Chapter 161

Vladimir:

I walked inside the auction hall, knowing that he was going to be waiting.

Our eyes met from a distance, and though I knew that normally, the man would have gotten up to greet me and I would have walked straight to him. But I also knew that more eyes were on us than we could count, and every move that we made was being watched. And I wasn’t dumb, Konstantin’s men were more than a little anxious of what was to happen tonight.

“Vladimir, it is an honor to have you.” Akshana, one of the hostesses said. Her eyes met mine and I read her silent message. The woman didn’t want any trouble, and I knew that she had given Killian the same stern look. 

“The pleasure is mine, Akshana. I won’t be long. I just have a few things to settle with Killian and I am to be on my way.” I said, and she nodded, allowing me to pass. She stopped the men, not allowing them in. She was one of Killian’s trusted women, and one of the very few that knew of me being alive. 

“He is to go inside alone.”

“But…”

“I make no exceptions. These are safe grounds and no one can hurt your representative, but the two of you are neither members of the safe ground, nor were you invited.” She said, and the men frowned.

“We were sent by…”

“He cannot come himself as he knows that he too is not a member.” She said, stopping the men from saying a word. I had to fight back the smirk that almost formed on my lips, knowing that this was something that Konstantin didn’t have in mind nor did he put in his plan. The man believed that things had to go according to his plans, and I doubt that he expected that he would find his men being shunned out by the same place that HE sent me to. 

“Go, and tell him that I have things covered.” I said, looking at the men who froze, clearly unpleased with what I said. I knew that it wasn’t something that they wanted to deal with. We all knew that Konstantin was not going to be happy, but that was something that I was more than a little pleased with. At least I knew that I was going to be getting what I wanted when it came to annoying him. And that made it all the more pleasing. 

I nodded at Akshana and walked inside to the private room where Killian was sitting. It had see-through walls, but no one, not even a wolf, could hear what was going on inside. His eyes met mine and he nodded, inviting me to sit. I could see his lips twitching up in a small smile, knowing that things were going the way that we wanted them to, if not better. 

“You seem to have earned the man’s trust a little faster than anticipated.” He stated, raising an amused eyebrow.

“I had to get rid of a few twigs on the way, but no, not yet. This is another one of his challenges. Me coming back would be a dream come true to him.” I said, and he nodded. “And I can assume that you have the papers already ready?”

He nodded at his ‘new’ secondhand. Arkady Ivanov, one of Yaroslav’s formal men’s son. He grew up alongside his father and though loyal, I knew that Killian no longer trusted anyone easily. The betrayals that we went through were a little too deep, but I knew that he easily got rid of those who betrayed us. But then again, one never knew how deep a man like Nikolai got in. He did grow up among us and he knew everything and every loophole that we would be having within our pack and grounds, not to mention, our people.

“Leave us,” he said, looking at the man. Arkady nodded and took a step back, leaving the room before locking the door. I slid the papers that I wanted him to read and look over, everything that I gathered, and everything that I wanted him to know within the papers that he was going to take, and in turn, the two of us reviewed the ‘terms’ that he wanted laid down for Konstantin to accept. He knew that I would be the one that was going to have to accept them, and in order for him to ‘trust’ me, they had to LOOK like they benefited the bastard. 

“You know, I didn’t expect him to fall for such a trick or stunt…”

“He didn’t. The bastard has a lot on his hands and we are going to have to deal with more than we were planning to. The man seems to have more secrets than he let out. The man rarely ever stayed in the house, but there is another thing that you are going to have to know.” I said, knowing that I couldn’t claim her as my own, regardless of how much I wanted to, without the approval of the pack’s Alpha. No matter how far I was, there were still rules to be followed.

“What’s going on?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the papers.

“I found my mate,” I said, and he tensed for a moment, knowing that me saying it this way didn’t mean that it was going to be easy. As much as I wanted it to, I was dumb to think that it was going to be. With Konstantin being her ‘husband’ or now ex, I knew that it was something that Killian was going to question. But I also knew that he understood that I was no fool. 

“Where is she?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the paper.

“That is the problem.” I said, and he raised an amused eyebrow. “She was Konstantin’s…”

“Was?” 

“He gave her to me when he saw that she caught my attention.” I said, and he nodded.

“And the problem is?” He asked, not bothering to look up. “It seems to me that we are mated to our enemy’s women.”

I had to fight back shaking my head as my lips twitched up with a smile. “Keep her safe and when it is time, she will come home with you. For now, the two of us know that love is the one weakness that can kill us. Do not give him one against you, Vladimir…”