Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

KESTER

You need to go home, man. You could use some test, Norlan ged me but the thought of returning home made something twist in my stomach.

The thought of being in the same house with Kasmine without being able to see her killed me. I'd rather not be home right now. And, perhaps, tomorrow, I'd get her out of the pack house already. It was time to return to our home.

"I'm fine," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose before buying my face in my palms. "You just focus on healing. I need you back on your feet. There's a lot to deal with."

We went back to the awkward silence that had fallen upon us the moment I told him June was the one responsible for all the shit that had happened in the last few days.

I knew Norlan. I already knew what was going through his head. He was probably trying to work out how the hell to walk back every brutal thing he said should be done to the culprit. Probably replaying his own words and feeling them stab a little deeper now.

At least he didn't try to defend her. He hadn't said a word in her favor since I told him. That counted for something.

It was a good thing he realized and admitted how evil the culprit was even before he got to find out that it was his

sweetheart, after all.

"Kes..." He called after clearing his throat.

Aha... There it was. I knew what was next to come.

"Mhm?" I replied, my face still buried in my palms.

"About June..." He paused, probably looking for a reaction from me.

"What about her?" I lifted my gaze to meet his and I saw the conflict in his eyes.

He hesitated... That kind of pause that made it clear he was choosing his words carefully, or not sure what the hell to say

at all.

He sighed, "What would you do with her?"

I let out a short breath that could've been a laugh, but there was nothing funny about it. "You already passed your judgment, Norlan. Why asking?"

He winced and went quiet for a second before gathering the courage to say what he had in mind.

"I... Fuck," he ran his fingers through his hair, "I didn't know she was the culprit... I mean... You never mentioned it."

Would it have made her any less of the monster you realized she is? Would it have made it lighter, if you knew she was the one before you condemned her actions?" I asked but he was quiet.

His eyes dropped.

I pushed further. "Would you still have said she deserved to rot or what she did to Claire? To Kasmine?"

There was silence.

Before I could speak up again, my phone beeped and I quickly pulled it out of my pocket. I knew that sound. It wasn't a call or a text or an email. It was a fucking trigger alert!

"Shit." I muttered, standing up sharply.

Norlan's eyes snapped, his groggy fatigue evaporating in a flash "What? What is it?"

I was already tapping on the screen, swiping past the lock screen with the kind of urgency that tightened

my chest. But I paused before opening the full alert.

"The mole has succeeded. I just got the alert," I said, almost to myself.

"What the fuck?" He snapped, attempting to sit up but winced in pain.

I quickly turned to him. "Stay calm. Everything is under control. I said with a nod, "While you were still in

the coma, I did something."

His brows furrowed.

"I moved the Black Ledger."

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I know, But I did it discreetly.

No one else knows about it," I

explained and I saw the relief on his face, "I couldn't just sit by and do nothing when I knew for certain that the mole would be back again. And with you unconscious, I couldn't risk it being taken. So I moved it and hid the real one off-grid."

"Off-grid?” he repeated, a little impressed.

I nodded. "Yup. Well hidden. No digital access points, and no proximity to

networked devices. It's practically almost non-

existent at the moment."

"And you replaced it?"

"With a decoy confirmed. "A nearly perfect replica - minus a few

inconsistencies only we'd notice. And this time, the mole didn't just attempt to break into Vault II. They decided to take the entire Ledger. But that's not the best part

I raised the phone slightly.

"The decoy has a tracer.

Micro-wired into the hardware,

disguised as a circuit component.

Small enough to be missed.

until it detects unauthorized

tampèring. Once triggered, it

activates burst transmissionnoveldrama

assive

sends audio, video, GPS. Everything."