“Lamar, you don’t get it. If she says anything, everyone will start watching us. Anytime we talk or meet, they’ll assume something’s going on,” Sydney folded her arms across her chest, hinting at some hidden paranoia behind her words.
“I’ll walk out of here and never mention it. I have secrets too, I know what it’s like to keep them,” I said, my voice trembling. My entire body was shaking; their stares were terrifying. I couldn’t tell what was running through their heads, but it wasn’t good. Sydney seemed determined to convince Lamar that I would go out and spread the news of their encounter.
“Fine. What do you want me to do?” Lamar finally understood her silent plea, and that’s when I knew I had to act quickly.
I sprang to my feet, rushing towards the door. My plan was simple: shove them out of the way and escape. But I didn’t make it far.
“No! Don’t!” A hand grabbed my hair, yanking me back with brutal force. I fell onto my back, wincing in pain as Lamar loomed over me, shaking his head. He crouched down, resting his hands on his knees while Sydney stood tall beside him, her expression cold and calculating.
“Make sure she doesn’t take part in the rest of the tests so she gets disqualified and kicked out of the program. I don’t want her in my academy, spreading rumors,” Sydney demanded, and I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what she was asking.
“There’s only one way to make sure of that,” Lamar said, straightening his back with a sigh.
“I know. Let’s mess her up,” Sydney sneered, and before I could react, she kicked me hard in the stomach.
“You’re crazy!” I screamed, but it didn’t matter. The next thing I knew, they were both on me, kicking and punching relentlessly. I tried to defend myself, flailing my arms to fight back, but it was no use. Their blows kept landing until darkness began to close in on me.
It wasn’t fair. They didn’t even give me a chance to call for help. It all happened so fast that I couldn’t even fight back-not that I could have overpowered them anyway.
But I couldn’t land a single punch.
I wondered if they planned to kill me. But why? It wasn’t that big of a secret, and it’s not like anyone would believe me without proof.
My whole body ached, and I was barely conscious when I felt myself being lifted and carried.
“Dump her far away. We just need to make sure she misses today’s test. She’ll be off the list and never allowed near the academy again,” I heard Sydney whisper as I was placed in the backseat of a car.
I could feel blood trickling from my nose and lips. My eyes were so swollen that I could barely open them.
“We should’ve just given her wolfsbane and let her sleep through the day. Why did you have to ruin such a pretty face?” Lamar complained as the car started moving. I had no idea where they were taking me.
I desperately wanted to get up and fight back, but my life was far from a perfect dream.
“Pretty face? Then why didn’t you beg her for her dry vagina instead of fucking me?” Sydney shot back, her voice laced with bitterness. Lamar let out a teasing laugh in response.
They were having a casual conversation, as if they weren’t in the middle of committing a crime. After what felt like forever, the car came to a stop, and I felt myself being lifted out again.
Lamar slung me over his shoulder, carrying me down a dark, rough path. When he finally set me down, he slapped my cheek lightly to wake me up.
“Sorry, you should’ve minded your own business. I really can’t afford to lose my connections with the higher-ups,” he muttered before shoving me forcefully. My body rolled down a steep hill, the thorns and jagged rocks tearing into my skin. I landed at the bottom, barely able to keep my eyes open before losing consciousness completely.
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 entr?e.
“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.
I just didn’t understand why we had to sit with this drunkard and talk about important issues when he never acted like a family member or thought like one. If we hated someone, shouldn’t he hate them too?
“Yeah, like we would pay attention to what you say,” I grunted under my breath, earning a head shake from Norman.
“I mean-,” Kaye cleared his throat, his fingers dripping in sauce as he picked up a dumpling, “what if it’s something else? She-um-might be dealing with some issues.” The brother who never thought twice before speaking his mind was now stuttering.
I raised my eyes and glanced at Norman, who was looking back at me. We understood each other very well. We were communicating with our eyes, already grasping what was going on. Whoever spends time with her starts to feel something for her-either sympathy or maybe something else. Is she a witch or something?
I wanted to argue with Kaye and tell him that everyone is going through something in life. The omegas mainly, so why should we give Helanie so much privilege?
“Alright. Let’s talk about our own bigger issues. She shouldn’t be a topic of our important discussions,” Norman straightened his back, no longer hunched over the food, and gestured to Emmet to pour us all a glass.
“Umm! I will not drink much tonight,” Kaye scratched his neck, his eyes squinting slightly as he avoided making eye contact with us. This was not good. I was worried about my brother.
“Why not? Are you going somewhere?” I inquired, and he steadily shook his head.
“I’ll just sleep. I don’t feel like staying awake,” he replied. He had been so different ever since he returned. I heard these were signs of stress and worry of returning from the dream prison. That damn girl had really messed up my brother’s head. But why the heck was she not showing any signs of trauma from the dream prison? It was her dream prison, and she spent time there; how come she was fine?
“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.
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