Mated To My Stepbrother-Chapter 26

"Hello Tim", I greeted, rising off the floor and walking towards to open the window "How are you?" they were metal clanging sounds in the background, who knew what Timothy was up to "Hey Aria" he responded "how are you doing?"

"I’m doing well" I responded and when I turned around in the direction of the chair I saw that Jaxon was looking at me with a look that registered displeasure as he suddenly gestured for me to out the phone on loud speaker. Will these two ever get along?

"How’s your weekend going?" Tim asked but there were more clanging sounds in the background and I winced as the noise irritated my ears

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing", he answered "I’m just packing for a the weekend camp"

"What camp?"

He paused for some seconds and then there were no more sounds "That’s it. It’s a camp on the other side of town and it’s for two days. There’s going to hiking, bonfires, huntings, survival competitions and so on"

"That sounds fun"

"Yeah it does" he said "I’m inviting you to come along"

"What!" Jaxon said sharply, looking up from the TV "end the call" he said but I only covered the mouthpiece with my hand and crossed to the other side of the room briskly

"The camp is only outside of town" Tim continued, "we’re going to have lots of fun. Mary is coming along too and there is someone I want you to meet"

"Someone?"

"Yeah, you should come along Aria. You can..." He trailed off for a moment "You can ask Jaxon he come along as well"

"We’re not coming Tim" Jaxon shouted and I hurriedly ended the call before Tim could hear him

"We’re not going anywhere Aria" he brawled, charging towards me and snatching my phone "I’m going to text Tim now and I’m going to tell him to stay away from you"

"You can’t do that Nate" I tried snatching the phone but he raised his long hands above his head. "Timothy is my friend"

"But we planned to be together this weekend. Just the two of us"

"There is no difference Jaxon, the more the merrier. There" my phone beeped with a message notification "He’s sent the address,we still have an hour to pack up, please Jaxon there won’t be any troubles" I lowered his face and kissed him multiple times "I just want to explore"

"It’s alright Aria" he said with a sigh as he raised his hand to tuck a strand of loose hair behind my ear. There was so much love in his eyes and there was so much trust in my heart "but promise me you’ll stay close"

"I’ll stay put Jaxon,I won’t go anywhere without you"

He nodded affirmatively and then we proceeded to our bedrooms to start packing for the short trip.

Less than an hour after,we were in Tim’s minivan, heading to the Mountain Haven Campgrounds. Mary and Calum, the lead singer of the school choir were in backseat while I and Jaxon sat in middle. While Timothy drove the car

"So, Tim" I began, breaking the clouding silence, "where is the person you want me to meet with"

Tim’s eyes were intensely fixed on the road and I thought he didn’t hear my question but then he responded saying, "She’s not here with us, she’s waiting for us at the camp"

"She?"

"Yes" he responded, "it’s a she"

"Okay"

"What’s with her? Is she the new one?" He managed a small shrug then he turned the vehicle in the direction of an untarred road "you’ll figure out sooner"

"Tim is only fond of keeping secrets"Mary hollered from the backseat, "and that’s bad" she was all lovey dovey with Calum but their display of affection seemed somewhat facetious to me because Calum had a reputation for hooking up with girls and cutting ties with them thereafter. But as notorious as Calum Edelweiss was, the girls in the school wouldn’t stop throwing themselves at him and that made me question Mary’s sense of discernment as well. Like, why would she ever want to be one of the girl’s standing in line to get a taste of the most talented singer in school. A part of me was sure that Mary was another pitstop in Calum’s journey of love affairs but since she looked so happy with him at that moment,I swallowed my questions and transferred my gaze to the road as well.

We were already in the forest and as the car journeyed deeper into the thicket of giant trees,I leaned against the window and watched as the golden sunlight danced through the dense canopy of trees above us. The cold air smelled of life and I chose that moment to savour my love for nature and it’s stillness. The trees branches also swayed gently to the breeze in a mystical dance that seemed to welcome us into their abode.

Not long after, the car halted in front of a small building. The structure wore a coat of blue paint, now weathered and peeling at the edges. A short girl stood before it, hands in her pocket, eyes staring into space.

"Hello Stevie" Tim greeted the girl as jammed the door of the minivan shut. He was smiling broadly and as the girl walked closer to him he opened his arms for a wide embrace. "It’s good to see you again Stevie"

"These are my friends" Tim gestured to the four of us "Stevie’s dad is a wildlife rehabilitator and he’s going to give us a tour of the nature reserves"

"That sounds interesting" Mary said, but then a grunt escaped from Jaxon’s throat "I thought we were coming here to relaxx." He said dryily and anger flashed across Tim’s eyes 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Yes it’s relaxation Nate" I hurriedly answered to eliminate the tension in the air, "there will be other campers right?"

"Yes" Tim answered again and when I looked at Stevie’s face inquisitively, he said, "Stevie doesn’t talk that much"

Jaxon grunted again and I hurriedly bursted into laughter to prevent Tim from hearing but Calum and Mary already heard him and they sized him up sheer with distaste in their eyes. This look of irritation

jabbed my heart with a painful effect and I waited till we had all pitched our tents in the field before pulling him to a corner

"I don’t like that you’re trying to start a fight Jaxon" I began, "I thought you promised you behave well"

Jaxon rolled his eyes and attempted to walk past me but I grabbed his hand and pushed him back gently "There are other people here and we are supposed to socialize"

"We’ll I’d rather be watching my favourite evening show with you snuggled together on my lap right now"

"This wasn’t the agreement!" I said but my bully turned lover twisted his lips in a rebellious scowl "I don’t like the atmosphere. I don’t like Tim,I don’t like the mute wildlife girl and most of all,I don’t like you painting me off this way" I gasped in shock and opened my mouth to talk but he raised his hand to cut me off

"I do not like the feeling I’m having about this place Margret,I just don’t like this place"

And with that Jaxon stormed off, leaving me to combat the million questions my head had become clouded in with, alone.