Chapter 35

Ollie’s POV

Hugh quietly steams the whole way back home, not saying a word as he races down the city streets well above the speed limit. I hold onto the handles on the door and the roof, trying to steady my heartrate while I tell myself again and again that Hugh is a good driver and I’m not going to die on this trip.

He’s acting like a man possessed, his eyes flashing red.

I still don’t understand why he’s so angry, but I don’t dare ask him, not wanting to further set him off. I must be missing something obvious here.

Was I supposed to be doing something else today? No, I don’t think so.

And I wasn’t out with anyone Hugh dislikes. Ella is the Beta’s daughter and a Beta herself.

It almost has to be because I was buying that red lingerie. But why would that upset him? He doesn’t know I’m his mate. To him, I’m just a lowly Omega.

Besides, he was there with his own date. Thinking of her makes my own anger spike somewhat. I grip the handles tighter.

When we arrive at the estate, Hugh pulls right up front of the main building, not into the garage like usual. As he exits the car, I try to open the passenger side door but it won’t open, like he has the child safety lock turned on.

He comes around and pulls on the handle from the outside. This time, it easily opens. Then he snatches me by the shoulder and drags me toward the house.

Even like this, it’s nice to be able to use the front door again. Usually, since SyIvia’s return, I have to sneak around the back.

As he drags me along with one hand, he’s texting on the phone with the other.

Inside the main door, we turn right and enter the main living room. Wes is already sitting there with Sylvia beside him, but Conrad and Declan come in soon after. I’m made to stand in front of them all, my back to the wall like prison lineup.

“What’s this about?” Conrad asks, crossing his arms. They are all looking at me with suspicion, likely deciding I’m already guilty, even though they don’t know anything yet.

Sylvia is smirking smugly when she’s certain the brothers aren’t looking at her. She always seems to enjoy when I’m in trouble.

“This one was out shopping today,” Hugh says, gesturing to me while speaking to his brothers. “I happened to run into her. Guess which store.”

The brothers stare a moment.

“Just tell us,” Declan prompts impatiently.

“The Lace Garden,” Hugh says. That gets a reaction from the brothers, and even from Sylvia, who all look at me with some surprise. “She was in the checkout line with a skimpy red number.”

As the brothers’ shock subsides, anger starts to replace it. I still don’t understand why this is a big deal. I am an adult. I’m allowed to buy whatever underwear I wish, lingerie or otherwise.

I’m apparently not the only one who is confused.

“So what?” Sylvia says.

“You don’t make purchases from the Lace Garden unless you want someone to see it,” Hugh says.

Sylvia’s confusion remains, as does my own.

Declan, eyes like ice, takes a threatening step toward me. His voice pitched low, he demands, “Who are you whoring yourself out to?”

The question is so blunt, so crude, that it stuns me a moment.

Sylvia snorts a laugh. “It’s probably someone low ranking like her. Who else would want her?”

Maybe Sylvia hoped that by teasing me, she would calm the brothers down, or maybe reclaim their attention. Instead, her words only seem to make them more furious. Even Wes hops up from the couch.

“Who is it, Ollie?” Wes insists.

“Are you fucking some low-ranked fool?” Conrad says, a growl in his voice. “Have you no dignity?”

“You probably spread your legs to the first boy that gave you attention, didn’t you?” Hugh scoffs.

The humiliation burns. Hugh has no idea the person I was buying that lingerie to impress was him.

I try to look away to hide my embarrassment, but Conrad storms forward. He grips my chin and forces my attention up to him.

There’s fire burning in his eyes, not that dissimilar to how Hugh looked the night we argued, just before we made out instead.

But it has to be coincidence. Conrad feels no desire for me. This fire has to be purely rage.

Before I can confuse myself into thinking that this anger of his might deride from some kind of jealousy, Conrad says, “We will not allow you to bring shame to the family name. You are under our protection, so when you act like a slut, it makes all of us look bad.”

He releases my chin with a small push, causing me to stumble backwards. I right myself up against he wall at my back.

Whore. Slut. Is this what they think of me?

How I wish I could throw it all back at them and tell them it’s their fated mate they are talking to like this, and the only person I am whoring myself to is Hugh.

Yet I bite back the words, knowing they would only lock me into a terrible fate. For the sake of my future in a faraway pack, I need to keep my lips sealed. I can handle this scolding, this humiliation.

It will only last for a bit longer until I can be free.

Behind the brothers, Sylvia has already started pouting. Even though the brothers are reprimanding and bullying me, at the same time, they are denying her attention. She’s never liked that.

“I was asked out by that Gamma again,” she says loudly, while pretending like it’s no big deal, just a thought that came to her. “I’m actually considering it.”

“You are not,” Hugh says, looking away from me first. The other brothers quickly follow suit.

Before I know it, I’m being fully ignored as all attention turns to Sylvia.

“Who is he?” Declan says. “And how can he think he deserves you?”

“A Gamma is not good enough for you,” Conrad says. “We will find you someone better suited, who will treat you like the princess you are.”

I watch the sight in front of me for a moment, as a pit seems to open up inside of my stomach.

The way they talk to Sylvia is so crisply different from how they just talked to me that it’s like night and day. It’s not just the tone, or even the words that upsets me. It’s the clear difference in intent.

With Sylvia, they obviously want to protect her. Their feelings for her care and comfort are clear. They don’t want her to be hurt by someone beneath her. They promise to find her someone who deserves her and how wonderful they perceive her to be.

With me, they only care about their own reputation. They call me a whore and a slut, and say I’m bringing down the family name. They don’t even know who I’m sleeping with. They don’t care.

They want me out of sight and out of mind. A mute, sexless follower who sticks to the shadows, serves them their breakfast, and never complains.

How many days has it been since I sent in my application? How soon until I hear back?

I can’t wait to be gone from this place. Then they won’t have to think about me at all.