Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates-Chapter 680-Next To The Tree

Helanie:

In all honesty, I’ve been confused myself. If it really was Altan, wouldn’t someone have seen him? Besides, why would he do that and get his pack in trouble. Not to mention, his pack members were now questioning his ability to lead the pack. So all this didn’t really benefit him. But then again, people are twisted. His father was.

Ever since Emmet told us the DNA matched Altan’s, he had kept his thoughts to himself, waiting until morning to bring us to his mansion. And now, here we were, questioning Altan, who looked completely out of it again. He kept zoning out, and strangely enough, I found myself fascinated by the change in him.

I had spent time with him before. He had never blacked out like this. But these days, he sat still, lost, as if asleep with his eyes open. Back when we were friends, our friendship actually started at a very early age. He was different. Bolder and had courage. He was always into adventures at the young age of 8 and 9. But after that, everything changed.

"I don’t know. It shouldn’t be me. I have nothing to do with the children going missing," Altan muttered, his voice shaky but strangely calm.

"Then why aren’t you saying it with confidence?" Emmet pressed him further.

"Our Alpha would like you to leave. That’s it. You can’t barge in here and accuse him like this," Rocky cut in angrily. "He’s been worried sick about these kids himself. So I would like you to—"

But Altan raised his palm, silencing Rocky.

"I’d like to be left alone with them," Altan said quietly.

Rocky’s eyes went wide. We were all surprised. Was this a moment of realization? Was he finally ready to confess?

So many thoughts raced through my head. If he was behind the abductions? what had he done to those children?

"Alpha Altan, you’re not thinking clearly," Rocky warned. "Anything you say can and will be used against you. Are you sure you want to be alone with them?"

As his Royal Beta, it was Rocky’s duty to protect him. But why was he so worried? Did he believe that maybe Altan had done something?

"You heard your Alpha," Emmet said, gesturing at Rocky. "Go on. Lock the door behind you."

Rocky clenched his jaw. "Alpha Altan—" he tried once more. freewebnσvel.cøm

But Altan simply nodded at him, firmly. He wanted him to leave. I felt a knot tighten in my chest. If he confessed now, what would he say? What had he done to those missing children?

Once we were alone, Altan rubbed his face with his hands and said calmly, "I have no hand in this."

"Then why else would your DNA be in that dust?" Emmet asked.

"The sand mixed in with the DNA was also from your backyard. Why?" Emmet leaned forward. "Why would your DNA and the sand from your backyard be found in a child’s bed?"

Altan’s face changed color at the mention of the backyard.

"You said—my backyard?" he repeated, eyes narrowing.

Emmet nodded slowly.

"That—that can’t be." Altan smiled, awkwardly. But it wasn’t a real smile. It was the kind of smile that begged us to tell him we were joking.

"Why are you so shocked about the backyard?" Emmet asked, almost as if he had been waiting for this exact reaction.

"No, no, no..." Altan started repeating, shaking his head with his face buried in his hands.

Emmet and I exchanged a quick, concerned glance before I stood up and rushed toward Altan. Emmet followed, standing just behind me in case something went wrong.

"Altan, what is it?" I asked.

Very slowly, and almost eerily, Altan removed his hands from his face and looked me dead in the eye.

"I know who it is," he whispered.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another, and then another, until he was silently sobbing.

I glanced at Emmet, confused and unnerved. Altan’s words didn’t make sense. We already knew whose DNA it was—it was his. Why was he speaking like it belonged to someone else?

"What do you mean you know whose DNA it is?" I asked cautiously. "We do too. It’s yours."

But Altan shook his head furiously. "It’s not mine. It’s his. It’s his!"

Without another word, he sprang to his feet and bolted toward the back door of the mansion.

Emmet and I ran after him, unsure if he was about to show us something, or trying to flee.

Outside, the backyard was calm and shaded under the early sun. A large tree stood tall at the far end. Altan ran straight to it and dropped to his knees at its base, crying harder than before, his face hidden in his hands again.

We approached him carefully.

"Altan," I said, kneeling next to him. "What do you mean it’s his DNA? Whose?"

Altan didn’t respond. He just lifted a shaking hand and pointed to the tree in front of him. I looked at Emmet in confusion.

"What? What does that mean?" I asked. Emmet’s voice came in low and unsettling.

"Who is buried here?"

My entire body froze.

Emmet turned to Altan, his tone sharpened with clarity. "Your twin," he said. "He died when you were nine, didn’t he? Is he buried here?"

I had almost forgotten. Altan had a twin brother. The pack used to whisper about it, but never out loud. I remembered now. The boy had died during a monster attack, and Altan had always carried a strange guilt. People called his brother ’the coward one,’ the boy who ran from the pack in fear. And Altan, he had never truly mourned him, at least not publicly. It was a quiet wound.

Now that I thought about it, Altan often referred to himself as the coward. Maybe not just because he missed his brother, but because he felt like he had become him.

Altan finally nodded, slow and weak.

"My father buried him here," he said, his voice nearly a whisper. "So he would always be close to us."

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