Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 411

Chapter 411: 411-Backing Down
Helanie:

“You should head back to your hostel now. It’s not safe to be out there,” he gave a quick glance around and sighed.

“And will you be going back to your brother?” I was worried he was giving too much blood to his brother. If he kept doing that, he would grow weak.

“Always,” he smiled, getting up. Before I could follow him, he had already offered me his hand.

He probably didn’t realize it, but every sweet thing he did left me in awe.

Holding his hand, I felt the warmth of his touch and stood up.

“Please eat a lot in the morning,” I said softly, noticing him walking right beside me.

“You care a lot about everyone, don’t you?” he spoke in a low tone, sending shivers down my spine.

“Take care of yourself, you need it more. You’re always surrounded by dangerous people,” he said, continuing to walk with me. At this point, I didn’t even have to ask him why—I knew he was walking me back to make sure I reached the hostel safely.

“It’s life, everyone has toxic people around them,” I muttered.

“Umm, true,” he nodded. “What about your feelings for Maximus and Kaye? I know I’m asking a lot, but—I’m just curious.” His hands were in his pockets, my scarf still around his neck.

“They’ve moved on,” I replied.

“What about you?” He slowed down, almost like he was glancing at me to see my reaction.

“I have to, but I’m tied to Kaye with a mate bond,” I sighed at the thought of daring to ask him to reject me again.

“Hmm,” he suddenly went quiet.

“What was our item in the test?” That question had been at the back of my mind the whole time.

“The Whisper Compass?” he asked, and I nodded.

“It’s a powerful item. A very magical one. You see, when the needles are mostly still, it means the creatures around it are just basic, normal magical beings. But when they point at something, it means—” He paused, making my breath hitch at his explanation.

“It means what?” I tried not to sound too curious, but I couldn’t help it.

“Why? Did you see it move?” He stopped abruptly and turned to look at my face.

“Umm, it didn’t, it’s just that I really liked it,” I lied because I didn’t know what it would point at someone for.

“Okay, then all is good.” The way he sighed in relief made me wonder if it was really a good thing that they didn’t move.

“Do you know why they would move?” I pressed a little. He might have been relieved, but I wasn’t. They moved and pointed at me.

“Not really. There you go—rest well.” I could tell he was hiding something from me. He gestured at the hostel, and I reluctantly stepped ahead of him, the compass still on my mind.

“And Helanie—” I heard him call my name in the gentlest way, and I turned around to look at his face one last time.

“Thank you,” he smiled, touching the scarf. In response, I gave him a nod and stepped into the hostel—only to bump into something.

“And what makes you think you can leave the hostel whenever you want?” It was the warden.

I hadn’t had a real encounter with her in so long that I forgot how scary she was.

“I went out for fresh air,” I swallowed nervously as I answered her.

“It was a full moon,” she hissed, reminding me that I wasn’t allowed to leave the hostel during one.

“I forgot,” I mumbled with my head down.

“Well, a punishment will help you remember next time,” she sneered and pointed at the door, gesturing at me to leave at once.

“But it’s a full moon,” I realized she was actually kicking me out and started to argue.

“See, you remember already,” she mocked, stepping toward me. I kept backing up until I found myself outside.

But then my back hit something—I was trapped.

“Let her go. She was with me,” I heard Emmet say from behind, and a wave of relief washed over me.

“But she broke the rule and left the hostel on a full moon,” the warden’s voice was sharp, but she was forcing a smile, clearly trying to keep Emmet from getting mad.

“Doesn’t matter. She was with me—she was safe. Now let her go. Don’t you know who she is?” The way he spoke to her sent shivers down my spine. He could be rude to everyone else at times. I often wondered why he was so kind to me. Was it because… he remembered that we were mates?

“Sure, go inside,” the warden stepped back. I quickly stepped in, turning around to smile before blushing and hurrying away from Emmet. I rushed back to my room, and nothing else happened for the rest of the night.

Except, in the morning, we woke up to a bad storm.

“Helanie—we should go,” Lamar whispered in my ear as I stepped out of the bathroom, wearing black jeans and a purple shirt. Lucy was painting her nails, humming a song she’d been singing since early morning.

I knew what Lamar meant. We had to go meet Kaidon. He had promised to help us, and we were expecting some big names to be thrown our way.

I was glad Lamar was on my side. I was sure he would take care of me if I had a breakdown. We avoided Lucy and hurried outside, rushing toward the exit. I was ready to face Kaidon.

“Guys, my car!” Jenny called after us, catching up at the front porch.

“She wanted to come,” Lamar said. Giving him a nod, I slid into her car while Lamar took the passenger seat.

“Is it okay to say I’m really nervous?” I heard Jenny whisper to Lamar, admitting she was just as anxious as we were.

We arrived at the meeting spot in the woods pretty quickly because Jenny had been speeding the whole way. But as soon as we entered the woods, we found the place empty—with a note stuck to a tree.

“I’m sorry. I’ve changed my mind.”

Lamar hissed as he read it out loud, staring at me sadly.