Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: 56-I Failed.

Norman:

It was all unfolding before my eyes. My brother had arrived with the warriors to make an arrest, and I had a sinking feeling about it.

“What’s going on, Kaye?” I approached him steadily, trying to catch his attention. His bulging muscles and tense veins made it clear just how concerned—and angry—he was about this particular matter.

I glanced over at the candidates and saw Sydney and Lamar staring at each other. It reminded me of Maximus’s words.

“Something happened here last night. Right at this shelter,” Kaye announced, raising his hand to point at the cabin behind everyone.

Most of the candidates looked bewildered—except for the two accused of being involved.

I glanced over at Maximus, who returned a look that told me even he had no idea what was going on with Kaye.

I hadn’t told Kaye, and it didn’t seem like Maximus had either. So how would Kaye even know?

“What happened?” Emmet asked, setting down his papers and slipping his hands into his pockets.

“Can we discuss this privately first?” I asked Kaye, uncomfortable with the way he was handling things. If this was truly about Helanie and the two candidates, then it needed to be dealt with discreetly. Damaging our academy’s reputation over that girl would be reckless—and besides, we didn’t even know everything.

Could it be that they’d had a confrontation with Helanie, and she simply hadn’t come out on top? That sort of thing happens often among werewolves. We’re part animal, and situations like this arise.

“No! Everyone should know,” Kaye refused, not even glancing at me. He walked directly over to the candidates, stopping at Lamar’s table.

Lamar sat upright, his face expressionless, though the slight twitch at his temples betrayed his nerves. I could sense his anxiety from across the room. At this point, they both looked so guilty that it was hard to doubt anything had happened last night.

Could they truly be so heartless as to attack her without any provocation?

“Get up.” Without another word, Kaye grabbed Lamar’s collar and pulled him out of his chair, shocking everyone around. Sydney covered her mouth in horror as Kaye marched over to her table and seized her by her ponytail.

I cringed, twisting my body and gritting my teeth. It didn’t look right for him to handle them so roughly. But was it not justified?

“Hey, you can’t do that to her!” Salem rose to defend her sister, but her eyes caught Emmet’s steely glare from afar. He stood silently, head bowed with his intense eyes peeking through his thick eyebrows, tapping the tip of his index finger on the table as a warning. She sat down again, covering her face in her hands.

“These two attacked an innocent candidate last night,” Kaye announced, his voice bold and unyielding. “They beat her without any provocation or wrongdoing on her part and then abandoned her at the bottom of a hill, knowing she doesn’t have a wolf. She could have died.”

The details struck me as odd.

“And the fact that you—” he shook Sydney by her ponytail, still gripping both of them beside him. Standing tall between them, he glared down. “You encouraged this brute to attack her,” he growled at Sydney, who kept her eyes glued to the floor.

How did he know all this?

Even Maximus exchanged a glance with me before he pulled out his phone to contact the warriors back at the farmhouse.

“Wait—they attacked Helanie?” Emmet finally broke his stare at Salem to ask his brother.

“They left her to die,” Kaye added flatly.

Without another word, Emmet strode forward, using his long strides to close the gap and swiftly yanked Lamar from Kaye’s grip.

Emmet forced Lamar to face him and then punched him square in the face, prompting me to rush over to stop him. Emmet was uncomfortable, restrained most of the time only because he didn’t want to unleash the storm that simmered inside him every second.

“Emmet, let the warriors handle this,” I said, rushing behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist to pull him away from Lamar. Maximus caught on and quickly moved between Emmet and Lamar—only to take over and start punching Lamar himself.

“Hey!” I shouted. We needed to be cautious with this case. The two culprits could play on sympathies, and we didn’t want that. Sydney and Lamar would later claim they were abused before being investigated.

These two had committed a crime; they shouldn’t be given any opportunity to paint themselves as victims later.

“Warriors, take them away and notify their packs,” I ordered, finally managing to push my brothers off Lamar, who was nearly unconscious.

Kaye had released Sydney, but he was glaring at her like he wanted to end things right here and now.

“I didn’t do anything! You guys are only accusing us because some wolfless rogue accused me. She’s just jealous of me!” Sydney began ranting as the warriors moved to cuff her.

“Really? Then tell me, you two—” Maximus turned to Lucy and Gavin. “Did Helanie talk about quitting last night? Did she leave right before your eyes?”

I noticed Salem glancing slowly at Gavin and Lucy, giving them a warning look.

“No! She was so determined. She would never quit—that’s not Helanie.” Despite usually being timid and hiding behind her boyfriend, Lucy rose to her feet to speak up.

I watched her confidently take a stand for what was right.

“There you go, brother,” Kaye said, walking over to me with a surprising intensity. “Even a new candidate knows how to stand up for someone she barely knows. It’s not about a particular person, but about doing the right thing.” Shock struck me when Kaye leaned in and whispered, disappointment clear in his eyes.

It was the first time I’d ever seen that look on his face.

“You think I’m not doing the right thing?” I tried to grab his arm to stop him, stunned that my younger brother was now against me, all because of Helanie.

Did she say something to him about me? She’d been partially conscious when I took her to the farmhouse. Maybe she heard me venting.

“It doesn’t matter. Justice will be served,” Kaye replied as he freed his arm and briskly walked away, leaving me to watch the warriors arrest the two culprits and take them away, while my brothers looked back at me with expressions I’d never wanted to see.