Chapter 461-The Crack In Their Brotherhood

Chapter 461: 461-The Crack In Their Brotherhood

Verity:

I clenched my fists, knowing that was exactly what I was supposed to do, but Ragnar’s face kept flashing through my mind.

Besides, these brothers were my mates, for heaven’s sake.

It wasn’t easy to push aside the feelings that came with our mate bond just so I could hurt them.

And honestly, even looking at Theodore was causing me immense pain.

His ears had turned red, and his eyes were glistening with unshed tears, yet he was still trying to hold himself together long enough to hear me out.

"Go on," he urged, his expression making it clear that he wanted me to come clean.

"Theodore, it was just a kiss, or maybe a little more than that, but we didn’t have sex," I finally confessed, looking up at him.

He closed his eyes and tipped his head back, letting out a pained groan as he grabbed a fistful of his hair.

"Was there more during the trip?" he questioned, his voice beginning to crack.

My hands had gone cold by then. I didn’t know why, but seeing him so anxious was making my heart ache, too.

Even though I knew deep down that I could endure the pain because their suffering was necessary, it didn’t make watching him like this any easier.

At the same time, he needed to understand that they were my fucking mates.

We were bound together by the mate bond, whether I liked it or not.

"Verity, please tell me. Did anything else happen on the trip?" he pressed, unable to even look at me.

"Just some teasing, but I didn’t initiate it," I blurted out, giving in to my wolf’s constant pressure to shift the blame.

Theodore slammed his hand against the table before turning away, clearly struggling to contain his emotions.

"And that other time? Does that mean you two have been sneaking around since before last night?" he demanded.

I immediately shook my head.

"No! That’s..." I faltered, covering my mouth with both hands, unable to find the right words.

"Oh my goodness, Verity. Please don’t tell me you were involved with Ragnar even before you felt the mate bond with us," he demanded, his voice growing noticeably harsher.

"There was this one time when I fell, and he came over to take care of me. We ended up tangled in the bedsheets, and we just..."

Before I could finish, Theodore lunged toward me with such force that I shrieked.

He grabbed my arms and shoved me against the wall, then slammed his palm against the wall beside my head.

I turned my face away and squeezed my eyes shut, flinching at the impact.

"We just cuddled!" I blurted out.

He immediately released me and stepped back, continuing to retreat as though he needed to put some distance between us.

Just then, the door opened, and Jaguar walked in.

"Theodore, I heard Ragnar is missing," Jaguar announced, addressing his brother with more annoyance than concern.

And it made sense. He had witnessed what happened last night, too.

The moment his eyes landed on me, he immediately looked away, only to turn his attention back to Theodore.

"You told her?" he asked, looking at his brother.

Wait a minute.

So they hadn’t planned on telling me what they saw?

Were they going to keep quiet and wait for us to lie to their faces?

That immediately made me wonder if I wasn’t the only one playing games here.

Theodore reached for Jaguar’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"They’ve been doing it for quite some time," he whispered, making Jaguar turn toward me with a confused expression.

Well, Theodore had clearly jumped to the wrong conclusion because that wasn’t what had happened between Ragnar and me.

"We didn’t have sex. We’ve never had sex," I insisted, defending myself.

"Verity, please go home," Theodore interrupted before Jaguar could throw a tantrum or bombard me with questions.

"And don’t you fucking dare come to us asking about Ragnar. Have some shame," he hissed, lowering his gaze as his jaw clenched.

I could hear him breathing harshly through his nostrils, and the sight of him struggling to contain his anger was fucking terrifying.

Staying there any longer would only invite more trouble, especially when Jaguar started coming toward me, clearly intending to question me further.

Before he could get close, Theodore stretched out his arm and stopped him, giving me the perfect opportunity to walk out of there.

As soon as I stepped outside, I found Bruno standing there.

"Is everything all right? You guys were screaming a lot," he asked, making me feel even more embarrassed than I already was.

"What did you... How much did you hear?" I questioned him, watching as he awkwardly lowered his gaze and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, no, nothing is all right," I mumbled, not wanting to discuss it any further. "I’ll just go home."

I started walking past him toward the exit, but he immediately followed me.

"Wait, wait, wait! I need to know if everything is okay. I’m asking for Jenna, though," he insisted, continuing after me until I finally stopped outside the building and turned to face him, my eyebrows twitching in irritation.

"Bruno, you’ve already heard the gist of it. Do you really need the whole story?" I asked, staring at him.

He shook his head.

"I just want to know what’s going on between all of you. I mean, Ragnar going missing, and then you..." He hesitated, looking at me uncertainly. "I couldn’t make out exactly what was happening, but it was odd. And you should actually thank me. I stopped the other employees from walking past the door. Otherwise, they would have heard everything, and the rumors would have spread."

As he spoke, he subtly began fiddling with his cufflinks.

"Besides, there were some videos circulating online, you know, of you and Ragnar. Is this about that? But why would his brothers be so bothered? Is it because they care about Gigi so much?"

Bruno was being strangely intrusive, taking far too much interest in matters that had absolutely nothing to do with him.