Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates novel Chapter 279

Chapter 279: 279-The Mischievous One Named Helanie

Norman:

I made it to the exit, and once out of her room, I wondered what had just happened. She had such mood swings. One minute she was all sassy, and the next minute she was sobbing, then back to acting normal.

That wasn’t normal.

She was stressed, maybe traumatized. Her forced attempts at acting normal were probably the reason she suddenly burst into tears.

"That needs attention," I said to myself before walking back to my room and sitting on the couch in the dark. I hadn’t slept in weeks. My body was always tense and restless. The only thing that hurt me the most tonight was that Helanie worked with the others to capture the lycan.

Did she hate the lycan?

Did she see the lycan as an enemy? That wouldn’t be good.

I sighed, checking my phone for updates on my brothers. They were headed to the hostel to stay the night there—both Kaye and Maximus.

As for Emmet, the first thing I did after transitioning back to my human state was check on him. I had to carry him to his room and lay him down after taking care of his wounds. He will wake up feeling disappointed and sad. Once he finds out that Helanie was part of the group that tried to capture the lycan, I bet he will feel even more betrayed.

It was already morning, and I had a feeling Helanie would be anxious to know if their stupidity had led to Rayden dying.

I joined my dad early in the morning while Helanie and the guests were still sleeping. I was sure they would stay asleep for a while.

"Tell me what happened in the woods?" my father asked. He had heard about it from the doctors, and even the parents of the top seniors had reached out to apologize.

"It was just kids being kids. You know how teenagers these days are—curious," I said, trying to avoid the topic.

"But still—I want to know. Did Helanie really go into the woods to catch the lycan?" There was a hint of sadness in my father’s voice. Not quite sadness—more like disappointment.

"I’m beginning to wonder if her mother sees through her. How can someone—" my father bit his tongue, trying to control his emotions.

"That’s not fair. To Helanie and everyone else, the lycan seems like a danger. Besides, it wasn’t Helanie’s idea to go into the woods." For the first time, I lied for her.

I didn’t know why or what had gotten over me, but I decided to take her side. This could have been the perfect moment to tell my father about her, make him emotional, and paint Helanie in a negative light.

But why couldn’t I?

I could finally get rid of her.

"And you wouldn’t have been worried?"

"We’ve been saying that," Maximus said, walking with difficulty. Kaye had bandages on him as well.

"Easy!" I held Maximus’ hand and helped him sit down, while Kaye reassured me he was fine.

"I’m fine," Kaye said, but his tone was meant to silence my concern since I kept checking on him. He’d gone wild last night, and I knew why.

"Is she okay?" Kaye asked first, referring to Helanie.

"She’s fine, sleeping," I replied.

"Are you sure? She had some action in the woods—she must’ve hurt herself, too," Kaye muttered under his breath, though clearly loud enough for us to hear. He wanted reassurance that she was okay.

"As far as I know, she’s fine. Any news on Rayden?" I asked, glancing at Maximus, whose jaw clenched.

"Yeah, sadly, he didn’t die," Maximus uttered, his tone full of disdain. He’d grown an open dislike for Rayden, and so had Kaye.

"His death would’ve been good news to us," Kaye commented bluntly. "Anyway, he’s fine, but he wants to speak with the council and his parents. He claims someone from the group betrayed him. So far, we haven’t allowed anyone near him because he’s still healing, but I’m sure they’ll reach him soon, and he’ll give his statement." Kaye seemed just as disturbed as I was by Rayden’s claims.

"Yeah. You know what? You two rest. I’ll go meet Rayden." I had a bad feeling about this. I needed to be the first to know who he was going to blame for his condition.