Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 240

Chapter 240: 240-There Is Something Wrong About My Stepbrothers

Helanie:

“Good morning, how was your night?” Maximus uttered from behind me, joining me in my morning walk.

I’d suited up in the tracksuit early this morning as I was determined to work on my strength. I was determined to get used to doing things beyond my capacity.

“It was weird,” I replied, taking long and big strides. Maximus looked fresh as hell. He was blushing red in the cheeks from the cold and was probably headed for his morning jog as well.

“You can go ahead, jog, I am only brisk walking,” I said, acting like I didn’t know he was purposely walking slow so that he could spend time with me.

“My goal is right beside me, so I don’t need to run after it.” He probably smirked. I know him so well now. Every time he talked and smirked, his voice sounded much more cheerful.

“Maximus,” I cleared my throat, noticing him quickly jump in front of me and face me. He was now walking backward, making sure he got me to look into his eyes.

“You saying my name like that races my heart unlike any other exercise or workout could do,” he was becoming so overly flirtatious that he could not talk without flirting.

“Can you please quit for a minute? I have something important to talk about with you,” I groaned, making him look down dramatically like I had saddened him.

“Okay fine, break the innocent guy’s heart,” he complained, changing his position and walking beside me now.

“Did you hear something last night?” I asked and noticed him shrugging.

“You mean to say the loud noise of someone shattering something on someone’s head?” I instantly knew Norman had told him about it. As I turned to look at his face, I found him smiling weirdly.

“It is okay. He is fine,” he added.

“Actually, that was because I thought a lycan had broken into the mansion.” He stopped dead in his tracks at the mention of the lycan. I noticed how quickly he turned to face me, and this time, he didn’t even look like he was in a good mood.

“Why would you think like that?” He was frowning hard now.

“I heard a howl, and then I saw—something outside my room. I got so scared,” I uttered, genuinely petrified when I recalled those red eyes watching me.

It was not at all easy for me to let it go since I had felt the mate bond with that thing. And now that thing was outside my room, staring at me? That made me wonder if it came for me.

“What? Outside your room? Are you sure?” Maximus instantly pulled his phone out to text someone.

“I’m sure. Who are you texting?” I asked while he stepped away.

“Just the warriors to make sure any of them, umm, saw something,” the hesitation in his body language scared me.

Was it really that scary of a thing?

“I am sure you just saw something sparkle and thought it was eyes,” Maximus’s voice was not steady at all, and his eyes lingered a little too long on his phone. He was trying to step farther away from me while texting someone.

“Umm, yeah, the warriors didn’t see anything,” he was finally back to reality as he slid his phone back into the pocket of the jacket he wore over his shorts and paid attention to me again.

“Oh, then yeah, maybe I was imagining things.” Seeing how he was doing his best to convince me I was wrong, I decided not to have this argument or discussion, whatever it was called.

“Hey, I am sure you saw something, but a lycan on our property is a big deal, Helanie. It means we are not safe in our home,” he faced me, standing tall in front of me with his lips puckering and his eyes observing me for a reaction.

“Sure,” I replied, sticking to my decision not to talk about it with him again.

However, I saw his eyes move a little behind me, and then a gulp ran down his throat.

“Let’s continue the walk,” he added, almost like trying to distract me, but I quickly turned around to follow his stare.

There was someone coming out from the woods, in the process of wearing a shirt.

“Kaye! What was Kaye doing in the woods?” I asked, turning to Maximus, who broke his stare from his brother just to pass me an awkward smile that failed to hide the shock on his face.

“He is a rogue king, must have gone to the woods for a quick transition. We start our mornings differently,” Maximus rushed past me to Kaye, who was clearly out of it. He was wearing black jeans, and while buttoning up his shirt, he was looking away from us with his legs shaking.

Once he heard his brother talk to me, he turned around and almost lost his balance. Maximus had to run to support him, and so did I.

“Oh, Helanie,” Kaye greeted tiredly.

I didn’t think a rogue king should be so tired, like he had been running around the whole night. It couldn’t be just a fun morning run.

“Are you okay?” I instantly posed a question because I noticed Maximus was trying to steer him away from me.

“I think he needs to rest.” There was so much guilt in Maximus’s eyes. His entire body language had changed after he saw his brother come out of the woods.

“I am fine. I just wanted to say something to Hela—” Kaye cleared his throat, almost falling to the ground.

Maximus held him up and gave me an awkward look. “You should go ahead. I will take him home. I guess he’s exhausted. Must be from the stress and all.”

Maximus’s voice lacked emotion—or, one might say, life. He sounded lifeless.

I watched him hold his brother and walk him to the mansion, his arm wrapped around Kaye’s shoulder to support his body.

This interaction was going to stick with me. It just looked very suspicious.