Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47: 47-The Broken Brother Bond

Maximus:

"She is so dull and foolish," I commented as I entered the mansion with my brothers. It was raining heavily, so we had informed the maids to prepare soups and other meals for us. We planned to spend some quality time as a family.

"I wonder how everyone feels about our academy giving a chance to a wolf-less creature like her?" I continued, noticing Norman fixing his shirt, which made me wonder if he had a plan.

"I have already taken care of it," he shrugged, stepping onto the terrace where a beautiful gazebo awaited us. The weather was pleasant now. It was still raining, but it only added to the beauty of the night.

Emmet had been left behind, and I knew what he was doing before arriving here. The three of us sat down, watching the maids serve us delicious food just as Emmet showed up.

"I didn’t let anyone know about each candidate from the shelters this year. They are completely in the dark about who is joining and who isn’t. So when she gets rejected, she will be out of our lives, and no one will know our admission criteria dropped so significantly," Norman quickly explained before Emmet reached us. He had three bottles of wine in his hands, looking all smiles and cheerful.

"But this happy drinker over here had promised to pay for her admission fee. If he hadn’t been so generous, she would have been out by now," I complained, noticing how Emmet didn’t even pay attention to my words as he sat down and focused on the bottles first.

"Hey, not tonight. Enjoy the feast with us first, and then we’ll all drink together," Norman reached for his hand and shook his head, his eyes meeting our brother’s gaze, who nodded steadily before leaning back away from the alcohol.

"But—have you guys ever wondered what might be making her so desperate that she wants to become part of the academy where she will only get bullied for having no wolf?" Kaye’s statement really surprised me.

I guess we had promised we wouldn’t even want to focus on her life. Our only goal would be to send her back from where she had come.

And then I remembered how Kaye acted when he returned from sharing his dream. He had been very silent and didn’t comment much whenever Helanie’s topic was brought up.

"Once she is in the academy?" Norman let out a laugh, his large frame looming over the table as he started on the entrée.

"She will never get to be a part of the academy. Not just because we don’t want her to be, but because she cannot pass these tests. You saw how terribly she performed in the first test, right? I thought she wouldn’t even make it by midnight. And I will tell you what she is thinking. She believes that if she gets into the academy, she will tell everyone she is the stepdaughter of the rogue king and the stepsister of the academy trainers and will be treated differently. But she is mistaken. I will never let her take advantage of our hard work." Norman filled his mouth with cheese tarts, looking very pleased with the taste of the food.

"But she did reach the finish line. And that’s what matters the most. She doesn’t have a wolf, yet she is so determined. I really don’t understand why you brothers are so against the idea of your own stepsister doing well in her life?" I knew Emmet would say something completely ridiculous.

"Sure, whatever feels right," Norman said, not even looking at Kaye as he patted his back. After we had one drink, Emmet and Kaye left to do their own things. This had never happened before.

When we sat down like this, we talked and cherished these moments for hours, sometimes even until dawn. We knew we had fairly busy lives, so whenever we got a chance, we really made the most of it.

"Something is up with him," Norman sniffled, staring at the wine glass in his hand. I could tell my brother did not expect Emmet and Kaye to leave our meeting like that.

"Do you think—maybe—" I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, "Helanie is doing something to them?" I didn’t want to say it outright, but I had a very bad gut feeling that she was responsible for how distant our brothers were becoming.

"Hope not," there was a clear warning in Norman’s eyes as he finished his drink.

"We should head back to our rooms too." The disappointment and sadness in Norman’s gaze really upset me. He had done so much for us, so my brothers leaving this family meetup really hurt him. He walked over to me, bent down, and gave me a kiss on the head before parting ways. He had never been just our brother; he always took care of us as if he were our father.

"I am going to confront that cunning girl tonight," and that’s when I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I got up to go grab Helanie out of her shelter and make her answer my questions.