Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates novel 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.