Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 368

Chapter 368: 368-A Great Offer
Helanie:

After a few minutes, the class was over, and the brothers had gathered in a corner.

“Hey, Helanie,” I heard Rudy call out to me, jogging toward me in his tracksuit. Their training session started after ours finished. We were preparing to head back to the academy when Rudy spotted me.

I slowed down to fall behind the crowd and have a word with him. All the while, I was aware of the eyes on me—the brothers, standing together and talking, had turned their attention toward us when they heard Rudy yell.

“Hi,” I replied meekly, feeling awkward after everything that happened today.

“Don’t be too sad. Not everyone can do everything. Besides, you know yourself—once you get into something, you come out victorious,” Rudy stopped near me, smiling and speaking in an encouraging tone. I realized he was referring to the earlier incident.

“Yeah, but combat is the one thing everyone has told me I can’t do,” I muttered. Even though I had learned a lot with Norman, and he had done a great job waking my wolf, it was still difficult for me to ace every exercise—especially when they were outside the syllabus.

“You know what? How about I train you?” Rudy’s sudden offer brought a small, broken smile to my lips. “Don’t worry, I’ll get my fee. You’ll have to join me for dinner every night and listen to me ramble about nonsense.”

He spoke so charmingly that I felt like his training might actually help me.

“Thank you so much. I’ll owe you big time,” I said. I wanted to train, so whatever help I could get, I took it.

“Good, see you then.” He looked down and blushed. “I’ll, umm, head back to my own class now.” There was a subtle, flirtatious look in his eyes that he kept casting at me after I accepted his offer.

As he walked away, I noticed the brothers silently glaring at me. I didn’t care what they thought of me now. Kaye had proven he had it out for me, so I needed to learn how to defend myself against his attacks—whether verbal or… I just hoped they wouldn’t sink to a new low where the strikes became physical.

“Wait up!” I was on my way to the academy when Maximus caught up with me. I should have known the brothers weren’t the type to let things go easily.

“What was he saying?” Maximus stepped in my way, his hands on his waist.

“Max! Come back,” Norman yelled from afar, but Maximus ignored him, holding up a hand to signal him to wait.

“He wants to train you?” Maximus repeated Rudy’s words. So they had heard him.

“Yeah,” I replied, sidestepping to get past him, but he moved right back in my way.

“Why? You’ve already been trained by Norman. Why Rudy now?” His tone was so aggressive that I felt the need to remind him he wasn’t my mate and had no right to question me.

“Sir, you should focus on your own fiancée, not me. I will spend time with whoever I want. Please understand that every training session and class will only strengthen my abilities,” I spoke respectfully but in the coldest tone possible.

He kept watching my face as if he couldn’t believe how distant I was toward him.

“Then let me—” Before he could finish, I shook my head. He already knew I wasn’t ready to accept his help.

“No, thank you. I will stick with my friend and fellow,” I finished, noticing the harsh look forming on his face.

“Are you not guilty about hiding your pheromones from me and leading me on like a fool? You have no guilt at all?” He shocked me with his ignorance.

“Hmm, don’t we all have secrets, Maximus?” I gave him a smile, and from the way his own smile faded, I knew he remembered he had secrets too.

I proceeded to walk away and head back to the hostel. Everyone had gone for lunch, but thankfully, Lamar had brought food to my room, with Gavin beside him. Lucy didn’t come to check on me—not even once. It hurt, but I tried to stop thinking about it.

By the time I came out of the shower, Lamar and Gavin had already settled on my bed. We sat down to eat, focusing on our goal of training.

“I will come with you,” Lamar suggested, keeping his head down while talking about me training with Rudy.

“I’ll be fine,” I reassured him, but he shook his head again.

“With the brothers targeting you, I just don’t want to leave you alone with anyone,” he added, and Gavin pouted.

“Is it because they didn’t want your mother to marry their father?” Of course, Gavin was still in the dark.

“A lot of things,” I replied, avoiding the main truth.

“Anyway, I was so upset today. I’ll come with you,” Gavin added, offering to join.

“Guys! I will be fine,” I continued to reassure them, but they were stubborn, so I didn’t have much choice.

“Well then, we better finish our lunch, take an hour’s nap, and then be on our way,” Lamar told Gavin, not even letting me object. And since they also wanted to train, I thought it was a good idea for all of us to go together. I wasn’t sure how Rudy would react to it, though.

“Penn wouldn’t be very happy,” Gavin said under his breath, and I cocked my head at him in confusion.

“Why not? He can join too if he wants training,” I suggested, but the way Lamar and Gavin shared a laugh made me believe there was more to Gavin’s comment.

“I’m sure an Alpha being trained by a fellow Alpha wouldn’t be a good idea. But that’s not what I meant when I said he wouldn’t be happy. Helanie, umm, Penn wouldn’t like knowing you’re spending time with, umm—” Lamar shut up when I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Umm, umm, what? Stop saying ummm so much,” I frowned, urging him to finish his sentence.

“Penn has confessed to us that he has feelings for you, and—a little bird told me Rudy is interested in you,” Lamar explained, making my mouth drop open in shock.