Chapter 1 #2
Exhaling a ragged breath of relief, Elena retrieved her shoes and trudged her way upstairs. She wanted a hot bath and a good book. With no more exams or classes, she could finally relax. There was nothing she could do about her father’s future arrangements for her.
Her plans flew out the open window where her sister Maria struggled for handholds to pull herself inside.
“What in the name of the Gods are you doing,” Elena hissed in a whisper, closing the door with the utmost care before rushing over to grab Maria’s arm.
“It was just a party,” Maria panted as she tumbled inside, caught at the last by Elena’s wrenching hold on her jacket before she crashed to the floor.
“You’re going to get us both killed. Maria, you know better!”
“Only girls were there. Played spin-the-bottle, though. Stacy tastes odd.”
Elena sucked in a horrified breath and dragged Maria from the window seat, marching her through the doorway into the ensuite bathroom.
“Go on, brush your teeth. Use the mouthwash. Gods, you are so stupid sometimes.”
“I’m not his meal ticket.” Maria pulled her lips between her teeth, brows scrunching together as she looked at Elena’s reflection in the dark mirror. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean that.”
“You’re right, you aren’t his meal ticket,” Elena said, scraping together the dredges of her willpower to keep her voice cool and modulated, and to not fall down and sob. “Which means he’ll be more than happy to do to you what he stops himself from doing to me.”
“My mama wouldn’t—”
“Do not ever count on your mother stopping Valente from doing what he wants.”
Elena didn’t wait for Maria’s sad apologies or the thick tears in her big brown eyes.
She might be young and careless, but her quick words cut deep, and Elena was in no mood for it.
Not tonight. Turning the hot tap full blast, Elena drowned out whatever Maria might want to say with the roar of water slamming into the giant claw foot tub.
After scrubbing her teeth with her finger and rinsing with the minty mouthwash, Maria slunk out of the bathroom.
Elena pretended not to notice, drizzling the vanilla and jasmine scented bubble bath into the running water.
Not until the tub was more than half full did she bother turning the cold tap on.
A long soak was what she needed. The book would wait. As much as they were her escape from the reality she lived in, it became more and more difficult to get lost in the pages these days. There was too much going on, too much stress.
Leaving her clothes crumpled on the floor, Elena climbed into the large bath.
Sucked a long breath between her teeth as the scalding water lapped at her calves and thighs before she sunk into the fizzing hiss of the bubbles.
Settling against the towel she draped over the long, angled back, she closed her eyes with a gusty sigh.
Concentrating on each group of muscles, she tried to make them relax and soak up the blessed heat.
Thoughts of what was to come nagged at her, wriggling their way in to spread the inky darkness of fear and doubt through her.
She had no idea who this Russian was, what he was like.
He could be no different than the last man her father promised her to.
Though hopefully not so old as his predecessor to be six feet under in a handful of years.
Elena scoffed, the caustic sound echoing off of the cold tiles.
She’d had an all too brief reprieve from the expected niceties, and now she would be subjected to them all over again.
This time she wasn’t a little girl to be guarded.
Young, yes, but old enough that should this Alpha’s hands wander, it would simply speed things along.
Any dreams she might have had concerning her future were falling to ash in her very palms. The oily film of shattered hopes clinging to her skin no matter how she scrubbed.
Climbing from the bath as the water began to grow cold, Elena paused to look at her reflection.
Smaller than most, even by Omega standards, she was pretty enough.
Full hips and breasts, though her waist could be smaller.
She lacked the thigh gap her few friends seemed so enamored with, but she’d also never dropped her cell in the toilet, so she considered that a win.
Would this Russian? The only ones she knew were pale, blond and blue eyed like the Vikings they showed on television. How would he feel about the olive cast of her skin, the deep russet of her wavy hair, and the cool hazel of her eyes?
Snorting at her own vanity, Elena grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body before heading into her bedroom. Once clothed in comfy flannel pajamas, she climbed into bed and snuggled under the heavy duvet.
Valente hadn’t given her a timeframe, only that she’d been promised to this man.
It could be a year or a month from now. Next week if it came down to it.
A nervous energy stole through her at the thought, limbs twitching as her heart began to hammer at the back of her ribs.
Pulling the covers tight to her chin, she looked out her windows at the waxing moon and shivered.
There were no guarantees on what this new life would bring her, but by the Gods, it was something different. For better or worse, she’d be free of this place, and that would be worth so very much.
It was a long time before Elena turned off the light, and longer still that she lay in bed trying to piece together some vision of her new future. Trying not to hope for too much.