Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates

Helanie:

I read her message and rubbed my eyes to shake off the sleep before I responded to her.

Me: It is none of my business.

And I wasn’t being sassy about it—I really meant it. Lamar was single, and Jenny was on the verge of being single. If not, I would be the reason she was left without a mate soon. Of course, her mate wouldn’t stay alive for too long anymore. I would not let it happen. I would make sure he got the death penalty from the council.

While Lucy was still asleep, I took a shower and got dressed for the academy. But something hung in the air—a weird hesitation, uncomfortableness. After I came out of the bathroom wearing my uniform, I moved over to Lucy’s bed to wake her up. She always wakes up before everyone else.

"Lucy! Hey, good morning." With my hand running through her hair, I tried waking her up. Her pixie cut hair was now much longer. But she refused to move, causing me to worry.

"Lucy?" My gentle tap became a good shake, and she finally opened her eyes.

"I’m not feeling well. My head hurts, and my eyes are on fire," she said in a raspy tone. I saw her swollen eyes, which she could barely keep open.

"Can I please take a leave? I want to rest," she requested, shaking from the cold under the blanket.

Seeing her like this was not easy for me. After the rejection, she pretended so hard to be fine. The burden of guilt was so heavy on her that she tried to befriend everyone and act fine. But soon the truth was out. And now she didn’t even want to pretend to be okay.

"It’s okay. You rest, okay? I will write a leave of absence for you and get it signed too," I said to her, touching her forehead to check her fever. She didn’t have a fever, so that was good. I left her in the room and walked out to take the elevator.