Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 317

Chapter 317: 317-Did Not Mean To Hurt You

Helanie:

“So you were never interested in me? Not even a little bit? Not even when we sat under the sky, shared a blanket, and kissed?” The pain in his voice broke my heart.

But I had a promise to keep.

How could I accept anything—or anyone—that the Moon Goddess had chosen for me when I had challenged her? I told her I wouldn’t until I had my revenge.

“No!” I spoke with confidence, and his face started to change color. He went from looking happy to turning red with anger.

“I had feelings for you until you chose Kesha. I don’t fall for men who are already committed,” I quickly added, realizing that what I was saying might make me look bad. And I couldn’t risk looking bad when, in the future, I might be judged for my character.

“Why are you asking for a rejection? Your wolf isn’t awake, so even if I reject you, your side of the rejection won’t be complete until your wolf wakes up,” he questioned, making me anxious.

I thought he would just do it.

I didn’t expect him to be so hesitant. Kesha was vibrant—someone he could gain a lot from, including praise and everyone’s appreciation, just like he wanted.

“When my wolf wakes up, I’ll do my part of the rejection—” I had only gotten that far before he groaned and ran his hands through his hair.

“But why? Did you find someone? Are you—are you interested in someone else?” he asked after anxiously pacing around.

He had turned the air so tense with his grunting and restless movements. The man who barely ever showed emotion was now using every gesture to express how upset he was.

“No, I didn’t.” Since he was visibly getting worked up, I decided to take the gentler approach.

“I just don’t want to stay clinging—” I hissed under my breath at how difficult this was for me to deal with.

Even though I could have been mad at him for choosing Kesha and wanting to keep me on the side until he got everything he wanted from her, I couldn’t be. Because I did tell him I wasn’t ready to date him anytime soon.

I didn’t want to hold someone back for my revenge. And I didn’t even know if they would believe me if six Alphas came together and said I had lied about them.

And then there were my pack members—they always hated me. My stepmother had ruined my reputation, calling me a homewrecker. Whenever I walked down the road or went house to house to deliver food, the women would hide their husbands, thinking I would use my pheromones to seduce them.

So many people would come together to talk badly about me, and some of their voices would linger in the air.

“Then? Then why?” Kaye hissed, clenching his hair in his fists.

“Kaye! I—I want to move on. And if I’m going to date someone, I would want—” I shut up when I noticed a tear roll down his cheek.

“I can’t be with you. You chose Kesha, and I chose my academy,” I said, my hands shaking at the thought of the brothers hating me for hurting their brother.

And once Maximus told everyone I had picked him, Kaye would think I was just buying time so I wouldn’t have to choose him.

It was getting messier. But Maximus wasn’t my mate, so I had no promises to keep there.

“No! You—want to move on from me? Why? I haven’t been able to move on. I don’t want to move on. I told you, if you pick me, I will pick you. But until then, I will build enough for us to live without any help from my parents,” he argued, his voice getting louder.

That made me look around in worry.

“Kaye, we’re at home. People will hear us,” I whispered, stepping back to put some distance between us before he caused more commotion.

“You care so much about your reputation, Helanie. And you care nothing—nothing about me,” he hissed, anger burning in his eyes for the first time.

“And if you think I’ll reject you, you’re wrong,” he muttered, pointing his finger in my face. “I will never reject you. You will always stay as mine and mine only.”

He grabbed the vase from the side and slammed it on the floor, the loud crash echoing through the hallway. Then, he stormed off, and I ran back into my room.

“That went horribly wrong,” I gasped for air, reaching for my glass of water when I heard more noise outside.

With the glass in my hand, I exited my room again to see what the commotion was.

And sure enough, it was still Kaye.

He was tossing and throwing things while storming upstairs to his room. Every maid had run to the corner, and my mother had stepped out of her room near the living room to check on him.

“Kaye!” she called, her voice filled with concern.

He briefly paused, turned to look at her, and grunted.

“Fuck off!”

With that, he stormed upstairs.

Then, a vase came rolling down the stairs.

I didn’t expect it to reach this level.

I returned to my room, and in the next few minutes, the situation got worse.

Until it became unbearable.

I left my room again but stayed standing in the doorway, watching the brothers come together to help Kaye. I saw them standing in the living room, the three of them talking.

“He’s losing it. What happened?” Maximus asked Norman, worry clear on his face.

“I don’t know. Emmet and I had to give him wolfsbane. He trashed his entire room and was ready to transition inside the mansion,” Norman said with an unusual tone of concern when mentioning Kaye wanting to shift in the house.

“Shit! That would have been terrifying,” Maximus gave Norman an odd look.

“He shaved his head,” Emmet added, delivering the news to Maximus, who looked visibly distraught.

I knew they all respected Norman, but Maximus and Kaye were like best friends most of the time. They fought like animals but then stuck together like bestfriends.

So I could only imagine the pain Maximus was going through while watching his brother suffer.