CHAPTER 648: 648-CAUGHT KISSING HIS BROTHER

Helanie:

"So I was basically an animal for a month," Emmet and I had sat down in the living room, waiting for the others to arrive while I decided to help him with his wounds since he didn’t want to transition.

"I wouldn’t call it that. You just had your wolf take over," I tried to make him feel less guilty.

"No wonder my wolf doesn’t want to shift for another few hours," he hissed, almost like he was talking to his wolf too.

"Let me clean the wounds for you," I laughed awkwardly as I sat down on the couch with him. He looked tired and kept moving his arms around to stretch and get his limbs back in place.

He spread his arms and leaned his head back on the couch, closing his eyes, then noticed that I had been sitting on the edge, waiting for him to help me a little with the task at hand.

He tiredly moved forward just enough to take off his shirt. I watched him unbutton it while keeping his eyes shut from how exhausted he was. Then, in one quick motion, he took it off and threw it onto the empty sofa beside us.

I held my breath seeing him shirtless again. He leaned back once more, resting his head with his eyes still closed. I started to clean his wounds, feeling shy and awkward too.

I kept thinking about the day he’d find out about the brothers and me. That my mates had decided to share me. But of course, I wouldn’t be the one to tell Emmet. I felt too shy around him.

"What is it?" I hadn’t realized he noticed I’d been staring at him for a little too long. The moment he opened his eyes, I looked away, folding my hands in my lap now that he was bandaged up.

"Are you unhappy? Did something happen while I was gone?" he asked, his hand reaching toward my cheek before he stopped himself and let it fall back down.

"No, it’s not like that," I replied, taking a deep breath before saying, "Rune got Salem killed."

The moment those words left my mouth, Emmet shot up on the couch, his eyes demanding eye contact, his full attention on me.

"Helanie, what are you saying? Salem is—?" I heard the emotion pour out of his mouth in the form of words.

"She was marked and pregnant when the Zharns ate her alive. She felt all the pain," I stopped talking when a hiccup caught in my throat.

"I—," Emmet seemed like he was having a hard time swallowing the information, "are you okay?"

His warm hands cupped my face, and I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore.

"I’m not. Every time I try to act like I forgot about it, I remember her screams. Her last moments were recorded—she begged those monsters to set her free for the sake of her child—" I stopped, but Emmet pulled me closer, wrapping me in his arms to comfort me.

I cried on his chest for a solid half hour and told him everything about Rune and Sydney too, in broken hiccups.

After a while, we just silently hugged each other before I noticed he started to pull away from the embrace.

"Norman is lucky to have you," he said, like a reminder that we couldn’t get too close because of his brother.

"No, I’m lucky to have him. He’s been there for me through all of this," I smiled to myself, remembering how concerned he had been for me. Norman was extremely supportive too.

"I’m glad you two are happy. You both deserve happiness," I noticed Emmet creating more space between us.

"I’m really tired, but I don’t want to sleep until Maximus and Norman return because of Kaye. We don’t know when he’ll strike again," he said. "You go ahead and sleep in your bedroom. I’ll stay here, keeping an eye on the door," he advised, and I nodded, not telling him that Norman wouldn’t mind.

But I didn’t want to just sit in Emmet’s lap and act on anything. I was still deep in my feelings, and I wasn’t even sure if both of us wanted this.

I went to my bedroom and fell asleep for the rest of the night. I woke up to Norman kissing my forehead and saying goodbye as he left with the warriors to find Kaye.

I showered and changed, then headed to the living room to rest a bit before I started preparing lunch. It seemed like while I slept, Maximus, Emmet, and Norman had made breakfast and spent time together.

"Did you eat breakfast?" I was startled when Maximus came up behind me and whispered in my ear, leaning down from behind the sofa.

"No! I’ll eat lunch now," I replied after giving him a look for scaring me. He jumped from behind and landed on the couch, making my body bounce into the air before settling again.

"I heard Kaye ran away last night," he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer, his lips brushing my chin and moving up to mine. "But don’t worry, nothing will happen to you. I’d rather die than let you get hurt," he whispered, then gently pressed his lips to mine.

"I didn’t want to leave last night. Curse you—my curse," he said, breaking the kiss just to grunt in frustration before kissing me again.

His fingers wrapped gently around my neck. His lips puckered on my lower lip, sucking it like it held something sweet. I kissed his upper lip in return, moaning into his mouth.

"What the heck is going on here?" A loud, confident voice broke us apart. I pulled away from the kiss and stood up, staring at Emmet, who didn’t look very happy. He seemed unsure if what he saw was real or if he was dreaming. I watched him shake his head nonstop, trying to confirm that he was actually there.

"You’re kissing your brother’s wife?" Emmet growled at Maximus, and I knew, we should’ve talked to him first.