Chapter 216: lying her

"I think that just goes to show, I don't really know much about you. What do you really do at least?" Elena asked while still looking around the restaurant. Shrugging my shoulders, I leaned back in my seat and gave the restaurant a once over before returning my focus on Elena.

The air inside the restaurant carried a hundred scents, perfume, roasted meat, cheap wine but hers still cut through them all. Sweet, grounding, utterly human. My senses always locked onto her no matter where we were, like my wolf was incapable of ignoring her presence.

"Volkov Inc. does a lot around the city but I'm responsible for things like restaurants, bars, clubs, people like calling me mafia boss but that’s not my actual title",

She perked up as we dived into the conversation. "Well, that magazine I read on you didn't tell your actual title. What is it?"

"Volkov Inc. Senior Vice President," I didn’t say Alpha but that’s what I wanted to tell her.

"That isn't similar to a mafia boss at all," she threw up her hands and giggled. I loved the sound. Her laughter was infectious.

That laugh made the wolf inside me still. It always did. It recognized her voice the way it recognized the sound of running water or the scent of home.

"No, it's really not. You're right, but still, that is what I am, just a vice president," I smiled.

"No, I don’t think that is true. You the president, CEO, Mafia boss." Absentmindedly, she began twirling a strand of her hair with her finger. "At first, I thought you would kill me, like mafias," she went on.

At her words, I looked around and cleared my throat. The waitress was watching us from a distance, pretending not to. Her heartbeat was erratic. Humans always picked up on energy they couldn’t explain.

"I can be an asshole sometimes. But I can’t beat a woman most especially you",

"Oh!" She bit her bottom lip and dropped her eyes back to the menu. The sight of her gnawing on her bottom lip kept my attention. The wolf in me prowled at that, drawn to the subtle shift in her scent, nervousness laced with warmth.

"But why me?", She asked.

I opened up my mouth to respond but that's when the waitress appeared.

"Hey there, can you two start off with some drinks?"

"I would like to try the rosé sangria," Elena spoke, then she looked at me. "If that's alright?"

"You can have whatever you want, baby," my eyebrows shot into my forehead.

At my words, her cheeks instantly flushed and she shifted in her seat. My tone might have been a little too suggestive when I said that and her reaction was enough to make me wish she were sitting next to me in the booth.

The wolf agreed. It didn’t like distance between us.

"I will take a Brunswick cocktail," I told the waitress, who was practically sweating bullets in my presence. My gaze flicked to her just once enough for her scent to spike with fear. My aura always leaked out when I wasn’t careful, especially when my instincts were already on edge from being near Elena.

"Good! Great. Are you ready for anything else? I can take your dinner order whenever you're ready," the waitress went on, voice shaky.

"Do you know what you want, Elena?" When I asked, she pursed her lips and brought the menu closer to her face. God, she was so cute like that.

"Hmmm, I guess the beet and the goat cheese salad with roasted chicken." As her nose scrunched up, I got the feeling she wasn't being honest.

"Okay, I........." the waitress started, but I quickly interrupted.

"Elena, what do you really want? Not the healthy option for the theatre but what you really want to eat."

Although a great deal of our time together was spent fucking, I still managed to pick up on her eating habits while she was living under my roof.

"Burger," her voice was barely audible as she whispered.

"Speak up, baby girl," I demanded, and her back straightened in her seat.

"Burger," the word burst from her lips. "No onions, extra pickles," she added.

"Good girl," I commented without looking at her, but I knew without a doubt that she was blushing and squirming her legs under the table.

The wolf inside me preened. She might not know it, but her obedience triggered something primal in me. The satisfaction of hearing her respond to my command sent a deep, dark calm through my veins.

"I will take the steak fajitas."

After handing the menus over to the shaking waitress, I put my focus back on Elena.

"Right away, Mr. Volkov. That will be out immediately," she spoke, then walked away.

The drinks came a minute later, and I was glad that Elena seemed to be enjoying the ambiance and relaxing after the rush on the street.

"Be honest with what you want when you’re with me, Elena. Whether it's sex or a cheeseburger. Don't hide your wants and needs, for fuck's sake. I want you to have anything that pops in that pretty head of yours."

"A-Andrey...." she started to choke on her drink.

"It's not necessarily that I'm hiding wanting a cheeseburger. The season isn't over yet and I have to maintain certain standards. When the show is over, I even plan to go out for pasta," she spoke with me listening, but as soon as she said pasta, her face immediately went ashen white and tightened her lips before turning away.

My ears picked up the stutter in her breathing. My senses sharpened the way they always did when she was uncomfortable, my inner wolf scenting tension like it was blood in the air.

"You ate pasta with me," I began, falling down the path of curiosity. "Who do you have these plans with?"

"Oh! It doesn't really matter, it's not important." Her eyes shifted around the restaurant and she tensed up in her seat.

I stumbled on a touchy subject, but I wanted to know more about her.

"It's okay, Elena, I just wanted to know more about you." Reaching across the table, I caught her hand, then rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand, trying to calm her returning anxiety.

Her pulse fluttered beneath my touch. My instincts eased again, soothed by the rhythm of her heartbeat.

"I understand," I spoke again when she didn't say anything. She liked to ask about me, but when it came to her life, she shut her mouth, locked it, and threw away the key.

There was so much about her that made her this lovely enigma, and I wanted so much of her.

The wolf stirred again wanting her scent in my sheets, her heartbeat beneath my hand, her laughter echoing through my home. I clenched my jaw.

"Well, we have talked about my family and what I do. Will you at least tell me what got you into dancing? Ballet specifically."

Hopefully, this would be an easier way to lead her into giving me more information.

"My grandma got me into ballet when I was a little girl." Her fingers traced circles on the table, avoiding eye contact as she spoke.

"There was something that happened and she thought it would be good for me to have an outlet. But then ballet became my whole world and it escalated from there."

"What happened?" I asked without thinking.

At my question, her shoulders slumped down, and finally her beautiful blue eyes turned and locked up with mine.

"My parents died in a car crash," she whispered.

The words hit me harder than I expected. The wolf inside went utterly silent. Grief was a scent I knew well, it was sharp, and heavy, the kind that clung to a soul. For a moment, I saw the little girl she must have been, small and lost, the kind of pain that never really leaves.

I wanted to reach out again, to pull her across the table and hold her the way instinct demanded, but I stayed still. The human world didn’t understand that kind of possessive comfort.

Still, the promise echoed in me like a vow.

No one would ever hurt her again. Not while I breathed. Not while my blood ran hot and my wolf still answered to her name.