Chapter 171: come home with me

"I want you to tell me about the man who raised the most beautiful and genuine woman, I have ever met",

The pink blush that painted Elena's cheeks was lovely, and her eyes became animated with life once again as she dove into the stories about her grandfather. I sat back and listened, knowing this was cathartic for her. Elena needed to talk, to let these emotions out after the trauma, she endured this past week, and I could give her that.

I let her voice wash over me, steadying the restless pull of the wolf under my skin. Nights were always the hardest my senses ran sharper, instincts tighter but her presence soothed the wildness like nothing else.

Our food came out and we talked as we ate. By the end of the dinner, she was finally laughing again while telling a story about her grandfather, giving in and taking her to the toy store after she spent a weekend crying about a new doll she had wanted.

Her laughter… it stirred something in me. Something protective. My wolf pressed closer, watchful, alert yet quiet because she was safe in my presence.

Before we knew it, an hour had passed and the dinner staff was cleaning up around us in order to close for the night. Elena yawned trying to hide it behind her hand, during a break in the conversation.

"Oh! Wow it's late", She cringed at the time on the wall, noticing that dinner was closing up any minute.

"Definitely time for bed",

Sheer panic gripped me. Fear entangled me with the thought that if I let her go now, I might lose her forever and those tendrils of anxiety wound their way into my heart and it made me feel ten times heavier.

My wolf reacted instantly, restless, pacing beneath my skin, snarling at the idea of distance. I clenched my fists against the table to steady myself.

"Elena", I blurted her name in a rush, reaching for her hand on the table. She froze glancing down at her hand in mine before slowly lifting up her face to meet my gaze, burning into the side of her face.

"Andrey Volkov", my name on her lips was enough to encourage me. The softness in her eyes as we stared across the table at each other was pulling me in.

"Come home. Please", It didn't matter if it sounded like Andrey Volkov was pleading. Because for Elena, I would get down on my knees and beg if I had to.

My wolf stilled, waiting, breath held, as if the entire universe paused for her answer.

"Come home?", Her blue eyes went to the size of dinner plates in her lovely face, searching in the depths of mine, searching for something. Whatever she needed to see, I was fine with it.

And I think she found what she was looking for, because she gingerly nodded her head and returned the grip on my hand.

"Alright Andrey, I will come home with you",

I was silently screaming to the heavens. Thanking whatever god answered my prayers. This was my chance to let her know that whatever was between us was real. More real than anything else, I had ever felt in my life and I wouldn't let her leave my side again until she knew it was true.

My pulse thrummed with a wolf’s triumph, silent, fierce, possessive. But I kept it buried, locked behind the calm mask humans expected from a Volkov.

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ELENA'S POV

I felt better than I had imagined it would be to set foot in Andrey’s house again. It felt like coming home after an unsatisfactory vacation. Only a few days might have passed, but it felt particularly long and dreadful separation that settled between us felt like a chasm. That wall of uncertainty went up quickly and its presence hovered over my shoulder as Andrey put my coat in the front closet.

The house smelled like him, winter air, and something wild beneath it I could never identify. A comforting scent. A strange one. Stronger at night.

"There are fresh towels in my bathroom, if you would like a hot shower before bed", Andrey’s offer sounded like heaven after the day I'd had. My bones still felt cold after the rain at the funeral seeping under my skin.

"Yeah, that sounds amazing. Thank you", My eyes lingered on him as we both stayed at the front foyer, unmoving and uncertain on the ground we both stood on with one another.

There was tension in the air.

"Go ahead, I have got something to take care of", He gestured to the stairs. I got the impression, he was giving me a moment to be alone and reorient myself.

How could only few days away feel like years.

"Okay", I wanted to say more but there was fog in my mind that kept me from committing to anything. Instead I tore myself from his intense gaze and made my way towards the stairs. Curling my fingers over the familiar banister, I took each step as if I was in a dream floating through the world.

His house was always quiet… but tonight it felt too quiet. As if the silence listened.

Andrey has seen now every vulnerable side of me. There was no more hiding anything from him. That pebble of unease, I felt wriggling deeper in my chest, must be my anxiety about what would come next. After all there was no manual on how to handle this situation or our relationship. Whatever it was.

I moved in a cloud through the bathroom. It was strange that I felt more better here than when I was alone in my apartment. There was a comfort in being at Andrey's home again, a feeling that even if he wasn't in the room, I didn't feel alone.

Sometimes… it even felt like something else was there. Watching over me.

Maybe I should have stayed with him when I got the call papa had passed.

All that time keeping my grandfather and the reason I took on contracts a secret was such a heavy burden. It was easy to admit to myself that I felt the weight off my shoulders now that he knew the truth.

But did it change anything?! There was still a contract between me and Andrey. At the end of the day in a way, I still belonged to Andrey. Is that why he wanted me here now?!

No. There was no way he would show up at my grandfather's funeral as he had, offer me dinner and bring me back here just because of some sense of ownership. I knew it that Andrey had dark desires sometimes, a need to control and a passion for my pleasure, but he was a better man than that.

Still… sometimes his eyes gleamed unnaturally in low light. Sometimes he moved too quietly. Too fast. Too aware.

In all that time, lost in my own thoughts, the shower continued running, steaming up the bathroom while I leaned against the counter. All the questions in my head were running in circles around me, distracting me from the moment, the bathroom door opened.

"Elena!"

There was urgency in his voice, but I didn’t question it.

"I'm sorry", I immediately straightened up at the sound of his voice.