Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 405

Chapter 405: 405-Catching The Alpha In The Woods
Helanie:

“So, how were they?” Emmet asked as I left the mansion. Thankfully, I had to leave before Charlotte and her mother started bothering me. The family had returned a few minutes ago, so I was all set to go.

They did question Emmet about what I was doing there, and he confidently told them to never interfere in his business. Well, everybody knew not to mess with Emmet’s guests, so I guess I was fine for now.

“They are so adorable, but they did tell me that you don’t like them. Why is that?” I asked as we took a short walk toward the road.

“They aren’t wrong.”

It hurt me when I heard Emmet respond like that.

“Okay, I’ll head home now.” I didn’t know why I expected some compassion from him.

“Hey, did I upset you?” I heard him call for me, quickly catching up when I attempted to speed away.

I turned to him and only gave him a look, and he understood. “I don’t hate them. I’m just not really good with kids.”

The way he quickly corrected himself brought a smile to my lips. “You can always try. Having a family is a blessing.”

He nodded his head, looking around with his hands in his pockets. “I’ll pick you up from the academy tomorrow. Would that be okay?” he asked, making me nod.

“Sure,” I replied.

“You can finish your work or whatever gathering you have with your friends by five. I’ll be staying at the academy until then anyway,” he added.

Even though I knew why he was trying to delay going home, I kept my lips sealed.

It was pretty obvious that he didn’t want to be at home with the kids. But why?

“Okay, Lamar is here,” I checked my phone and informed him.

“Sure. Goodnight,” he nodded, handing me a brown envelope—my first salary from him.

I reluctantly accepted it. Though, when grabbing the envelope from his hands, our fingers brushed. It might not have fazed him, but it definitely fazed me. His touch was so comforting and gentle, even when his hands and fingers looked like they had their own separate gym.

“Goodbye,” I uttered shyly, walking away from him.

Back in school, my teachers used to be the most annoying creatures. Having such a handsome professor and actually getting his attention was something I had never experienced before.

“So, how were they?” Lamar asked, sitting on his bike and waiting for me to reach him.

“The cutest kids ever, and they were so nice to me,” I replied, hopping onto the back of his bike.

“Where to now?” He already knew what I had in mind.

“To Benita’s.”

It was time to have a little chat with Kaidon. I chose this time because there wouldn’t be much of an audience around, and I would get to confront him easily. Lamar started his bike, and soon we were headed to the pack’s border.

I was anxious about how he would react to me. Would he attempt to kill me or just mock me like Rayden used to?

He must be even harder to deal with since we were the reason his friend died a horrible death.

I could expect all sorts of crazy shit from him.

We arrived at Benita’s café at just the right time. The very last customers were leaving, so we headed inside before they closed.

Benita was standing behind the counter, saying goodbye to her employees.

“Goodnight,” the last server said as she headed to the door.

“Sorry, you two arrived late.” Now that no one else was around, Benita wasn’t all smiles with us.

“I’m not here for food. I’m here to see your son,” I said, my tone steady.

“Huh?” Her face contorted like I had shoved my hand down her throat and grabbed her heart in my fist.

“Did your stepbrothers send something for him?” She convinced herself that I had a good reason to mention her son’s name.

“Yeah, sure,” Lamar held my hand, stopping me from telling her the truth.

Benita wasn’t a fool—she noticed the hesitation in our body language.

“What is it? You can give it to me.” She held out her hand, expecting me to hand something over.

We knew Kaidon was home because Lamar had spied on him earlier today while I was busy with the twins.

“I was only asked to deliver the news to him,” I said, cocking my head and using a more confident tone this time.

“Well then, I’m sorry. Either they come here to deliver it themselves, or you say it in front of me.” She folded her arms over her chest, her tone harsher now. Of course, she wouldn’t argue the same way if they were around. This was how she acted when it was just me and Lamar.

“Is he home?” Lamar took over, gently pushing me out of her line of sight.

“No! He went out. But why are you two looking for him?” She sounded more hostile now as she threw that question at us.

“Are you trying to—befriend my son or something?” That slipped out of her mouth, probably without much thought.

All because she thought her son was some big deal. She had no idea he was in deep shit.

“Let’s go,” I turned to Lamar, making it clear that if she didn’t have any information for us, she was useless.

“Hey! You better stay away from my son, you blonde. He’s a good kid, and he’s trying to do something for himself. He will only accept fated mates.”

She had the nerve to say it without finding anything suspicious about us asking for him. She didn’t even consider that I wasn’t hitting on her son.

I turned to her and grunted, sizing her up and down with the most disgusted look I could muster.

She was instantly offended, but Lamar grabbed my hand and dragged me out to avoid any arguments. I jumped onto the back of his bike, feeling frustrated that this whole visit had turned out to be meaningless.

He started his bike, and just a few minutes in, we noticed another bike take the road ahead of us.

It came out of nowhere, but I quickly recognized the person riding it.

It was Kaidon.