Chapter 177

Elena:

Never in my life did I think that I would be weak in front of the person that I was falling for.

“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head at my mate. His eyes studied my expression, and though I saw his pain in his gaze, he didn’t open his mouth to speak. He didn’t say a word. “You being with other women is going to be no different to me than him, Vladimir. I can’t handle it knowing that another woman can be in my place.” 

“Elena, no woman is going to be in your place.” Vladimir said, and I shook my head, letting out a low scoff before I could stop myself. His eyes were fixed on mine and I could tell that he was doing his best to try and understand what I wanted to say. But I had to admit, even I didn’t know how I was going to voice out what I had in mind.

“You are going to start by one, then another, then another. Then one day, you are going to be tired of the broken girl who has no voice in this place. You are going to find yourself someone who is going to be going out with you. A woman that you are going to want to enjoy the company of, and I am just going to be thrown to the side.” I said, and Vladimir shook his head at me. 

“You know that it is not true, Elena. I understand that you’re in pain, but you are playing scenarios in your head…”

“I have lived scenarios in my head that you are not going to want to see.” I said, stopping him. “I was taken from my home. I lost my family in ONE day to save their lives. They never even bothered to try and come back for me. They had a daughter, they didn’t bother looking for me, they never, not once asked whether or not I was alive. The one assurance that I had was a yearly picture that I got from Konstantin. He would show me, year after year, how they managed to fucking move on from me. I am stuck here with nothing, alone, for days and nights. I am the happiest when the man is not around because I know that I am not going to be fucked and abused. But it doesn’t mean that I didn’t know that he slept with other women in return. When it wasn’t me, it was another woman. Another slave. Day after day, he would go to them only to come to me, thinking of ways to torment that I wouldn’t have pictured in my life!” 

“Then when you came along, I believed in you. I believed that you wouldn’t make me live through the same pain. Little did I know…”

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest, hugging me tightly. I sobbed before I could stop myself. He tightened his grip around me, holding me upright as my own legs gave out under me. His hands ran over my arm, gently massaging it, and I broke down completely. 

He kissed the crown of my head, and for the first time since I’ve met him, his wolf whimpered. He, my mate, showed me his own pain for me. I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel his pain as he kept his face muzzled on the crown of my head. 

He didn’t pull away, nor did he let me go, not until I did. 

The two of us looked one another in the eye, and my heart dropped when I saw that a tear had escaped his left eye. I extended my hand to wipe it, but he looked away before cupping my cheeks, wiping my own tears with his fingers. 

He leaned in and kissed those that still fell on my cheeks, then he moved to my lips, connecting his with mine. He didn’t open his mouth to speak, but his hands, despite holding me, I could feel them shaking. 

“I am going to make everyone who made you go through this much pain, pay, malyshka.” He whispered, looking me in the eye. He lowered his hands to my waist, gently squeezing it, and I closed my eyes as I avoided his gaze. “Don’t look away from me, malyshka. It already hurts me enough to know that I’ve broken you this way. Please don’t deprive me from looking you in the eye, baby girl.”

“I am scared, Vladimir.”

“What are you afraid of?” He asked, watching as I opened my eyes to look into his. I didn’t even dare say it, but I could tell that he understood. “If you’re scared of losing me, then I give you my word that you will not. I am going to be fighting everything and everyone to make sure that you don’t. But I am going to need you to stand strong for me, baby. I am going to need you to fight those who have threatened you for so long. You know that they would be taking advantage of my weakness toward you. I wanted to do this to lure them away.” 

“What?” I asked, and he looked down at his feet for a second, avoiding my gaze.

“Konstantin is playing the two of us because he knows that I have a weakness toward you. He is trying to use it against me. I wanted to bring a woman over to make him believe that I didn’t. He would have laid off your back.” He said, explaining the situation to me. “But if I had known that it would hurt you as much. Then I would rather that I die, day and night, for the rest of my life before seeing ONE tear escaping your beautiful eyes.”

“Vladimir…”

“I love you, Elena.” He said, stopping me. “And it has nothing to do with the mating bond. I am falling deeply in love with you and I can no longer see myself living in a world where you don’t exist.”

He leaned in, connecting his lips with mine in a gentle kiss that made my heart feel like it was going to burst. I still couldn’t even process his words, and he was here kissing me. 

“I am going to be sure to avenge you, malyshka. With everything that I have in me, I promise you to burn this world down for you.” He said, taking both my hands in his. He kissed my knuckles, letting his lips linger there for a few seconds before he pulled away to look me in the eye. “I give you my word that I am going to force them to bend their knees at your feet. This is an oath that I make for you. One that I make with my life…”