Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 294

Chapter 294: 294-Let’s Have A Fight Stepbro

Helanie:

“Are you going to skip the combat training just like you skipped the therapy sessions?” Norman commented with a scoff, briskly walking ahead of me and towards the deep woods.

I knew what he was trying to imply. Ever since his brother told me last night that he would ask Norman to give me extra classes before the combat started, Norman had been giving me this look. And now that we were finally alone and headed to the woods for our first class, he was sharing his thoughts with me.

“I didn’t think the therapy was working,” I muttered under my breath, being unreasonable since I hadn’t even given the therapy a fair chance.

He suddenly stopped, and I bumped into his broad back. I stepped back and rubbed my nose, complaining about it.

“We’re here,” he muttered, of course, pretending his sudden stop was not because of my words.

I looked around and then at him. He wore a white shirt with gray shorts and gray sneakers. His hair was fluffy but shiny, as if he had used gel. Yet, the strands were sticking out, with sharp pieces loose on his forehead.

I wore my tracksuit, but with my purple sweater since it was so cold out here.

“Now what?” I asked impatiently, my hands on my waist. Maybe because of our past history, I didn’t expect much from Norman. When it comes to helping me, he does it his own way, a messy way.

“Now you shut up!” he snapped, pointing at me, and then added, “We’ll focus on flexibility first.”

As soon as I heard that, I felt like he was just trying to waste my time. So, I shook my head and muttered, “I do it every day. I’m flexible enough.”

I noticed his expression hardening, a sign that I needed to shut up and do as he said. So, I positioned myself in a way that didn’t require words, but he knew I was ready.

“Do jumping jacks,” he said, and started doing them himself. He was so big and heavy that whenever he landed on the ground, I swear I heard the ground beneath me shaking.

I followed him and started doing what he was doing. In the next hour, we had done several exercises that already had me worn out.

“You need to work on your stamina,” he advised, watching me stop and kneel down.

“Why—what—happened—to my stamina? You only—want—to criticize—me,” I barely managed to say. That made him raise his brow and purse his lips.

“Now! You need to understand the value of balance in combat. Step with your leading foot first, followed by the rear foot, make sure the distance between your feet stays the same,” he instructed, watching me try to balance my weight.

When he was describing it, I thought he was just making things up. But the minute I started following his instructions, I realized it wasn’t just that. It was way harder than it seemed.

We practiced backward and sideways balance movements. However, every time I lost my balance, Norman gave me a harsh look.

“Ouch!” I almost tripped, which made me giggle. But I didn’t know it also upset the big monster in front of me. When he walked so close to me, I had no clue. I felt something hit my head and grimaced, looking at him.

He had rolled a file in his hands and hit me on the head with it.

“This is not a joke. Take it seriously,” he said. He wasn’t wrong, but I just hated him, so I pouted and continued to practice.

As the darkness started to take over, I realized the whole day had passed. I was tired and exhausted but still ready to take another step forward in the combat lessons.

“That will be it for today,” Norman announced, barely looking tired. In fact, it seemed like the fact that he hadn’t worked out crazily made him annoyed. He had to match my pace. It wasn’t just me doing these lessons; he was following through as well.

“And tomorrow we will start learning the big moves, right?” I asked excitedly, but he wrinkled his nose and looked bothered.

“We’ll continue these for at least two more days,” he said, and I straightened up to face him.

“You’re wasting my time. I already did these. And when I do these with the other students during the classes, I’ll get even better at them,” I insisted, wanting to start learning the main combat lessons already. The reason was that I couldn’t be certain when Rayden would strike me.

To Norman, I might have sounded like a spoiled brat, but deep down, I was scared of Rayden and him repeating the events of that night. Not only that, I wanted to punish him so badly.

“Helanie! You speak to me this way again, and I will leave you tied to a tree for the lycan to come and eat you alive,” that was the first time he had spoken about the lycan like that. It was as if the lycan would listen to him.

“How mean—” I hissed, “and you can’t tie me to the tree.” I muttered.

“Sure!” he said, with the most judgmental look, which irritated me.

“I’m serious. You can’t tie me to the tree,” I muttered. I had seen some videos on the internet about how to react when someone attacks you. And I was sure I could tackle someone down, if not that, at least save myself.

“Okay!” he added in the same cold tone, which annoyed me even more.

“Come on, try it,” I nudged him as he walked past me. He raised an eyebrow, then grimaced, waving his hand to dismiss me.

“What? Are you scared? Don’t you want to prove to your student that you can tie her to a tree like you claimed?” I was suddenly so angry at his comment that I wanted him to try. I knew I could pull off some moves and get away from the tree.

“Come on,” I pressed him further, watching as he tilted his head and looked at me tiredly.

“You really want this?” he asked in a low, deep voice.

“Yeah!” I hissed confidently.

He nodded and began walking in slow circles, smirking slightly.