Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 551

Chapter 551: 551-Last Day
Helanie:

“Good, good!” Norman clapped his hands, appreciating my effort. My eyes kept drifting to Emmet, who had been so quiet these days.

After Romeo’s confession, Kaye and Emmet returned home. Kaye said Emmet didn’t want to come back and just kept running.

Emmet, Kaye, and Maximus were now sitting next to a tree, watching me finish my training.

“That will be enough. You have to get home and rest a lot,” Norman announced, checking the time.

It was early in the day, around 10 a.m. The brothers had decided yesterday that I would start training early and finish early so I’d have time to rest for the rest of the day.

“Tomorrow is a big day,” Cora said.

I didn’t say it out loud, but now that it was so close, I was slightly worried.

“Take a breather and then we can go home,” Maximus said, his eyes wandering behind me at someone. I followed his gaze and turned around to see Charlotte coming toward us with the same big basket of food.

She had been doing that for a week. She would bring us food during training.

At first, I thought she might have added some drugs or even poison in it, so Norman went ahead and got it checked.

Since he always humored my suspicions, I was satisfied with him doing that. The food turned out to be fine.

But I still couldn’t tell if the change in Charlotte could be trusted.

She could be playing a game.

“Can I speak with you?” As soon as she handed the basket over to Maximus, she asked him.

He turned to me, then to Norman, finally walking away with Charlotte, leaving the basket on the ground.

“Guys, you start eating,” he yelled, making Kaye get up to take out the food. We all sat down to eat, and after a while, Maximus returned.

“She left?” Kaye asked, and Maximus gave him a head nod.

“She is weird. I don’t know if I can trust what she says,” Maximus groaned, shaking his head repeatedly.

I noticed Emmet sitting away from us with his knees up and his back resting against the tree. He held a sandwich in his hand, his elbows resting casually on his knees.

It was bothering me how distant he had become from all of us now. Norman probably noticed the same thing and grabbed his food to go sit with him.

“What did she say?” It was Kaye asking Maximus that brought my attention back to the subject at hand.

“She said she wants to tell me about the mate bond,” Maximus took a big bite from the sandwich in his hand, but his eyes stayed on my face. I watched Kaye follow his gaze to me and then look away.

“What about it?” I couldn’t keep the curiosity inside and finally asked him. I didn’t want to be part of his personal matters, but I couldn’t help it. He was taking too much time.

“That it was a lie, and that she’s sorry. She doesn’t expect anything from me except to ask that I don’t tell my mother she told me the truth,” Maximus deepened his stare into my eyes and blurted it all out with a clenched jaw. I was shocked.

Totally dumbfounded that Charlotte decided to speak the truth.

“Oh, that is unlike her,” Kaye grunted along with his brother.

“I’m happy she told me the truth because I would have made her life miserable. However, I’m still angry that our mother planned this,” Maximus took another big bite, and I could tell he was taking his anger and frustration out on the food.

“So what will you do now?” Kaye asked, his eyes flicking to my face before looking back at Maximus.

“I’ll keep this a secret for now. We should only focus on this battle.” Maximus was right. I didn’t want to get distracted either. Still, it had been a good week with good news from all around.

After we were done eating, we gathered our stuff to leave. It was basically them lifting all the bags while I was on my phone.

“We’ll come to support you tomorrow,” Lamar said on the phone.

“I really miss you guys. I wanted to spend time with you all, but please understand every second was important for me to train,” I apologized for my lack of communication with them over the past few days. They had been preparing for finals too. So we were all kind of busy.

“It’s okay. We’ll steal you back after tomorrow,” Salem yelled on the phone, Jenny giggling as she agreed with her.

“If only I win this battle,” I muttered under my breath, and their cheerful voices quieted down.

“You will win, Helanie. You must win,” Lamar said.

“Hey, how are you holding up? You know you’ve been on my mind all these days,” I said with a guilty tone. I wished I had been there with him. Hearing Rhiz’s confession must have been so hard. He must have relived that night. But at least his pack members had apologized to him.

He was respected in his pack again, but I’m sure that wasn’t enough to help him with the pain he’d endured after losing his sister.

“I’m fine. Thanks to you, justice was served for my sister, Helanie. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to get my dignity back either. And as for how I’m holding up—these idiots are taking care of me, so don’t worry,” he laughed when someone hit him on the back. Had to be either Gavin or Penn.

“I’m glad you guys are okay. So I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I said, forcing a gulp down my throat. I didn’t say it out loud this time, but I could only meet them if I won.

The chances seemed slim, especially after I heard Darius had been training hard too. In fact, there were reports that during training, a group of Zharns attacked him, and he tore them apart in minutes. I was suddenly so worried.