Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 129

Chapter 129: 129-The Cozy Cabin

Helanie:

“Come on, lean on me,” Jenny said the moment she walked in and saw my state. She immediately went into full commando mode.

I had been in the bathroom for what felt like ages, staring at the blood pooling between my legs. The sight alone was enough to make me feel faint. Then, out of nowhere, I broke down crying—overwhelmed with fear.

The first person to check on me was the last person I expected: Lamar.

Strangely, I trusted him. Somehow, he managed to calm me down just enough to bring Jenny to me.

Now, Lamar was waiting outside while Jenny did her best to take care of me. She cleaned my legs and coaxed me to stand, her voice firm but kind, trying to encourage me. She wanted to get me out of there to get Lamar’s help, though I had no idea what they had planned.

“I don’t want to go to any hospital,” I whispered, clinging to Jenny’s shoulder for support.

“You don’t have to,” she assured me, her tone steady and comforting.

The next few minutes were a whirlwind. Jenny helped me out of the bathroom, and Lamar was waiting just outside the corridor. Without a word, he scooped me up into his arms and began rushing downstairs. Jenny followed close behind, running to keep up.

The academy’s dark, narrow corridors seemed endless, their vintage wallpaper and massive windows casting eerie shadows in the dim light. The faint smell of chemicals wafted through the air as we passed classrooms where senior students were studying herbs and poisons.

I could hear Lamar’s heart pounding—quick and loud in the silence. His grip was steady, but his urgency made him keep going.

Finally, I saw the light streaming from the exit ahead, and relief washed over me. We had made it out without being stopped.

But just as Lamar was placing me in Jenny’s car—a car I didn’t even know she had parked right outside—a voice called out to him, stopping him in his tracks.

“What is going on?” Kaye’s voice cut through the tense air as he tried to peek over Lamar’s shoulder to get a glimpse of me. I felt a pang of guilt—every time he saw me, I was with someone else.

“Umm, Helanie wasn’t feeling well, so we decided to take her out for a meal,” Jenny stepped forward, her voice steady as she tried to explain. Lamar, on the other hand, was silent. I could only imagine why.

“Step aside. Let me take a look,” Kaye said firmly, gesturing for Lamar to move away from the car door. As he approached, I instinctively pulled Lamar’s jacket tighter around my legs, shielding myself.

“Can we please leave?” I whispered the moment Lamar stepped aside.

Kaye’s steps halted, and I could see the hurt flash across his face.

“Fine. You can leave—with me. I’ll take care of—”

“No!” I interrupted before he could finish, shaking my head desperately. “I want to go with my friends.” My voice trembled with guilt.

“Helanie—” Kaye closed his eyes, took a breath, and then looked at Lamar. Of course, my choice of friends would be questioned.

“Can we please leave?” I repeated, more urgently this time, sweat beading on my forehead.

“Fine,” Kaye grunted after a tense pause. “But Lamar—you’d better take care of her.”

With that, he stepped aside. Jenny climbed into the car, followed by Lamar, but Kaye lingered outside. His eyes stayed fixed on me, filled with unspoken emotions, until we drove out of sight.

Exhausted, I leaned against Jenny’s shoulder, letting my eyes close. Silent tears slipped down my cheeks as I listened to them talk, thinking I was asleep.

“I’ll arrange for someone to come take a look at her,” Lamar said, his voice low and firm.

“My cabin will be fine for her,” Jenny replied, her words spilling out quickly. “It’s a gift from my dad—a private space in the rogue community. There are plenty of guards outside, so she’ll be safe there. But I just need to know something—what do you think happened?”

Her voice was breathless, and though I couldn’t see her face, I could imagine the worry etched across it.

“Jenny! You’ll need to console her,” Lamar said, his voice tight with tension. “There’s no easy way to put this, but with that much blood—and her current state—I think… she’s lost the baby.”

The moment I heard those words, my eyes flew open. A wave of anguish hit me, and I began sobbing uncontrollably.

Jenny wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug, while Lamar turned away, staring out the window. His fists clenched and unclenched, his jaw tight as though wrestling with his own demons.

It was strange seeing him like this. He looked so worried, so… human. It was hard to believe this was the same person who once wanted me dead.

And then there was me.

I hadn’t even realized how much I cared about this baby until now—until it was gone. Maybe I didn’t care in the traditional sense, but some deep, primal part of me did. A motherly instinct I didn’t know I had.

Still, I couldn’t deny it: I had lived with this trauma for too long. I should feel relieved to be free. But instead, I felt hollow.

At some point, the exhaustion overtook me, and I passed out. When I woke, I was in a small, cozy cabin. the IV hooked up to my arm. The sterile smell of medicines hung in the air.

The past two days had been a blur. Jenny stayed by my side the entire time, a constant source of comfort. Lamar visited intermittently, balancing taking care of things at the academy with checking in on me.

I hadn’t touched my phone at all. I just couldn’t bring myself to face the outside world.

I knew that once I healed and returned to the academy, everything would be different. It would be Kaye’s class by then. The thought of seeing him again—of trying to explain everything—was unbearable.

The pain of losing a child was immense, but for me, it went deeper. It wasn’t just the loss of a baby—it was the weight of everything that had led to this moment.

“What?” Jenny’s sharp voice jolted me from my thoughts. She was on the phone, her tone heated. “Whatever!” she huffed before hanging up.

When she turned back to me, her expression softened into a smile.

“You’re awake,” she said gently, holding a piece of paper with a few strands of red hair clinging to it.

“Yeah,” I croaked, my throat dry and raspy.

“I lost… my baby, right?” Even though I already knew the answer, I needed to hear it. To confirm it.

It wasn’t that I wanted to give birth or had planned for a child, but after carrying it inside me for so long, a connection had formed. It was undeniable.

Jenny hesitated before speaking. “Do you want to maybe… contact the father? To cope together?” Her voice was careful, compassionate. She was just trying to help, not knowing the complexities of my situation.

“There is no father,” I said sharply, then paused. “And not because it was a one-night stand.”

I realized I’d said too much. I didn’t want to explain. There was no point.

Jenny nodded, offering a gentle smile. “I understand. We won’t talk about him again.”

I appreciated her attempt to comfort me, even as my heart felt heavy.

“By the way,” she said, shifting gears, “Professor Emmet took his last class and left for a month. Professor Kaye is stepping in. But since it was a full moon night, Kaye decided to take a break. I don’t get why those brothers always take breaks, but at least we got some free days.”

She was trying to distract me, yapping about academy gossip, and I gave her a weak nod.

“I want to go back to attending classes again,” I murmured, though the thought filled me with unease. Lucy and Gavin had been trying to contact me—apparently so persistently they were practically threatening Jenny for information on my whereabouts.

I couldn’t fathom how Lamar and Jenny had managed to fend off the questions and suspicion. They truly had been my saviors.

“What’s that?” I asked, noticing the strands of red hair in her hand.

Jenny let out a scoff. “This? It’s from the girl he—ugh, his one-night stand. I found these on his coat.” Her tone shifted, her frustration bleeding through. “And guess what? I can’t even ask for a DNA test because of my dad and the packs questioning everything I do!”

For a moment, I saw fear in her eyes. It struck me—an Alpha’s daughter, someone who should have the world at her feet, was just as trapped as the rest of us.

I reached for her hand weakly. “Jenny, thank you so much for taking care of me,” I said with a small, sincere smile. I’d been alone most of my life, so someone stepping up for me like this meant more than words could express.

Jenny pouted dramatically, her voice lighthearted as she hissed, “That’s what friends do, Helanie! I swear, if you thank me one more time…”

Her exaggerated frustration brought a faint smile to my lips. Over the past few days, I’d been drifting in and out of sleep, and every time I woke, I would thank her again. Maybe I was overdoing it, but I couldn’t help it. I was truly grateful.

“And who were you yelling at on the phone?” I asked, my curiosity finally getting the better of me.

She rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. “That was my dad,” she groaned. “He was telling me that my oh-so-loyal Alpha boyfriend has transferred academies after acing all the RVS tests. So, yeah, in one week, my Alpha mate will be my senior.”

She hissed the last word, her irritation clear.

For some reason, my chest felt heavy. A strange ache settled deep in my heart, one I couldn’t quite explain. Why did the thought of her Alpha mate affect me like this?