Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates-Chapter 560-His Ego Won

Helanie:

"Whoa!" Cora said.

I had been staring at the screen in shock. And then he told me not to tell anyone. That made me feel so shy.

However, I tried to play it off and annoy him, so I told him I’d tell everyone. But honestly, that was what Cora suggested. She wanted to mess with him a little more. freewebnoveℓ.com

"You know what? I shouldn’t have listened to you. Ugh! He must be so embarrassed right now, Cora. He’s not like others. He gets shy and then he—oh my—he’ll be so embarrassed that he’ll stay awake the whole night. He barely sleeps," I started shouting at Cora even though it was my responsibility not to do that to him.

"It’s not our fault he responded that way. At least it proves he’s into you," she said, making me clench my jaw and shut my eyes angrily.

"I’m sure he was just trying to tease me back and since his humor sucks—he ended up embarrassing himself," I defended him, feeling bad.

I called him to say it was okay and that I knew he was joking—just so he wouldn’t overthink it. But he didn’t answer any of my calls.

And that made me worry so much about him.

"Okay, I’m going to check on him, Cora." That was it. I couldn’t enjoy myself or rest knowing Norman might be so stressed.

I knew him really well. Just that one text would have ruined his mood. And I wasn’t even there to sing him a lullaby so he could sleep.

"Are you sure? I mean, he’s hard. What if he wasn’t just playing and actually got in his feelings? What if you go there and he—" She stopped when my body shuddered.

"Cora, that’s Norman. He’s my big stepbrother—" I bit my tongue at the weak excuse. But that’s how I used to see him. I never thought we’d ever get... close like that.

"Helanie, the tension was always there. Just admit it. You were just sure he didn’t see you that way, so you kept forcing yourself to keep him off the list of guys you could ever—" she went quiet when I grabbed my shoes to go see him.

"The palace will be packed with Zhorns," she reminded me, and I remembered how they hiss to cause distractions.

Their frequencies can give people headaches—but not me. I’d be fine.

"I don’t care, Cora. He’ll be up all night," I said, wanting to slap myself for that message.

"He’s not a child. You’re worrying too much," she finally stopped using that teasing tone.

I rushed downstairs to find the hallway almost empty. A few couples were making out in the corners, and I knew Lamar and Jenny were probably looking for a room to hook up in—same with Gavin and Salem. Penn must’ve already hit the bed.

So I was able to sneak out without anyone spotting me. Not that they’d stop me, but they’d insist on coming with me.

It was after midnight, so the full moon had passed too. That meant Norman didn’t need to worry about Maximus. He was kind enough to stay with me on the night of the full moon. But sadly, I was the one who caused him stress.

However, I was only a few steps onto the road when I saw a vehicle coming toward me. It was Norman’s monster car.

He stopped in the middle of the road and stepped out of the driver’s seat while I ran to sit in the passenger seat.

I was surprised he came. But then I remembered how awkward he must have felt after sending that message. Of course he came to clear his name.

Poor thing—all because I messed with him.

However, even after I sat down in the car, he remained outside. He was running his hand through his hair. He only wore a white sleeveless T-shirt and black shorts.

After a few minutes of gathering his courage, he finally got in the car but kept his face straight, not looking toward me at all.

"Where were you going?" he asked, clearing his throat mid-sentence while staring straight ahead.

"I was coming to see you," I said, and he instantly looked down. "I wanted to tell you I was just joking. But why are you here?" I asked, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks.

He must’ve come to ease my mind too. Maybe he thought his message made things weird for me.

But I was wrong.

"Umm... to make you delete that text. Where’s your phone?" he turned to me and asked in a stern tone, the annoyance on his face obvious.

"You came here for that?" I asked, and he nodded.

I didn’t know what I’d been thinking. I guess I was flying too high.

"I wasn’t even the one who sent that message. I was angry that you’d even think about sending something like that to someone already committed to another woman—who just got home after taking care of that same woman—but my wolf told me not to offend you and let him handle it. Turns out—he’s a big joker as well and—" he kept rambling until he finally looked up and our eyes met.

"You were angry?" I asked, nodding my head.

"I mean—" he couldn’t finish his sentence. He had already put me in my place.

"Umm, I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve been more considerate of Jessica." I gave him a blunt look, and he looked away.

"I feel horrible right now," I admitted. Tears were forming in my eyes, but I was taking deep breaths, trying not to cry in front of him. He was arrogant—but also right.

"In fact—it was Cora who decided to tease you, and then I thought—forget it, it doesn’t matter what I thought." I clenched my jaw and handed him my phone.

I still had some hope that he would explain his harsh words and tell me he was just feeling awkward, but he didn’t.

He was right.

It made sense that he was angry.

Fuck. I’m such a horny bitch.