Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates novel Chapter 166

Chapter 166: 166-Pick A Team!

Helanie:

Everyone had gathered in the living room, waiting for me to announce the details of the task and explain the rules. However, we had to wait a few more minutes as the ones serving punishments had yet to arrive.

Eventually, they rushed in, looking like a complete mess. Sydney’s hair had remnants of food in it--I guessed some rich alpha’s mate had been offended by her attitude and tossed an amuse-bouche at her. Meanwhile, one of the ladies had pushed Salem away when she attempted to retaliate.

The two of them looked utterly miserable. They muttered under their breaths, passing snide comments and pulling faces, which immediately drew the attention of everyone in the room. Norman, unsurprisingly, called them out. I heard they had already been thoroughly scolded and that their punishment had been extended beyond what was initially planned.

"Huh, what is it? Just tell us quickly. We have other things to do," Sydney hissed, standing against the wall, clearly trying to avoid drawing further attention to her disheveled state.

Salem stood beside her, arms folded across her chest, looking equally irritable. Together, they looked like walking disasters.

"Now that everyone is here, I’ll explain the task," I began, addressing the group. "Listen carefully, because I won’t be repeating myself over and over again." My tone sharpened as I directed the comment towards Salem, who had already started fiddling with her phone. It was little provocations like this that made her so infuriating.

"This class is called Knowing Your Weapon" I continued. "A monstrous creature, once captured by the rogue brothers, will be in a long cage. At the far end of the cage, there will be a key.

"You’ll be split into groups of three and given ten minutes to run into the woods to find an herb that can be used to weaken or repel the monster. Once back, you’ll need to use the herb to get past the creature, grab the key, and unlock the door on the other side of the cage. Whoever succeeds within fifteen minutes will win.

"Keep in mind, injuries are possible if your herb fails to work. The monster can attack and might even leave you gravely injured--or worse. And one more thing," I added, my voice firm, "you are not allowed to transition into your wolf forms."

I read this directly from the file in my hands, a sense of dread gnawing at my heart. Despite my unease, I kept my expression neutral.

"Why not? We’re werewolves! If a monster can fight us with its full might, why can’t we do the same?" Sydney objected, her sharp tone encouraging murmurs of agreement from a few other students.

"That’s because this class is designed to teach us how to fight even if we’re weakened--such as when we have wolfsbane in our system or for any other reason we’re unable to transition. We can’t always rely on our wolves," I responded confidently, meeting her gaze.

Sydney narrowed her eyes at me, a smirk forming on her lips. "Of course you can’t," she said mockingly. "But we can--because we have wolves."

I found Sydney’s taunt deeply offensive, but I chose not to respond. Thankfully, my friends had my back. What shocked me, however, was the person who stepped forward to defend me.