Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 279

Chapter 279: 279-The Mischievous One Named Helanie

Norman:

I made it to the exit, and once out of her room, I wondered what had just happened. She had such mood swings. One minute she was all sassy, and the next minute she was sobbing, then back to acting normal.

That wasn’t normal.

She was stressed, maybe traumatized. Her forced attempts at acting normal were probably the reason she suddenly burst into tears.

“That needs attention,” I said to myself before walking back to my room and sitting on the couch in the dark. I hadn’t slept in weeks. My body was always tense and restless. The only thing that hurt me the most tonight was that Helanie worked with the others to capture the lycan.

Did she hate the lycan?

Did she see the lycan as an enemy? That wouldn’t be good.

I sighed, checking my phone for updates on my brothers. They were headed to the hostel to stay the night there—both Kaye and Maximus.

As for Emmet, the first thing I did after transitioning back to my human state was check on him. I had to carry him to his room and lay him down after taking care of his wounds. He will wake up feeling disappointed and sad. Once he finds out that Helanie was part of the group that tried to capture the lycan, I bet he will feel even more betrayed.

It was already morning, and I had a feeling Helanie would be anxious to know if their stupidity had led to Rayden dying.

I joined my dad early in the morning while Helanie and the guests were still sleeping. I was sure they would stay asleep for a while.

“Tell me what happened in the woods?” my father asked. He had heard about it from the doctors, and even the parents of the top seniors had reached out to apologize.

“It was just kids being kids. You know how teenagers these days are—curious,” I said, trying to avoid the topic.

“But still—I want to know. Did Helanie really go into the woods to catch the lycan?” There was a hint of sadness in my father’s voice. Not quite sadness—more like disappointment.

“I’m beginning to wonder if her mother sees through her. How can someone—” my father bit his tongue, trying to control his emotions.

“That’s not fair. To Helanie and everyone else, the lycan seems like a danger. Besides, it wasn’t Helanie’s idea to go into the woods.” For the first time, I lied for her.

I didn’t know why or what had gotten over me, but I decided to take her side. This could have been the perfect moment to tell my father about her, make him emotional, and paint Helanie in a negative light.

But why couldn’t I?

I could finally get rid of her.

“And you wouldn’t have been worried?”

I recalled the way she had asked me that question, and my heart skipped a beat once again. Why did she ask me that?

Was she expecting something more than just sympathy from me? Her little hands had covered her face, and when she pressed her face against the wall, didn’t she look too adorable?

Like an innocent bird, exuding nothing but purity?

“No!” I shook my head to stop myself from thinking like that and turned my attention back to my father.

“What happened to you?” Dad inquired, looking worried.

“Oh! I mean, no! She didn’t go into the woods to capture the lycan. The top seniors picked her because of her abilities. But, Dad—” I closed my eyes, knowing what I was about to say next should not reach Helanie or anyone else’s ears, or they might suspect something, “she had the chance to attack the lycan, but she didn’t. She had the weapon in her hand, but she didn’t strike.”

I couldn’t believe myself right now.

Were those few words spoken by Helanie enough to soften me?

“And you wouldn’t have been worried?”

Why couldn’t I stop thinking about those words and the way she said them? She wanted my attention. Was she feeling something for me? Why were her expectations so high? That question must have meant a lot to her for her to ask it. And then, as if to cover her emotions, she engrossed herself in the glass of water.

“Dad, my point is, I was wrong about Helanie before. She’s not wicked—she’s just a teenager trying hard to become something on her own,” I finished, my gaze shifting to the ones entering the room.

Kaye and Maximus stood with their arms folded, making me roll my eyes at them. I knew what was coming—they were going to roast me for finally admitting I had misjudged Helanie.

“We’ve been saying that,” Maximus said, walking with difficulty. Kaye had bandages on him as well.

“Easy!” I held Maximus’ hand and helped him sit down, while Kaye reassured me he was fine.

“I’m fine,” Kaye said, but his tone was meant to silence my concern since I kept checking on him. He’d gone wild last night, and I knew why.

“Is she okay?” Kaye asked first, referring to Helanie.

“She’s fine, sleeping,” I replied.

“Are you sure? She had some action in the woods—she must’ve hurt herself, too,” Kaye muttered under his breath, though clearly loud enough for us to hear. He wanted reassurance that she was okay.

“As far as I know, she’s fine. Any news on Rayden?” I asked, glancing at Maximus, whose jaw clenched.

“Yeah, sadly, he didn’t die,” Maximus uttered, his tone full of disdain. He’d grown an open dislike for Rayden, and so had Kaye.

“His death would’ve been good news to us,” Kaye commented bluntly. “Anyway, he’s fine, but he wants to speak with the council and his parents. He claims someone from the group betrayed him. So far, we haven’t allowed anyone near him because he’s still healing, but I’m sure they’ll reach him soon, and he’ll give his statement.” Kaye seemed just as disturbed as I was by Rayden’s claims.

“Yeah. You know what? You two rest. I’ll go meet Rayden.” I had a bad feeling about this. I needed to be the first to know who he was going to blame for his condition.