Chapter 98

Ollie’s POV

Delilah has kind eyes. That’s pretty much the only reason that I don’t lose my nerve in this conversation. Instead, I half turn back to the stairs, ready to escape if necessary, but also ready to hear her out.

“I’m sorry, dear, I didn’t mean to pry,” Delilah says. “It’s only that it’s been so long since I’ve seen the boys like this. I’ve known them for several years now, you see, and they’ve brought girls here before, but never like this. The way they talked about you when they were making preparations. Even before I met you, I knew you were someone special.”

Suddenly, I don’t feel so much like turning away. Instead I step further away from the stairs, moving closer to her. Her warm smile spread even wider as I approached.

“They truly are remarkable men. I’ve heard they are all Alphas of their own pack. Out here, with so many islands, there aren’t really packs like that. We servants hail from the main island, and we have an Alpha there. But work requires us to leave our pack.

“I can’t imagine four Alphas, working in tandem. Your pack must be of an impressive size.”

“It is,” I say. “Hundreds of thousands of people depend on the brothers. If not millions…”

Delilah whistled. “I knew they were underselling their importance. They always tell me the lead a small pack, like you can’t tell just from looking at them. Just from the way they walk, you can tell they are important.”

“Yes,” I agree. I couldn’t imagine the quadruplets, almost larger than life in their confidence, attempting to convince Delilah our pack was small. Why would they even want to do that? So they wouldn’t intimidate her?

They never let that seem to bother them before, and Delilah doesn’t seem like the type to let that bother her anyway. She talks about the quadruplets like they are young boys, not fully grown men capable of exiling people, or bullying them, or worse.

They are decent leaders though, I could give them that. At least, they seem to be. It might still be too early to tell.

Or maybe I am just biased though. Despite our differences and the way they’ve treated me, they have been groomed since birth to be the leaders of the pack. If anyone should know how to lead, it’s them, just from sheer amount of training alone.

What makes me curious more than this topic, however, is what Delilah meant when she told me the brothers acted differently with me than they did the other girls they had brought here.

“I’m sorry,” I say, bringing the conversation back to this. I truly hoped she wouldn’t think I’m vain, though I certainly feel like I am. “When you say I’m different than the others…”

“Oh.” Delilah laughs, like she’s delighted for the change of subject. “Yes, those girls they sometimes bring here, they have no real interest in at all. They barely pay attention to those girls, and frankly, I never thought those girls were very deserving of them either. They might have spent their evenings together, but otherwise they didn’t even seem to particularly like each other.”

I hate to disappoint her, but I don’t see my situation as all that different. After all, we are in this for the sex only. Beyond that, we have no real intentions. The brothers don’t want to be tied down, and I certainly have no intentions of staying in their pack longer than necessary.

This isn’t some relationship of shared interests or affection.

Well, at least… mostly it isn’t.

Wes sometimes blurs the lines, and there’s some complication on my end, since I know them but they don’t know me.

That too, hurts more than it should. Why could they see Angel, but not see Ollie?

“You don’t believe me,” Delilah says, reading my face. “I suppose I can’t blame you. Though they are kind to me, I can see that the brothers often withhold their true feelings. I think they do that to protect themselves…”

I have a hard time seeing the brothers as guys who need to protect themselves from anything, even feelings. They simply had different priorities than anyone else. Their list of important people was both too short and too long.

At the top of the list is Sylvia. Then the pack as a whole entity, no one person specifically. Then themselves, and maybe their mother.

Beyond that? I can’t think of anyone else. I certainly don’t register on their radar, not as Ollie, and not even as Angel.

“You are different though,” Delilah insists. “They had so many special requests just for you. Secrets I won’t dare spoil.”

I’m starting to bet that she says this to all the girls that come here, so I nod along, trying to be polite but ready for this conversation.

“And then I saw you. You were coming up the path with all four brothers trailing behind you, watching your every move.” Delilah laughs again, her voice bright like a chime. “I thought to myself, there are four boys madly in love.”

Now I know she’s lying, likely only telling me what she thinks I want to hear. The truth is so much messier.

“Thank you,” I tell her, hoping that will end the conversation.

It seems too, though not before she gives me a kind of pitying look. “Someday you will see it for yourself. A shame you can’t see it now.” She shakes her head a little. “Regardless, if you need me for anything, please seek me out. Delilah, don’t forget.”

“I won’t,” I say. Even if I do feel she has been lying to me, it was still nice to have someone speak so kindly to me for such a long moment. Outside of my two friends, and an occasional teacher, no one has been this nice to me in a long while. “Thank you,” I say again.

She smiles warmly, then turns away, disappearing into the kitchen.

I remember my plan to see the ocean and step outside.

I don’t have to walk far before I see it, just across the deck wrapped around the house. And there is it, white sandy beaches leading down to the blue waves.

I kick off my shoes as I reach the sandy edge, then marvel at how warm the sand is as my toes sink it.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe I would be in a place like this, a tropical paradise, with my four soulmates.

Everything is almost perfect. Perhaps if they loved me for me…

No, I will not fall into this trap of affection and feelings. It doesn’t matter what Delilah perceived between the brothers and me. This trip is just a nice getaway, an excuse for unbridled sex before we return to the status quo…

Before Angel disappears and only the unwanted Ollie remains.

Annoyed with myself for allowing the dark feelings to take hold, I push myself forward, closer to the water’s edge.

Just as I’m peering at the horizon line, I nearly jump out of my skin as a figure emerges from the water. He’s facing away from me but I know the curve of that back.

It’s Hugh.

And he’s naked.