Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 511

Chapter 511: 511-Want To Be Her Hero
Darius:

We had been sitting together in my room, drinking and talking about the trial and Helanie. If I needed to get Helanie away from her protectors, I had to separate her from those rogue brothers.

She was their stepsister for only a year—I’m sure they can’t be that attached to her.

But why the heck did Norman marry her? There’s no way he felt the mate bond with her that night specifically. They planned it.

“We can manipulate Emmet against Helanie,” I suggested, watching Romeo shake his head almost instantly.

“That will be nearly impossible. Emmet doesn’t really let others influence him. He only believes what he sees and his own judgment. I lived with the brothers for a while when I was little. My mother used to leave me with them during vacations. If anything, Emmet was the hardest one to fool. He wouldn’t believe a word coming from someone else.”

That was frustrating.

“What about Maximus and Kaye?” I watched him zone out, like he was trying to remember what they were like.

“Maximus can be manipulated. But you’d have to use love against him. And we don’t even know who the love of his life is right now.”

He sounded so annoyed when talking about Maximus. I’d noticed it in his body language—he always got super competitive whenever it came to Maximus.

“But he has a mate now—Charlotte,” I reminded him, and only then did he nod, though something told me he already knew about her.

“That innocent one? I wonder what she saw in him,” he scoffed.

“Umm, the mate bond?” I raised my eyebrow, then my glass to toast with him.

“Ugh, why would the Moon Goddess give her to him as a mate? She’s too good for him. Besides, I know his secrets. There’s no way he could’ve felt a mate bond with her or anyone on full moon night.”

Romeo was a little too talkative today, so I tried to get as much info out of him as possible.

Usually, he would hide all the gossip about his family from me, and it always bothered me.

We were friends. Friends who had committed crimes together. Why couldn’t he share his cousin’s secrets with me?

“Hmm, what about Kaye?” I watched him nod.

“Only his mother can manipulate him. He’s got mommy issues,” he laughed, and I laughed with him.

“Okay, here’s the thing—my sister is hurting. She’s not even talking to me, and you know that’s the only thing that really gets to me. I can make anyone cry, but not Jessica. So I need to fix this somehow.”

I’d been in pain ever since my sweet sister decided she wouldn’t even look at me.

No matter how many times Darcy told her that Helanie was the problem, my sister wouldn’t believe her. She said none of it made sense. Helanie didn’t ask to marry any alpha, nor did she come forward claiming we gang-raped her for fame or to ruin our names. My sister didn’t find any logical motive behind her accusation.

So I had to tell her that Helanie loved having sex and was getting money in exchange for it, but she got caught—and then had to lie about the rape just to save herself from punishment.

However, I didn’t know if my sister believed me or not, because she hadn’t spoken to me since then.

“I would’ve asked you to convince her to find someone else, but leaving Norman—even I would’ve been devastated if someone like him broke my heart. I think she could’ve had a perfect life with him. No fear of cheating—nothing,” Romeo was actually praising his cousin, and I had to remind him that Norman wasn’t some kind of saint.

“Except he did. He married someone else. So much for being a saint. And now my sister’s gonna marry three burdens along with him. But she doesn’t see it that way. So I need to find a way for her to win Norman back. She deserves to be happy,” I said honestly.

She meant the whole world to me. But I noticed Romeo narrowing his eyes at me like he was trying to figure out what I was planning.

“And you definitely have a plan,” he nodded when I did.

“I’ll marry Helanie next full moon,” I shrugged, but my mood dipped when Romeo started laughing like crazy—so much that he spilled his wine.

“I’m so sorry. I just need to confirm I heard you right—you’ll marry her?” He put his glass down and slid to the edge of his seat.

“What’s so funny about it? Norman will reject her, and I’ll say, ‘We can meet in the middle, I’ll marry her.’ The Council will see me as a hero, stepping up to give a lustful woman a home,” I added.

“No, you don’t understand what you’re saying. Helanie would die before marrying any of us. Anyone who has ever wronged her is dead. Zellu died. Have you even looked her in the eyes? She holds so much hate for us. It’s better to keep her at arm’s length. And besides, Norman wouldn’t let you marry her,” Romeo was really pushing my buttons with this.

“And why not? Helanie had more of a connection with me than anyone else. The minute I get her, I know she’ll fall in love with me. Then she’ll be all about serving her husband,” I scoffed, a little too sharply, making Romeo tilt his head at me.

“Ah, do you like her or what? I remember that night too—you were so fixated on spending time alone with her. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her?” The way he looked so shocked and drained actually made my chest ache.

Here I was, trying to fix everything—and he was just brushing off my ideas.

“I haven’t. I’m just thinking—how would it feel to have her under me again? I just want to sleep with her one more time to understand what I really feel,” I replied, keeping my tone calm and steady. But Romeo looked terrified at the thought.

“You’re crazy. I’m already regretting the last time, and you want to sleep with her again?” he hissed, then lowered his voice.

“I am. In fact, I will marry her next full moon—you’ll see.”

Romeo knew that when I made a deal, I followed through.