Chapter 39

Ollie’s POV

All I want to do now until my acceptance letter comes is keep my head down and try not to start or fall into any drama. Sylvia likes to set traps for me, so I’m always on my guard around her. It’s exhausting, but so far, so good. Any time she tries to start something, I apologize and leave the room.

I’ve been also trying not to allow myself to be in any positions with her. I hate to call it hiding, but I’ve been leaving the estate during the day as much as I can. I mostly go to the library or, if Ella’s with me, we go to the woods to run around in our wolf forms.

Though lately I’ve been noticing a trend whenever I try to leave the house, at least when I leave without Ella. One or another brother always startles me by stopping me just as I leave the side door.

I have no idea how they know I’m leaving. It’s like they have a sixth sense or something. Yet, more often than not now, whenever I open the door to head to the library, someone is there with a scowl on their face demanding to know where I’m going.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why they care. I tell them the library, or the gym, or the park, and they will look at my suspiciously but be otherwise fine, so long as I return before dark. They always say that.

I can’t figure out what the problem is. If they don’t care about me, why do they care so much where I’m going? Or when I’ll be back? Is this because I’m an Omega? They just don’t trust me anymore?

Although, pressed now, I can’t think of the last time they did actually trust me.

This time, my only intention is to go down to the corner store to get some more snacks for my room. Since I’ve been avoiding the common areas in the house like the plague, I’ve also been avoiding the kitchen. So I’ve been keeping some food in my room to hold me over sometimes, while I wait for the rest of the house to vacate the kitchen and dining room.

Conrad told me to eat, but he doesn’t have to actually see me do it, right?

With the corner store as my destination, I step outside. This time it’s Wes who is waiting for me.

“Where are you headed?” he asks me, his arms crossed. He’s already hostile. I have no idea what I’ve done to earn it.

“To the corner store,” I say.

His eyes narrow. “To meet your boyfriend?”

I pause. “Uh. Huh?”

“You’ve been leaving the house a lot,” Wes says. “You are likely going to see your new lowly boyfriend, even though we told you not to.”

Gods, how I wish I could play into this, be a brat, and tell them that I’m going to see my lowly boyfriend and we are going to be seen everywhere, just to mess with the reputation of the quadruplets.

But… being a brat would not help me keep a low profile, and right now, what I need more than anything else is to not draw unneeded attention to myself.

Avoiding drama is my mantra at the moment.

So, instead of antagonizing him like I really want to, I say instead, “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

His disapproving expression does not change, which makes it clear to me that he doesn’t believe me in the slightest.

I suppose, if I was sneaking out to see a secret boyfriend, I would lie about it, saying just what I did. But what am I supposed to do when the most obvious lie I could have told is actually the truth?

“I’m just going to the corner store,” I tell him. “I need some chips and some fruit, and a few drinks. I have a list. Do you want to see it?”

“No,” he says.

He’s just staring at me now, so I figure that’s the end of the conversation. I move to sidestep around him, yet before I get far, he grabs me by the belt loop of my pants and yanks me closer.

I freeze and he does too. Wes has never been overly assertive like this, but he seemed to move almost as if on instinct. Yet now that he has me where he wants me, he doesn’t seem certain what to do.

It’s as if we are two statues frozen in time, neither of us certain how to end this sudden moment between us.

Wes’s breath is warm on the back of my neck.

After a long moment, he swallows and says, “Do not forget you are a representative of this family. You shouldn’t be with others…”

I turn to look at him. What does he mean by that?

He swallows again, harder. He seems a bit frazzled now, like he’s starting to fray around the edges of his new hardened persona. He’s always been the kindest of the family.

“For the sake of our reputation, of course,” he says.

But his finger is still clawed through my belt-loop.

“They won’t drag you to another pack, Ollie,” he says. “You are going to stay here.”

This time, I’m certain I’ve misheard. “What?”

Now, he releases me. “I’ve said enough.” He turns and walks back toward the house, but not the side entrance I’ve come out of. Instead, he moves to walk back around to the front and in through the main door.

I watch after him, alarm bells sounding in my head. Why would he say something like that, about me leaving the pack…?

Maybe they really do know my plans.

Could that be possible?

The thought bothers me all the way to the corner store. If they know I’m planning on leaving to go to another pack, they still have many chances to sabotage me.

I can’t ease up now. I can’t relax.

In fact, maybe what I need to do is get on the offensive.

As Ollie, I can’t just ask them what they know and are up to, nor can I sneak around. Declan has supernatural hearing, I’m pretty sure.

What I need to do is try to get information, not as myself but as someone else…

Their fated mate, perhaps.

When I return from the corner store, my supplies in hand, I head straight for my bedroom.

Immediately, I text Hugh and suggest a new day and time. Keeping in mind my curfew, I pick an earlier time than we’ve met in the past, though I make it a Saturday so it won’t be obvious that I’m on break right now.

Setting aside the phone for now, I unpack my snacks and drinks. Ella helped me get a mini-fridge down here, so I can at least keep my drinks and fruits cool. The setup is otherwise less than ideal though.

I can’t wait until I’m out of the estate. I’ve heard others complain about dorm rooms being too small, but I’m looking forward to the freedom so much. Could the room be any smaller than the one I’m already occupying?

Just as I finish putting away the items, the burner phone buzzes with Hugh’s response.

Some afternoon delight? Count me all the way in.