Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 304

Chapter 304: 304-My Monster Mate Attacked My Friends.

Helanie:

Everyone went silent after hearing the announcement. And by everyone, I mean everyone—including Maximus and Kaye.

Maximus looked so restless that he avoided making eye contact with me. It seemed like his eyes kept filling with tears, but he was trying to distract himself by fiddling with the watch on his wrist, pretending to fix it nonstop.

Kaye had a habit of going numb—staying still in his spot, clenching his jaw without much movement. Norman just wanted the speech to be over. That much was obvious.

After Emmet announced it, he told everyone to say goodbye.

“Now, Rayden! Come with us,” Emmet pointed at Rayden, who looked like he had been struck by lightning.

The brothers barely moved. Norman had to pat them on the back to get them to follow Emmet into the academy. He was the only one among the three who passed me a quick glance before turning around and leaving after his brother.

I knew a huge confrontation was waiting.

Rayden turned to me with horror on his face. It seemed like the announcement hit him harder than my betrayal.

As he walked away, the others started looking at me.

“You live with them?” one of the girls asked, her eyes wide open. I awkwardly nodded, and the others behind her gasped too.

“Hey!” While Sage was all set to walk away with Rudy and Sumit by her side, she gave me a quick wink and a nod.

She was pure class.

I had never seen her act strangely. In the beginning, I was fooled by her little jabs at the juniors or her smirks, but that was as harmless as she got.

Salem and Sydney were looking my way, and Sydney was constantly muttering under her breath. Salem tried giving me a little smile, but I looked away from her.

“Stepsister of the rogue kings, huh?” Penn wrapped his arm around Jenny to comfort her. She looked slightly concerned for Rayden.

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Penn asked in a joking tone.

“She was waiting for the announcement of their engagement ceremony,” Lamar quickly added to my rescue.

Jenny remained quiet, her head down and eyes on the ground. Why was she so upset over Rayden? I just didn’t understand.

It really made me wonder if she was being mistreated by him too.

“Yeah, sort of,” I answered.

“Anyway, I’ll take her home. She doesn’t seem to be feeling well,” Penn said while tapping his fingers on his sister’s shoulder.

The two walked away, and now it was Arlo who had come to have a word with me.

“Wow! How is the mansion? I heard it’s really beautiful,” he asked in the tone he usually used with the top senior students.

Lamar and I frowned, exchanged a look, and then stared at Arlo in confusion.

“It’s good,” I replied suspiciously.

“Aha! You know what? If that bastard tries to bother you again, come straight to me. I’ll show him a good time,” the bully suddenly wanted to be my savior.

“No thanks, she’s got me and her stepbrothers,” Lamar scoffed and turned me around by holding my elbow.

The students started leaving—some going home, others heading to transition.

Lamar and I sat near the small wooden bridge he had introduced me to, sandwiches in hand.

“I was laughing so hard when texting you about the viper,” Lamar said with his mouth full. I had brought the sandwiches when leaving the mansion.

The maid had packed them for me at Maximus’s request.

The reminder of him also made me realize how critical things had become for us now.

“I told you the plan would work,” I had to give it to Lamar. The way he acted clueless back there was amazing.

“Yeah, but how did you know he’d fall for it a second time?” Lamar asked, curious.

“I’ve been paying attention to Rayden. He’s arrogant and too proud of himself. He doesn’t see me as a threat, so he believes everything I say. He thinks I’d be too afraid of him to mess with him. And as for him always acting on impulse, well, it’s no surprise. He grew up spoiled. Never faced consequences for his actions. So he became careless. He doesn’t bother acting right because no matter what he does, he always gets away with it,” I explained, taking a big bite of my sandwich and smiling proudly.

“It’s like how serial killers get cocky,” he commented, and I nodded in agreement.

“Why didn’t you talk to Jenny? I know you wanted to,” I brought her up, and suddenly his mood changed.

“Helanie!” Before he could say anything, I added,

“She doesn’t know about your sister, Lamar,” I reminded him. If she didn’t know, she couldn’t be blamed for it.

“But she knows he bullies you. Tell me something—why don’t you hold people accountable for what they do to you? You gotta start loving yourself,” he shocked me with his statement.

“I do love myself,” I frowned in bewilderment.

“She knows her mate has been making your life miserable, yet she shows concern for him and still wants to be friends with you. Did she ever come to you to apologize for her mate’s behavior? No! So how about we forget about her for now,” he muttered aggressively before trying to calm himself down.

“Let’s forget about her—” he hadn’t finished talking when his phone rang. Holding it in his hand, he frowned at the screen.

“It’s Gavin!” he said, turning the phone toward me.

“Why is he calling you?” I was confused. He hadn’t been in contact with anyone, and the one person he called was the one he hated for sleeping with his ex.

“Answer the call,” I eyed Lamar, who put it on speaker.

“Hey, dude! How are you? Me and Helanie are sitting together. You’re on speaker,” Lamar said in a fake cheerful tone.

But Gavin was breathing heavily, gasping for air. “The lycan—the lycan—I was attacked.”

And then the call was cut off again.

Now both Lamar and I were staring at each other, worried and shocked.