Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 103

Chapter 103: 103-My Brother And My Mate

Kaye:

“This is the best pizza ever,” Maximus mumbled with his mouth full, still praising the food. He had no choice but to act as though he was utterly thrilled by the pizza—it had been a hard-earned treat after his rigorous workouts.

“And how is your training going, Maximus?” Norman asked, since he always kept a close eye on our training and whereabouts.

“It’s tough, but I guess I’m doing much better this time. The weapons are working wonders too,” Maximus joked, referring to taking his own weapons with him into the deep woods.

“Be careful playing around with those things, though,” Emmet commented before lowering his head to focus on his food.

“I’m not an amateur like you, Emmet. I know how to control my emotions and my weapons,” I noticed Emmet pause before continuing to eat. Maximus always made remarks about Emmet, criticizing him for not acting like a brother who should be more responsible, like Norman. But Emmet almost never argued with Maximus, and I guess that upset Maximus most of the time. He wanted Emmet to fight back and explain that we mean a lot to him.

“No need to be snarky, Maximus. He takes care of the academy and business with me,” Norman jumped in, as he always did, to settle his brother’s issues.

“We do too,” Maximus scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s just that we don’t hide behind alcohol for most of it.”

I sighed, watching Maximus keep targeting Emmet. If Emmet didn’t want to be an elder brother to us and look after us, that was fine. We weren’t kids, but I agreed that there were times when we needed each other’s support and help.

“Anyway, this pizza is really good,” I said, steering the conversation back to the food. You can never go wrong with food.

Now, however, Maximus was preparing to leave for another round of training in the deep woods, where he would only eat whatever he could forage from the trees—if he was lucky enough to find anything.

“I agree,” Emmet said, wiping his mouth clean with a napkin. We were seated on the rooftop of our mansion, enjoying a brotherhood meeting.

“Emmet—” Norman interrupted, hastily swallowing the large bite of pizza he had just taken.

“I’ve found a spot where some unique herbs are growing.” Meanwhile, Maximus turned to me.

“That’s great. I could take the students there to show them that place,” I replied. However, my attention shifted back to Norman and Emmet, whose conversation had taken a far more intriguing turn.

“I heard you bought a purple diamond bracelet. Please tell me you’ve already found a mate,” Norman said, his voice brimming with excitement. I was ready to celebrate my brother’s good fortune—until I heard Emmet’s response.

“Oh, that was for Helanie.”

My body tensed. The bite of pizza in my mouth suddenly felt impossible to swallow. The pizza lost its taste. Hearing my brother take her name was already too much for me and then his response shook the world from underneath my feet.

I didn’t understand how Emmet could think such a statement would go unnoticed. The rest of us froze, and at that moment, he was the only one still eating.

“Helanie?” Norman asked, echoing the question burning in all our minds. “You bought a diamond bracelet for Helanie? Purple diamonds, no less?”

His voice carried the shock and disbelief we all felt. How was Emmet so comfortable buying gifts for someone? I thought he was void of any emotions and feelings. Just doing the right thing was his motto.

A burning sensation spread through my veins, as if someone had poured acid into them. My gaze lingered on Emmet’s face, and anger bubbled up inside me, threatening to spill over.

Why would he buy such an expensive gift for my mate? Did Helanie accept it?

Should I have done something like that, too?

Questions swirled in my mind, each more troubling than the last. And yet, Emmet seemed to be the only one who could answer them.

“She’s not safe out there. She’ll become a target—” Emmet began, raising his head from his food to respond, but Maximus cleared his throat, stepping in before he could finish.

“If she’s too weak. She shouldn’t even be in the academy,” Maximus said, his tone sharp. He was probably still bitter about the fact that Helanie had punched him in front of everyone.

“But I guess Emmet isn’t entirely wrong. She’s a student now, and it’s obvious she could be an easy target. If students aren’t safe in our academy, everyone will question our leadership and also our academy’s reputation,” I explained, though I hated every moment they spent implying that Helanie didn’t belong here. Technically, she was an owner of the academy.

‘Yeah, because she’s the owner’s mate?’ my wolf, Ye, shot back, still sulking. He had been caught in a lie once before and was lucky Helanie didn’t yet have an active wolf. If she did, the mate bond would have driven him crazy by now. I tried to avoid Ye because I was still upset with him about lying and also disrespecting Helanie many times. She did not deserve all this. She was just an innocent and very pure girl.

“And maybe you are forgetting that the main part of our training is bullying. Seniors give juniors a hard time to prepare them for difficult situations,” Norman argued, bringing up the rules we have all made together.

“But that doesnt mean killing anyone,” Emmet shot back immediately. However, there were still some heavy questions that Emmet needed to answer.

“But how does a diamond bracelet keep her safe? Wouldn’t it make others question where she’s getting the money for something like that?” Norman narrowed his eyes at Emmet, his pointed words making me clench my fists.

Every time they brought up the bracelet, jealousy flared in my chest. I should have been the one to do that. To give her something so meaningful. So expensive.

“There’s a tracker in the bracelet,” Emmet said casually, the words slipping from his lips as if they were no big deal. Another wave of shock hit me.