” Diana asks.

Wes approaches her. Speaking gently, he says, “Not the kind of party any reputable woman should be at.”

Diana looks at me in alarm. “Ollie? Did you attend this party?”

I open my mouth, ready to defend myself, but Declan speaks first. He storms forward, coming to stand beside Conrad. His looming presence makes me back up, straight into a literal corner. I can’t even see Ella anymore.

“You are an outsider that we have taken in. You have ties to this family,” Declan says. His voice is eerily calm, cold and calculating. “Everyone knows your connection to us. How dare you bring us disgrace by prostituting yourself on 15(th) street?”

“I wasn’t there!” I say, pleading.

Conrad glares. “Then where were you?”

“I…” I still have no answer.

“Don’t lie, Ollie,” Sylvia says. She holds her hands to her chest. “Please, don’t make things worse for you. Just tell the truth.”

I can’t. No matter what, I cannot let them tie me to their mystery mate. Maybe I’ll be punished now, and it will be horrible. But no punishment could match how much it would hurt to be bound to this same situation forever.

Only one more month and I’ll be free.

I just need to hold on.

“She needs a punishment,” Hugh says. “15(th) street is nowhere for a reputable girl to be.” He could only know that if he’s been there.

“You will volunteer at the quarry,” Conrad says.

The stone quarry sits on the outskirts of town. It’s a place of hard labor, where prisoners and others being punished chip away at the rocks. The rocks are then gathered and sold to various landscapers. It’s fruitless work, only really designed to punish.

“Fitting, but not enough,” Declan adds. “We should also keep her confined at night.”

“For how long?” I ask.

Declan holds my gaze so long I start to feel cold all over. “Until we agree to let you go.”

“But what about school?” I ask, desperation welling inside of me.

“You should have thought about what you’d lose when you decided to shame yourself,” Conrad says.

None of them listen to me after that.

The next morning, I’m forced to wake early with the servants and help serve breakfast to the family. All of them continue to glare at me. Fortunately, Ella and her parents are there too, sitting near Diana. They, at least, don’t look at me with hate in their eyes.

I can tell just from looking at her that Ella wants to help me. But, she is powerless here in these walls with the family matriarch herself approving on my punishment.

As I make the rounds, pouring coffee in everyone’s waiting cup, I start to hear pieces of their conversation, things I missed when I was in the kitchen.

“This year will be grand,” Diana says. “My four boys all will be 21 this year, and will finally inherit the vacant Alpha position. And then, as part of your authority, you will be able to give rankings to this year’s first batch of adult pack members.”

I force myself to pour steadily, not thinking how that batch includes Ella, Sylvia, and myself.

“Do I have anything to worry about?” Sylvia asks, teasing lightly.

“Of course not,” Conrad tells her with seriousness.

“Though we do expect you to plan the coronation ceremony,” Diana says. “As a member of this household, it should be you.”

Sylvia brightens at once. “We need to have diamonds on every surface. I want the shine to nearly blind everyone.”

Diana laughs lightly, all while shaking her head. “While we want the event to be elaborate of course, diamonds on every surface is impractical, my dear.”

Sylvia pouts a little. “But think of the shine. I’m sure I could convince you. What if we have a mock up done?”

“I’m afraid it’s just not suitable,” Diana says.

“Forgive the intrusion,” Ella interjects, “But maybe Ollie might be more suited to the task. She’s organized some events in the past, right? She has the experience.” When Sylvia turns to glare at her, Ella pointedly adds, “That way Sylvia can focus on her studies.”

“Exams are approaching,” Wes says thoughtfully.

It hurts, how he can be concerned for her exams, while I am being sent to the quarry rather than to class.

Diana takes in their words, then turns to me. “Ollie?”

The idea of doing anything for the quadruplets makes me want to be sick, but I’m not in any position to turn this down, especially if it helps improve my situation. Maybe they will lighten my punishment if I agree.

“I would love to,” I say.

“Good,” Diana says. “Then it’s decided. Ollie will organize the event.”

Presently, I stand beside Declan, pouring coffee into his mug.

He looks up at me, his eyes twin icicles.

Once, I’d been able to thaw them with a smile. I try that now, smiling lightly.

He has no reaction.

The coffee carafe is empty now, so I turn, ready to head back to the kitchen and refill it.

Yet, before I even finish turning, Declan grabs me by the hips and yanks me down so that I am sitting in his lap.

Immediately, I try to jump up again, but his hands are firm, vicelike. There’s no way I can escape.

As I’m sitting sideways across his lap, I can still see his serious expression as he says, “You dare to smile at me? After all you have done?”