Chapter 123

Hugh’s POV

Conrad leaps, slamming his large wolf body into the door. The hinges and lock break at once, and the door falls down flat onto the floor.

With the way clear, Declan zooms past his brother, still recovering from the crash of the door. Conrad composes himself almost immediately though, and takes off after Declan as Wes and I are still trying to get through the door.

We all come to halt in the first sitting room.

Ollie’s scent is in the air. She’s here somewhere, or was recently.

Right now, the only person we see is Sylvia. She’s crying, her mascara making tracks down her cheeks, and she’s tied to a chair.

“Oh, thank the Gods you are here!” she says when she sees us.

Conrad, in wolf form, moves his jaws to the rope, ready to bite through them. At once, I shift, and tell him, “Wait.”

Sylvia looks at me with dismay and underneath, alarm. “What are you doing? The caretaker is crazy. He tied me up and –”

“Why are you here, Sylvia?” I ask.

Maybe my brothers will hate me for this. Maybe we are wasting precious time that should be spent finding our mate, but there’s been a suspicion rising inside of me about Sylvia for some time. I know at least Conrad and Declan feel it to.

Wes, I can’t get a read on, but he’s always had the softest heart. If Sylvia is playing us all for fools, he will be the last to accept it, and the one who will hurt the most.

For that reason, I don’t even look at him. I keep my gaze on Sylvia, watching her closely for any hints of deceit. I’ve done my own fair share of lying over the years. I know exactly what to look for, to be able to tell if someone is trying to pull one over on us.

In the past, I always forgave Sylvia, making excuses for her given her upbringing.

But that she is here, in this place where Ollie has been taken…

Even with her tied to a chair, something about this feels all the way wrong. Sylvia knows more than she’s saying, and until she gives up why, I will stop any effort by my brothers to free her.

Fortunately for me, Declan and Conrad also seem interested in the answer. Wes chuffs with impatience but so far stays behind me, not interfering.

“Seriously?” Sylvia says with outrage, looking at me with more anger than anything else.

I cross my arms.

“Fine,” she huffs. “I heard Ollie was missing. The caretaker has always been kind of weird so I came here to see if Ollie was here. And she was, but not like we expect. They… they’re working together! Ollie tied me to this chair herself.”

I give her a flat look. “Our mate Ollie, who was fleeing north, decided to leave all of her belongings in the woods, drag herself through the forest, and threw herself into the back of a truck?”

“She drove the truck!”

“That doesn’t make sense, Sylvia. You are clearly lying. Tell us what is actually going on here, please.”

Quickly the tears dry up and her face twists with rage. “So you are taking her side over mine? Aren’t we family? Aren’t family supposed to do anything for each other?”

“That’s true,” I say, “Which is why you should stop lying to us. Whatever you are involved with, we can help you, Sylvia. You’ve always trusted us in the past so keep trusting us now. Tell us what’s really going on.”

She’s quiet a moment, her face still scrunched up in anger. But then, with a breath, her features even out. She closes her eyes and says, “I’ve never trusted you. Not really. I always knew that someday you would turn on me, just like everyone else in my life.”

My heart aches in my chest. Maybe we have reason to distrust Sylvia now, but at one point, we have loved her so easily and selflessly. We accepted her as our sister and in taking on that role, we protected her from everything.

That she couldn’t see how much we cared for her…

That she couldn’t see her own actions are what are putting the strain on our relationship now…

It makes everything just that much sadder.

So for a moment, my heart does break for her. But that doesn’t mean I can forget what else is happening here.

Our mate is still in danger.

“Sylvia,” I say firmly, refocusing. “Where is Ollie?”

Ollie’s POV

Trapped in a nearby storage room with the caretaker, I can barely breathe with his arm wrapped around my neck. His gun is at my side, pressing against my ribs.

I don’t think he’ll fire though, not yet. He has to wait for the quadruplets to leave. If he doesn’t, they will hear the gunshot and track it to this closet, where they will find me and tear him apart.

There’s only one bullet in that gun.

Yet, even with the barrel of the gun pinching into my side, I know I will have to act soon.

My mates don’t seem to be falling for Sylvia’s damsel act, which is good, but they might still believe any lie she spins about me leaving with the caretaker.

The minute they are out of this house is the minute I die.

Despite my situation, I’m not damsel myself.

I’m so tired of not having control over my own destiny. I refuse to let my life end this way.

Listening to the conversation in the other room, pride swells within me hearing Hugh stand up against Sylvia and her obvious deceptions.

I don’t know what changed with my mates to get them to now believe in me over her… Perhaps it is the influence of the mating bond, or an intervention by the Moon Goddess herself.

Whatever the reason, I’m incredibly grateful for it.

“Sylvia,” Hugh says. “Where is Ollie?”

If I make a noise, the caretaker could just shoot me, but to stay silent here will undoubtedly lead to my certain death.

The only thing I can truly do is push forward. To make a move. To go down swinging rather than with a bullet in the back.

So, as the caretaker and I both wait, straining to hear Sylvia’s answer. I subtly lift my foot, then, in a rush, slam my heel down onto his toes.

He yelps in surprise.

I burst out from the storage room and turn toward the living room, where I know my mates to be.

“Help!” I call as I start to run there.

They all turn to look at me. Three of them are in wolf form and start forward.

Unfortunately, before they can reach me, or I can reach them, something clicks and a metal grate comes crashing down into the space between us, blocking the hallway in half with rod iron beams.

I’m trapped on one side with the caretaker.

The quadruplets are on the other.

Conrad shifts and reaches through the bars with this strong arms. I grab his hands, frightened.

Declan growls at the figure behind me.

I turn in time to see Caretaker Stephens lift the gun once more. His finger is on the trigger, his eyes are wild, crazed.

“Nothing left to lose,” he says.