Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 147

Chapter 147: 147-Such A Tough Choice.

Helanie:

Everyone had fallen asleep after a fulfilling dinner. It was just our first task of the day, yet everyone was so tired. Some of the fellows even acted as if they had achieved everything.

I mean, it was indeed a big deal, but I had a feeling this was not at all what Kaye meant when he said we would be staying here for intense lectures.

I hugged the blanket he gave me tightly, using it as my comfort as I lay in bed. Jenny had asked me where the blanket came from, and I lied to her, claiming I had found it in the cupboard of the second floor’s storeroom.

The cozy white blanket felt like a soft cloud as I held it tightly. My eyes stayed on the wall clock, waiting for midnight so I could go and speak to Kaye.

It wasn’t that I had forgotten about my revenge, but a little comfort on the side didn’t hurt. And who knows? If I could share my pain with Kaye, he might even help me get justice.

Once I was certain everyone was asleep, I snuck out with the blanket wrapped around my body. I figured we would need to sit and talk comfortably. But since Norman was staying over for the night, I felt a bit concerned about him catching us together. That would have been a disaster.

Thinking about that, I quickly went back to the room and put the blanket back, even going so far as to place a pillow under it to mimic my presence. But tonight, I grabbed my old purple sweater before leaving. It was cold outside, and I didn’t even know how many hours we would be sitting and talking about life.

After exiting through the back door, I reached the tree to find Kaye standing in place. He looked distraught, and I was instantly alarmed.

“I’m sorry. I took a little time,” I murmured, excusing the delay. The whole act of going back and disguising myself with the blanket took a few minutes.

“It’s okay. Ahem,” he cleared his throat but then fell silent.

“You look distressed. Is everything okay?” I asked in a worried tone.

He wasn’t even wearing a blanket or offering for us to sit down tonight.

“I’m going to ask you something,” he finally said, lifting his head. That’s when I noticed the redness in his eyes. I was right—he was distressed, and whatever was on his mind had clearly been bothering him deeply.

“Sure, what is it?” I questioned, trying not to gulp. Deep down, I was afraid. What if one of his brothers had said something about me, and he wanted to confirm whether it was true?

“Are you ready to accept me?” he asked, and my body felt a wave of relief—though not entirely, because now we had to talk once again about the fact that I wasn’t ready.

“I don’t have a wolf. Even if I accept you, I can’t mark you,” I replied softly. He nodded, understanding but still holding onto the question lingering between us.

“Then are you ready to marry me?” he threw another shocking question my way, leaving me utterly speechless.

“Kaye!” I exclaimed, but he silenced me with a gesture of his hand.

“I don’t want to stay here anymore. I want to marry you and take you with me to the East so that I can start a rogue community there as a rogue king. So tell me, are you ready to come with me?” he extended his hand, and my body felt numb.

Going with him would never have been a hard decision to make—

But only in an ideal world, where I’d have no objections to leaving everything behind.

“What about my academy?” I asked. He took a deep breath.

“I know it’s a huge deal for you, but… I’m also leaving a big part of my life behind by moving away with you. I’ll be starting from scratch without any help. I have a lot of savings, so that won’t be a problem, but I’ll have no parents, no siblings, and no pack’s support. I’ll even be rejecting a huge offer they made to me,” he said cryptically, and I couldn’t understand what had gone wrong in the past few hours to make him want me to leave with him.

“What offer?” I asked. He shook his head.

“Helanie, if you leave with me, you’ll have to give up your dreams of being a part of this academy. And I’ll give up my dream of building herb centers. It’s a risk and a sacrifice we’ll both make. But I’m ready for it. Are you?” he asked, extending his hand again as if reminding me that he’d been waiting for me to take it.

“Kaye! I hope you understand when I say this, but this academy is important to me. I cannot completely cut ties with the world here,” I bit my tongue after saying that, watching as his hand slowly lowered.

“You said you would wait,” I quickly reminded him of the conversation we had the other night.

“I wanted to. But now… I’m being cornered, and I don’t think I can look my mother in the eye and deny her request. So I’m telling you—” he began, but I cut him off mid-sentence.

“You want me to run away with you? Why? Can’t you accept me in front of everyone?” The realization hit me like a wave, and his immediate guilt spoke volumes.

“They will accept you,” he replied sternly. “Besides, you don’t even want to be accepted in front of everyone else.”

“So you knew I would say no? Then why did you come here to ask me that question?” I felt betrayed, like he’d played me. “Oh!” The truth struck me again. “You knew I would say no. You just wanted me to be the reason we both moved on from each other.”

As I murmured those words, tears started forming in my eyes.

“Helanie! That is not true. I am… lost right now. I just want to know if you ever plan to accept me. Because what I’ll be giving up for you is huge—” he tried to step closer, but I raised my palm to stop him in his tracks.

“I cannot accept you until I’ve figured my life out, Kaye. You told me you would wait. If you don’t want to wait anymore, I won’t blame you.”

I said it with a harsh yet confident tone, making it clear where I stood.