I had to fight back my anger as I knew that my mate was doubting me. And the fact that Konstantin was going to be taking advantage of everything that he could do to break my mate. And the idea of that happening was not one that I wanted to allow him to try, not again.
"Think, Vladimir, think," I muttered to myself, knowing that the night was going to be longer than I wanted it to be. "You are not going to betray your pack, your Alpha, nor are you going to let your mate go. But how the fuck do you intend to do so without breaking her heart?"
I tapped the sink counter twice before looking down at my reflection. I was furious, but I didn’t know how things were going to be, not now at least.
"You are going to need to choose. Are you going to weaken for your love? Or are you going to be pulling yourself together to do what you came here to do?" I whispered before turning the water tap.
My hands shook, and I knew what I had to do. Elena, for her safety, I was going to have to do what I came here to do. I knew that I was going to have to do so.
"I’m so sorry, Elena," I whispered to myself before turning to walk inside the room.
My eyes met Elena’s as she sat on the edge of the bed, and I couldn’t help but find myself avoiding her eyes. I didn’t want to be taking my anger out on her to begin with. I didn’t want her to be put in a situation where she was going to suffer being in more pain than she was before.
"You aren’t going to look at me now?" she asked, and I took a deep breath.
"You don’t want me to look at or speak to you," I said, turning to face her. Our eyes met for a moment, but she was quick to look down at her feet as she avoided my eyes. Our hearts raced in sync, and I knew that it was our mating bond that was talking.
"You know that your words were harsher than you should have said," I said, and she looked away from me. "Anyway, I have work to do. I will be a little late. Don’t wait for me for too long."
"Is there anything that you need, Elena?" I asked, and she looked down at her feet. "I know that you are in pain here, but you are putting me in a situation where you want me to betray my pack and Alpha. I love you, and deeply, but that is not something that I am going to do."
She froze for a moment, and that was when I processed what I just told her. However, at this point, I knew not to press on the topic nor wait for a response as I went to turn to the door. Her eyes were fixed on me for a few moments, and it wasn’t until I heard her sniff as she fought back her tears that I was forced to turn around to face her.
She didn’t say a word, but her steps toward me, which were slow, made my heart ache. I knew that she was debating on how to react, but when she put her hand on my chest and I pulled away, taking a step back, I knew that I had shut my humanity off. I needed to keep her safe, and if this love was going to harm her, then I would rather die with it than see her drowning in its pain.
"I have work to do. Get some rest, it’s already late as it is…"
*******************************
"You seem to be in a bad mood. You know, considering the fact that you had the house to yourself with your woman, I would have assumed that you would have taken advantage of it," he said, and I scoffed.
"I didn’t need to. I had other things to take care of, and spending time with my woman was not among my priority list," I said, and he nodded.
"You are getting tired of her. It is natural in a man though, do you want us to find you another woman? Someone to refresh your energy. You know, I hear that you wolves have a higher one than we humans do, and the higher your rank, the stronger your will becomes. I could be wrong, but it is what I heard," he said, and I rolled my eyes.
"I do not need you to take care of who I am with or without. As for being tired of Elena, I am not and will not be. But I have things to take care of, and I believe that you are aware that you gave me things to do. I didn’t have much time to spend with her and I know that I still have a lot to do," I said, and he nodded. "Anyhow, how was your trip? I was told that you chose not to bring…?"
"She fell down the stairs," he said, and I frowned, despite the fact that I knew the reason behind her falling. The man just didn’t know nor did he understand how things got to where they did. And even if he did, he didn’t know how they got there.
"How is she?" I asked, and for the first time since I met him, Konstantin looked away as if in pain. He avoided my eyes and took a deep breath.
"You know that moment when it is your lover, and she is just taken away from you? She was drunk, much like her daughter. The anger got to her way too much and she just walked away and one moment later, her head hit the wall as she fell. It happened too fast, but she is not a wolf, she couldn’t survive that fall," he said, and I frowned.
"I’m sorry for your loss," I said, and he scoffed.
"More of them to come, I believe," he said, looking away from me for a moment. "Now, let’s get down to business. I hear that Killian is coming over in a week…"
