Chapter 8

Ollie’s POV

My breath hitches as every square inch of me seems to come alive, ignited by Conrad’s closeness and his near-nakedness. With both hands on the wall, the towel around his waist sags dangerously. I fight to keep my eyes on Conrad’s face.

After gaining my wolf, even with her repressing herself, I see more, hear more, feel more.

I watch a bead of water slip down from his shoulder, tracing the line of his pectoral as it goes on a journey southward.

I hear the deep rumble emerging from him with each breath. He’s so annoyed with me, he’s practically growling.

Those eyes of his, so intense, bearing deeply down into mine. How can someone look at me so coldly while making me feel so hot?

It takes everything within me to push down on those rising feelings of lust. Gods, I want to kiss him, almost as much as I want to feel those strong hands of his on my curves, pulling me against him. I don’t care if my clothes get wet, I just want to feel the press of his body to his.

I swallow thickly. My nipples harden. My mind goes a little cloudy with the force of my want.

All the while, Conrad stares straight into my eyes with his ice-cold focus. “Do not run from me.”

“S-sorry,” I say, my voice shaking.

That seems to satisfy him as the edge of his lips quirks upwards ever so slightly.

Maybe he thinks I’m afraid. He has no idea what makes me tremble is desire.

“You insult me, acting as if I’m some plague to be avoided,” he says. Harsher, his hint of a smile fading, he says firmly, “Do not do this again.”

Unable to trust my voice anymore, I nod instead.

Then, as quickly as he caught me, he lets me go. Seeing this as a mercy, I rush away to the servants’ stairwell and hurry down to the basement and my room.

I can survive this.

There’s only one more month until my high school graduation.

I just have to hold on until then.

After a quick cold shower, I change into my button-down pajamas and crawl into bed. The chill of my shower wears off quickly, far quicker than ever before.

As I rest in my bed, I feel as if my skin in buzzing. My palms are clammy. Maybe I’m getting sick?

I know the best thing to fight illness is rest, so I force my eyes closed.

Despite everything, sleep finds me easily, and I immediately find myself in Conrad’s arms. Those strong hands that had pressed against the wall now grab me hard by the ass as he yanks me against the muscled planes of his body.

I think I’m naked. The heat of skin on skin is almost too much. I dip my head back and moan. As I do, his mouth clasps against the side of my throat as he sucks in a mark.

There’s a pressure between my thighs. I don’t understand… Is he… Is he in me?

Everything’s a blur of bliss. His hands firmly drag up my back, pushing me further against him. His red hot skin teases my budding nipples.

It’s too much. It’s all too much.

I gasp, I plead, I beg. I try to bite back my noises.

His mouth finds my ear. “Say my name,” he growls. “Scream it.”

“C-Conrad!”

As I jolt awake in bed, I’m out of breath and sweaty. My panties are soaked.

Realizing what happened, that a dream pushed me over an edge I still didn’t understand, I flop back down on the pillows.

Staring up at the ceiling, I wonder how I will ever survive this.

Still, even with the remnants of pleasure lingering under my skin, I feel somehow… off.

I might be sick, after all.

Part of me wants to stay in bed, to miss school for the day. But I can’t afford to miss any classes.

Universities will only accept the most talented members of other packs. If I want to go to a university in a different pack, I will need to maintain a high GPA. With only a month left, I can’t miss even a single day of school.

Forcing myself out of bed, I change and get ready for the day.

“You sure you’re okay?” Ella asks on the walk to school. “You’ve been acting strangely all morning. Given everything that you’ve been through, I can understand it. But I’m worried.”

“I’m okay,” I tell her, though I still don’t feel particularly well.

I’m hoping to avoid Sylvia and the quadruplets today, yet as we near the school, they are unfortunately out front. The three girlfriends are with them.

The brothers seem to be talking among themselves, with Sylvia addressing her minions nearby.

There’s only one entrance into the school, so there’s unfortunately no way to avoid them.

“If we keep our heads down, maybe they won’t notice us,” Ella says.

A well-meaning plan, but not a great one. I’m spotted immediately.

“Look, there’s the wolfless now!” Sylvia calls.

“Poor little wolfless,” Kimber says in a put-on baby-voice. “How does it feel to be at the bottom of the food chain?”

“Careful, Sylvia,” Christie says. “She might try to steal your wolf like she tried to steal your life.”

“She might want to, but she’d never be able to,” Vikki says. “Wolfless can’t do anything for themselves.”

I bite my tongue before I can remind her that for the past year, I’m the one that’s been doing her homework.

“It’s a shame how worthless they are,” Sylvia says. “But I guess we’ve known that about Ollie for a while.”

Her minions laugh. The brothers do too, which cuts into me despite my best efforts to ignore them.

With my wolf, it seems as if I feel everything so much more now. Even this.

“Let’s just go,” I say to Ella, and we start to walk by.

“Stop,” Declan demands. Almost on instinct, I feel my feet stop. He and the other brothers approach us. Rounding to the front of us, they totally block our path. “You have no right to throw a tantrum. You will hear what Sylvia has to say.”

Conrad crosses his arms. Hugh cruelly smirks. Wes frowns, but his eyes are fiery with anger.

I don’t care what they say, or how annoyed they look. I’m not going to be late for class.

Once more, I try to move around them.

“He said stop!” Vikki shouts and grabs my arms.

Christie and Kimber both grab Ella.

“Let us go!” I say and start to struggle.

Just then Sylvia starts toward me. Before she even gets to me, she somehow twists around and falls.

Everyone freezes.

From the ground, Sylvia looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “I wanted to help you, Ollie. Why would you push me?”

I was nowhere near her! Vikki and the others must have seen that!

Yet no one says a word to defend me. As the others go to help Sylvia, Wes storms toward me.

I back up a step, or try to, but Vikki keeps me steady.

Wes is the kindest of the brothers, but he can also be fiercest. His protective instincts are bone deep. With that fury turned on me, I don’t know what to expect.

“You are a disgrace, Ollie. How can you continue to disrespect the very person who tries to defend you?”

She wasn’t trying to defend me! I hold the words back, knowing that saying them aloud would be useless.

“You will stand right here at the school gate all day,” Wes says. “You will not move an inch, or I will withhold your wages for the entire month.”

My stomach drops. Standing is a bad-enough punishment, but to dock my pay? I barely make enough as it is.

Wes shoves me toward the school gate. I have no choice but to take point. With my back against the gate, I try to stand tall, hoping to maintain my composure despite the humiliation being forced upon me.

“Give me a marker,” Wes says, holding his hand out to Sylvia’s minions.

When Kimber hands one over, he pops off the top. Approaching me, he lowers his gaze down to my chest.

With a black marker, he writes on my white button-down top, directly over my breasts.

The sensations of the press of the marker into flesh makes my skin tingle. I inhale sharply as he inadvertently drags the felt tip over one of my nipples.