Chapter 45

Killian:

“You’re annoyed,” Vladimir said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Stop the search on Eleanor,” I said, and he frowned in confusion before shaking his head in confusion. I  walked out of the office and the man followed close behind before grabbing my arm and shaking his head in question. 

“Are you going to at least explain what is going on?” He asked, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. It took everything in me not to burst out in front of Eleanor, and it wasn’t out of anger toward her, if anything, I couldn’t help but respect her more than I already did. But it was the fact that I didn’t see through her eyes to know that she’s been standing in front of me, silently begging me to know who she was all along.

“Alienora,” I said, and he frowned.

“You’re being serious?” He asked, and I nodded.

“Yes, and we have a fucking Italian prick to kill.” I said, walking out of the house. Vladimir followed close behind, his heart racing, and I could see his shadow as he clenched and unclenched his fist, processing what he just heard. However, I knew that it wasn’t because he heard of Eleanor being hurt, it was because he heard and learned who she was.

“Spill it out,” I said as we entered the part of our secret arena. It was one that we had within the forest of our grounds. Only my trusted men knew of and were allowed to enter it. 

“You are trusting a woman who has been lying to you for months now?” He asked, watching as I took my jacket off. He took his own, and rolled up his sleeves as he looked at me.

“She was raped, abused, hurt, and beaten by the fucking bastard.” I said, and he frowned. “She had a dream of him hurting her, I assume, raping her. It was how I put the relationship between the two of them to begin with.”

“And what did she say?” He asked, looking down at his feet. It was a topic that neither one of us liked to talk about. He lost his first girlfriend to three men who sexually assaulted her before slaughtering her and leaving her in front of one of our enemies clubs. The one reason why she was there to begin with was an argument that the two of them had. He hasn’t forgiven himself since.

“She got angry.” I said, remembering the pain that I saw in her eyes. “I used an unloaded gun to scare her into telling me the truth.”

“Wise,” he said sarcastically. I sighed and he shook his head at me. 

“It wasn’t the best method, but it did me well. At least, I got to know who she was, what she’s been through, and the pain that she dealt with.” I said, and he nodded in understanding. 

“And the prick Luca Bernardi?” He asked, making my chest burn. It was the one name that I wanted to carve on every tombstone that I wasn’t going to give him. He didn’t deserve one, therefore, why bother? But it was to prove a point to him, to those who believed in working with him, and those who wanted to repeat his same pattern to know who the king was on these grounds.

“He knew of his daughter being raped. He knew she was beaten. And the fucker knew that the fucked up bastard he set her up to marry was hurting her in ways that no woman should be dealing with.” I said, and Vladimir let out an involuntary growl. It was one that I couldn’t let out in front of my mate. I didn’t want to scare her into not talking to me about what happened, and for that, I was forced to bite my tongue as I listened to every word that she said. “We are going to be taking a new path in this. However, for that to happen, I can’t put Eleanor through that risk without helping her grow stronger.”

“You do know that things like this aren’t really grown out of. She is going to need a lot more than just therapy.” He said, and I shook my head.

“I don’t plan on giving her any therapy, not the normal one at least.” I said, and he shook his head in question. I, for one, knew what it was to undergo therapy when I lost my sister. I watched her die right before my eyes and my ability to speak seemed to leave me all together for two years. My parents tried all sorts of therapy, and it wasn’t until I grew stronger, physically, that I learned how to control myself emotionally. “We will start by helping her heal her wolf. The rest comes on the way.”

“Does she know?” He asked, and I shook my head.

“I told her that I would teach her to use her pain as her strength. But I don’t want her to see herself as broken anymore. She has a wall to lean on, and now, if she believes that she is alone, then I will provide the support that she needs for me to ensure that she isn’t.” I said, stepping inside the ring. Vladimir nodded in understanding before he stepped in himself. “But right now, I need to let my anger out.”

“Lucky for you to have a best friend who is willing to be your punch bag.” He said, and I laughed.

“Not like you won’t be hitting me back. Therefore, stop being a big baby, brother.” I said, winking at him before the two of us lunged at one another. “For there is no better way to get our anger out than with blood, no?”

******************************* 

“What the fucking hell happened to the two of you?” Natasha asked, frowning at our sight.

“You know exactly what happened to these crazy men.” Liana said, shaking her head at me. “I can assume that you would want an ice bag and medicine? Or do you plan on having your guest seeing you with your face rearranged?”

“Ice would be nice, Liana.” I said, and she rolled her eyes before heading to the kitchen. “How is she?” 

“We managed to get her to sleep. She opened up to me and mom.” Natasha said, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I am curious how you are going to let this slide through Aunt Maria and I don’t even want to mention…?”

“For now, them finding out about her is going to be difficult.” I said, stopping her. “Mama might end up wanting to kill her the second she lays eyes on her, and though I know dad to be calmer than she is, I know that even he can have his swings considering the facts.” 

“And what do you want to do?” She asked, shaking her head in question. “The woman is torn apart, and I doubt that you are going to leave her to be as so. But that doesn’t change the fact of where she came from, at least, now for this family and pack. Her presence still holds danger for herself and us as well.”

“You don’t need to worry about danger on the pack. You know for fact that I wouldn’t allow anything…”

“You are part of the pack, Killian,” she said, stopping me. “And were what I was referring to when I said pack.” 

I smiled and walked toward her before kissing the crown of her head. I didn’t even know whether or not she realized how much I loved her as my sister. Hell, I would be more than willing to give everything up just to see a small smile on her face. It was something that I wouldn’t change for the world. And I knew that even she understood that.

“The last person that you need to be worrying about in this situation is me, sestra.”

“Oh, the two of us know that I have to worry about the two idiots that I have in my life. You know, I wouldn’t be calling you lyubimye brat'ya if I didn’t want to hang you most of the time.” Beloved brothers. She said, making me chuckle. “But then again, the options can vary to when I want to hang you and when you plan to give me a heart attack.”

“But I thought you loved us giving you a small heart attack every now and then,” Vladimir said, raising an amused eyebrow. “It gave you a little spice in your life. Come on, you can’t always expect to see what you’re used to, no?”

“Go and get yourselves cleaned up.” She said, shaking her head at the two of us. “I will send the girls with the ice to you.”

She turned to walk back to the infirmary, and I smiled before clearing my throat, catching her attention. She looked at me over her shoulder, not bothering to turn to face me.

“Spasibo, Natasha,” Thank you, Natasha.

“Ty mne dolzhen odnu uslugu, ne dumay, chto ya tak legko tebya otpushchu.” You owe me one, don't think that I am going to leave you off the hook this easy. She said, making me chuckle. “Have a nice night, both of you…”