Elena: I smiled when I saw Vladimir entering the room. He let out a heavy breath, and I knew that what happened earlier was the reason behind his worry. He kissed the crown of my head and I wrapped my hand around his shirt, fisting it, allowing myself to inhale his scent as I tried to get what happened with Konstantin was something that I couldn’t easily get out of my head. I was both worried and scared, but I didn’t want to show it. “You are the most brave woman that I have ever seen, malyshka,” he whispered, running his finger over my waist, gently massaging it. The two of us pulled away from one another to look each other in the eye. He kissed my forehead, letting his lips linger there for a second before he pulled away. “I was scared, Vladimir. I was scared of what you would do if he pulled that trigger.” I said, and his eyes softened. He kissed my forehead again, “I wasn’t even worried about what was going to happen to me, but Vladimir, I was scared of how you would react.

Vladimir:I watched as Konstantin walked out of the house, leaving the Estate to me to take care of.My eyes met Elena’s and the brightness that I saw in them was one that I was thankful for. I wanted to get her out of this hellhole, but I knew that with the things that are coming, I wouldn’t be able to do so as soon as I would want to.“What’s on your mind, Vladimir?” Elena asked, taking a step toward me. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her to my chest, and I couldn’t help but find myself smiling at my beauty. “There is a lot for me to do,” I said, looking down at her. I did wish to spend the day with her, but I knew that with the number of things that I had to finish and deal with before Konstantin came back; that would be almost impossible.“I do believe that we can spend the day together. You know, without the complications of Konstantin being around and the house being tense because of him?” She asked, and I smiled. I kissed her forehead, letting my lips linger there

Vladimir:I had to fight back my anger as I knew that my mate was doubting me. And the fact that Konstantin was going to be taking advantage of everything that he could do to break my mate. And the idea of that happening was not one that I wanted to allow him to try, not again.“Think, Vladimir, think.” I muttered to myself, knowing that the night was going to be longer than I wanted it to be. “You are not going to betray your pack, your Alpha, nor are you going to let your mate go. But how the fuck do you intend to do so without breaking her heart?”I tapped the sink counter twice before looking down at my reflection. I was furious, but I didn’t know how things were going to be, not now at least. “You are going to need to choose. Are you going to weaken for your love? Or are you going to be pulling yourself together to do what you came here to do?” I whispered before turning the water tap. My hands shook, and I knew what I had to do. Elena, for her safety, I was going to have to do

Konstantin:“Everything is going to be over very soon.” I said, looking at Vladimir who nodded.“Indeed. However it may end, I will be sure that things take the path that we chose.” My nephew said, and though I stayed quiet, I was forced to stop myself from scoffing. I needed his loyalty to be mine, and sometimes, I doubted that it was.“You are going to be killing Killian. It is going to be the one way that his reign ends. While Eleanor may have lost the child, it does not mean that he might not have more. I do not want that to be a matter of…”“The two of us already discussed the matter, and with Killian’s death, we are going to gain the power that we lost. We are just going to need to be careful. You know, he has his men swarming around the corner. One wrong word, sound, or even tone, and these wolves are going to be more than willing to tear everyone down.” He said, stopping me. “I am going to take charge of killing him. It is going to be in your office where they cannot hear us. Y