Chapter 17
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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?”
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Chapter 17
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“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?”
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Chapter 17
“I wasn’t there!” I say, pleading.
Conrad glares. “Then where were you?”
“I…” I still have no answer.
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“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.
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