Chapter 126

Conrad’s POV

Mom must have sensed that my brothers and I had a lot to talk about, because after a little while, she asked Ollie to escort her down to the cafeteria for something to eat. Ollie seemed surprised by the request, but agreed.

Now that they are both gone, and my brothers and I are alone, the entire mood of the room has shifted into something much more tense. I can’t speak for them, but I know I feel like I’m standing on the edge of a knife.

“What do we do if she picks him?” Hugh asks from his hospital bed. The rest of us stand around in various states of upset. Declan and I are crossing our arms. Wes keeps nervously combing his hair with his fingers.

“She won’t,” I say with more confidence than I actually feel. But I’ve learned in sports that positive thinking is how to manifest victory.

“You don’t know that,” Wes says. “We’ve treated her unkindly over these past few years. Now her actual family have made an appearance and we –”

“We are her actual family,” Declan says sharply. “We are her mates.”

“I think we need to face facts here,” Hugh says. “We are fucked. With how we’ve been, she has no reason to pick us over him. After all, how many times did we pick Sylvia over her?”

The room goes quiet at the pretender’s name. That deception hurt us all deeply. We wanted our lost sister so badly that we hadn’t been able to detect the false scent Sylvia wore, and we overlooked so many red flags.

We even let her treat our mate so terribly, enough that we sided with her each and every time.

If Ollie leaves us, could we really blame her? Wouldn’t it just be the cultivation of all of our actions over the past few years?

“She’s going to pick her brother,” Hugh continues.

No one argues.

A moment passes in silence, before Declan speaks again, “Even if she does, that doesn’t change anything.”

“How?” I ask.

He looks at me, his eyes ice cold and determined. “She is our mate,” he says. “No matter the distance, we will continue to pursue her. Eventually, we will win her back.”

“You think it will be that simple?” Wes asks, hope in his voice.

“There’s nothing simple about it,” I say. “Long distance is dangerous for fated mates.”

“Then we go to her,” Hugh says. “We stay there until she decides to come back home with us.”

While I’m not opposed to that, logistically, it leaves some questions, “What about our pack? All four Alphas can’t just leave.”

“So we take turns,” Wes says. “We’ll make it work. We have to. I’m not going to lose her, Conrad.”

“Agreed,” Hugh says.

Declan nods.

I’m not sure how I became the bad guy here, when I’ve felt the same from the beginning.

“Then we are decided,” I tell them.

Ollie’s POV

When it’s time to meet my brother, the quadruplets insist on going with me. Even Hugh, who is supposed to spend a few more days in a hospital bed. With a cane, he keeps pace beside us as we walk down the sidewalk away from the hospital, toward the university.

When I asked him to stay at the hospital, worried about him, he said, “I’ll go back right after. But I’m not going to stay behind when he takes you away from us.”

When. Not if.

They are all so sure that they are going to lose me.

Maybe they have a right to be concerned? After all, these past years, they haven’t exactly treated me with kindness, and though there have been moments, especially recently, where they have acted like I’m someone precious and worth protecting, can that truly exonerate the years of being belittled and ignored?

The four of them loom around me now as we walk, my protectors against everything.

I’ll never forget how they rushed to me, how they protected me from Caretaker Stephens. Hugh, especially, taking that silver bullet for me, but the others too. Conrad, ripping apart that gate. Declan, taking the caretaker’s life. Wes, trying to take me into his arms.

That moment, however terrifying and traumatizing, will live with me forever, the good and the bad.

And I’m not sure I’d change that. That moment changed everything for me, how I saw myself and my mates.

They could have believed Sylvia, but they didn’t. They kept looking for me, they found me, and they protected me.

We meet Professor Hunter and the mysterious Northern Alpha standing outside the library in the quad. The Northern Alpha turns to look at me, and I immediately feel the connection. My wolf recognizes its kin.

He approaches me at once, but stops just before touching me, perhaps of his own instincts, or perhaps because of my four protectors watching him closely.

“Georgina,” he says, speaking to me.

“That’s not my name,” I tell him.

“Oh, that’s what it was when you were…” He clears his throat. “When we return to the North, that is how people will address you.”

“My name is Ollie,” I say.

His lips twitch ever so slightly. “I used to call you Georgie.”

“Ollie, please,” I say again.

Hunter steps forward. “Ollie, this is Alpha Erik.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Erik. Other than me being a baby, I mean.” I offer him my hand.

“Do you… think I could have a hug?” he asks.

My heart stirs with familial yearning. I’ve been through too much, maybe, to doubt the man I can recognize as my brother. I don’t want our reconnection to be overshadowed by my own insecurities. Instead, I spread my arms and welcome his hug.

It’s nice and warm, with the comfort of family. And this physical connection, manifested through this hug, unlock some deep feelings within me and I start to cry.

He holds me tighter, not calling me out, just offering his silent support.

Pulling back, I look up at him through my tear-blurred vision and ask, “What are our family like?”

Over the next few minutes, I learn as much as I can about the family I never knew. Unfortunately, the caretaker didn’t lie about my parents having passed, which gives me great regret. I would have loved to meet my real mom and dad, to know the unconditional love of true parents.

“The palace is filled with pictures,” Erik says. “When you return, I’ll show you everything.”

We do have many cousins that are with us, and even second-cousins, as well as a few remaining aunts and uncles. I’m eager to meet them all.

But not too eager.

My mates stay back several feet while I reconnect with the brother I never knew. While I’m grateful for the space they are giving me, I wish they would move closer.

I’m somewhat overwhelmed, learning so much, meeting someone who is both family and a stranger. I need their comforting presence, their warm support to keep me steady while my reality shifts in new ways.

But they maintain distance, perhaps thinking this is what I want or need.

Is it? My feelings are still unclear, even to me.

Erik looks at me then, his eyes full of hope and promise, and asks, “When will you be returning home with me?”

With those words hanging in the air, I glance back at my mates.