Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates

Helanie:

The shock on her face was something I never wanted any other mother to feel, but Emmet wasn't holding back either.

My eyes shifted from her to Kaye, who was returning with a wide smile on his lips and many warriors beside him. He rushed over, probably not even paying attention to anything else, arms spread to hug me, but then he stopped. His arms dropped numb at his sides. His gaze fell on his little siblings.

I covered my mouth. The way the realization hit him was brutal.

"No," he uttered, shaking his head. "No, that's not true. They're just sick, right?"

He pressed a hand to his chest, looking at Norman, who instantly rushed over to hug him.

"No! How could they die? We slayed the monsters. We conquered the curses," he cried, clinging to his brother as sobs tore out of him.

Maximus stepped toward Emmet and pulled him into a hug. I could only imagine how lost Emmet must have felt.

After they hugged it out, Emmet broke away and yelled at his mother one last time.

"You fucking ruined it! You never helped any of your children with the curses!" he screamed.

She shook her hands at them, desperate to defend herself.

"No, I did! I was taking help from the Gray Woman—"

I let out a loud grunt, sharp enough to silence her. She looked at me, waiting for me to speak up. And I was going to. I was going to say all that I hadn't been able to say to her.

"And don't you get it? That woman lied to you! Everything she made you do was just to wipe out anyone in her way. She created the curse so a fool like you would fall for it. And no, I am not your little baby's mate, and neither were Charlotte, Kesha, Jessica, or Azura. Their deaths didn't save anyone!" I hissed, yelling at Darcy as realization finally hit her.

Maximus stepped in, dragging Emmet off her before it got too ugly.

"So that means, for them to survive, they needed Ursula's baby? You—" she pointed at me, shrieking. "It would've all been solved if you were dead!" She collapsed to her knees, screaming.

"I'm not going to feel guilty for staying alive. This is all your fault. You did this to your babies. You hurt them all!" I screamed back in her face.

How dare she still try to make me feel guilty for her own sins?

"You are a bad mother. You never knew how to be a mother, so why the fuck did you want to bring so many babies into this world? And why not wait for the right time? They were gonna be born anyway. You fucked it all up!" I screamed until my throat burned. She stared at me in shock.

"I didn't know they were gonna be born," she argued. I shoved her to the ground furiously.

"Was it worth it? Was it worth not waiting and killing so many innocent people for your own gain?" I shouted, yanking her hair from the back of her head as I hunched over her. "Was it worth it?" I screamed again. "You tried to ruin everything."

But then Norman's voice cut in, stunning me.

"They were never cared for, were they?" he asked.

I caught the way she bit her bottom lip. I turned toward him and saw him examining the bodies.

"They're underweight. And they smell. Did you even bathe them? When was the last time they ate?" Norman fired off question after question, looking hysterical. We have been so caught up with the war and the curses that none of us could personally go and check on them.

Emmet joined him, checking the babies, confusion written all over his face.

"They've been throwing up, and they haven't been cleaned," Emmet muttered, his eyes wide with horror at how much his siblings had suffered.

"No, it's not true. It all happened at the last moment!" she screamed at us.

But then her royal beta shook his head, and all of us turned toward him. I had always known he was loyal to her, but he rarely spoke in front of me, or anyone. This was the first time he finally opened his mouth.

"They've been locked in their room for weeks," Larry admitted. "I tried to give them food, but she would get angry with me."

Darcy snapped her head toward him, eyes wide in shock at his words.

"It's true. And it doesn't excuse my failure to protect them, but it is the truth. She never let anyone feed them. These last few weeks she was furious at the way they cried in pain. She said it reminded her of–" He trailed off, glancing at Kaye. We already knew.

"She said Kaye used to cry like that." His voice cracked. "I don't know why I stayed with her this long. I guess I'm no better. The kids were crying nonstop. Even if the curse hadn't killed them, they would've died anyway. They were sick, catching infections, and wasting away."

He kept going, but by then Kaye stepped forward, raising his palm to silence him. None of us could bear to hear more.

Larry was sitting on the ground, his eyes unable to rest, while Darcy was screaming.

"I don't care what you all say, I loved my babies, and now they are gone, and none of you is helping me!" She threw herself forward, sobbing louder. "My babies, they were too innocent!" she cried.

The more she screamed, the angrier the brothers grew. It was true, the babies were innocent, but nobody else had taken their lives. She had. They would have died anyway from the way she kept them.

It tore me apart to watch her cry for those two. Not because I cared about her, but because I truly loved those babies. I wished she had been decent enough to give them basic care. She had the means, she had maids, servants, everything. But none of it mattered to her. She was too selfish to do anything for her own children.