Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: 40-True Love Saved The Day?

Helanie:

“Helanie!” Kaye held my hand, trying to pull me away, but I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. My vision blurred from tears as Kaye wrapped his arms around my body to carry me. I could sense his strength, yet he still struggled to move me from my spot.

“Ahahahaha!” Rune’s laughter echoed through the air, his head disappearing into the clouds.

“Kill them!” As my false mother yelled, I found Kaye standing before me, placing his hand on my chest.

“You will not let them win; you are my mate. Together, we are stronger than they can imagine.” His warm hand slipped beneath my shirt to touch my skin, resting over my heart.

“Ahhh!” I gasped, waking up.

“Ugh!” Rune yelled, attacking us again. Kaye raised his head to assess the situation, then carried me and rolled us both onto the ground, saving us once more. I caught a glimpse of Rune’s head submerged in the earth before he rose again. He would take a few moments to calm down before launching another assault.

I struggled to look away from the damage Rune’s head caused to the ground. And once I did look away, I found Kaye staring at my face.

My body was connected to his, my hands on his chest. I was breathing on his face when I noticed my pendant touching his lips. Just the thought of his soft lips touching anything that belonged to me caused a shiver to run down my spine.

“Get him away from her!” Rune screamed as he charged his strength. I was lying on top of Kaye when the guards arrived, grabbing my arms to pull me away from him.

They broke our intense eye contact, taking me away from Kaye as he held onto my hand.

I watched his hand slip through my skin, unable to hold on. It all happened in slow motion until Kaye’s fingers brushed against mine and I was finally snatched away from him.

“Ugh!” Kaye groaned when they grasped his arms too. They clung to him, surrounding him—many against one. As they pulled me away, I watched Rune shift his focus to Kaye. He was going to attack him. I looked around at my fake family until I noticed something I had overlooked before.

Not overlooked in the sense that it hadn’t intrigued me until now.

My mother was the only one with roses in her hair. It had been just one when I first woke up here, but it changed to two out of the blue in the middle of my dance with Rune when Kaye arrived.

And then it clicked.

These were the exact type of roses that we had to sniffle from in order to wake up in this messed up dream prison.

“Kaye! I know how we can escape this nightmare!” I yelled, making him turn his face toward me with great effort as the guards held him, attempting to chain him. He fought with every ounce of strength he had at that moment.

It made sense why he couldn’t transition. This was Rune’s world, a dream world. Nothing here was real, so when Rune decided to make Kaye a wolfless creature, he took away his wolf.

“How—,” Kaye yelled.

“Try to get away from them and reach me,” I shouted, hissing at my false mother, who was digging her nails into my skin.

“Got it,” Kaye replied, landing a punch on the guard’s face, causing him to tumble back. He then effortlessly kicked the one in front and headbutted another who tried to hold him. Even without his werewolf abilities here, he was still capable of fighting them off.

“How could you even be on his side? He comes from the scary world where you were so unhappy,” my mother was screaming at me, her eyes filled with anger and rage.

As Kaye battled the others, I ran toward my mother. She looked petrified as I grabbed her by the hair.

“Get her away from me! Is this how you treat your mother?” Her voice was entirely different now—high-pitched and nasty.

I managed to grab the roses from her hair and then rushed toward Kaye, who was now set free.

“What is it?” Kaye asked, his eyes shifting to the roses.

“Maybe this is our way out?” I suggested, holding up the flowers. He studied my face and then took the rose from my hand, leaving me with one.

A loud growl erupted in the air, piercing through and slicing the wind as Rune prepared to attack us again.

However, this time, all his people came at us. They had their hands on us, ensuring we didn’t move a muscle.

“This is our only chance,” Kaye uttered while his eyes remained locked on mine.

As soon as we stretched our necks back and looked at the wrecking-ball-like head coming down at us with full force and speed, we both tore apart the roses in our hands.

We waited for something to happen, but we were still there, and the head was descending toward us. I had never felt so scared for my life before. We closed our eyes, my hands on his chest and his arms around my waist.

I guess that was it.

And then sand fell on us, drawing us closer together.

“Ahhhh!” I gasped, sitting up in bed and breathing heavily like a bull.

“They’re back—!” Maximus yelled, jumping up and down as he ran toward Kaye.

I quickly turned my head to make sure he was okay, and sure enough, Kaye sat in his bed, smiling at his brothers.

“You idiot!” Norman exclaimed, his muscles bulging until he saw Kaye wake up. He rushed to the other side as well, helping Kaye get out of bed and then joining in a group hug.

I watched them in silence, slowly realizing that the dream had indeed been beautiful. If only it weren’t just a dream.

I don’t want to believe it’s just a dream.

I slowly got up from the bed while the brothers exchanged details. Then Norman turned to me.

“You!” he grunted, striding briskly toward my side of the bed and grabbing my arm tightly.

“You are going to stay away from my brothers. You almost made me lose my brother.” He didn’t stop dragging me along, and his siblings didn’t protest either.

Why would they?

They all hated me. I didn’t fight back, and soon he had taken me to the exit, where he pushed me so hard that I almost fell.

But I didn’t.

I was saved by a pair of strong hands and a very familiar scent. It was the most comforting and beautiful aroma I had ever encountered. The man helped me regain my balance, and the moment I did, I came face-to-face with his handsome features.

His gray eyes were peering at me through thick eyelashes, and his bushy eyebrows were furrowed.

“Emmet, let her go. You took her side and let her participate. Do you know what she did? She almost got Kaye killed,” Norman exaggerated, making me close my eyes to take a deep breath because I was definitely going to defend myself against his false accusations, whether he liked it or not.