CHAPTER 1
Ten Years Later
Elena discreetly looked around the airport for any signs that she had been followed. Slowly, she walked towards the baggage-claim area. She stood there in the middle of the crowd, trying to fit in as she waited for her baggage to come out. After waiting for some time, she spotted her two bags and quickly pulled both of them off the conveyor belt.
She moved very cautiously, trying not to bring any attention to herself. She pulled the handles out and tipped the luggage on the rollers as she walked out of the airport building. It was still dark outside but she knew dawn would be approaching soon. She quickly found the pickup stop where she could catch the van that would take her to the car rental location. She got in the van and sat down, observing everyone around her. She got her car and drove off towards what could possibly be her last event planner assignment——an assignment forced on her by her pack leader who was cruel, vindictive and heartless. She knew she had to do the job because her family's lives depended on it.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She remembered her life back in Russia, full of bumps and obstacles and so many secrets, but no matter what life had thrown at her, she was able to succeed. Now with this assignment she could lose her life, or worse, the lives of her family. She hated that Arnav literally twisted her arm to take this job. Elena didn't put much value on her own life, but she was going to make sure her family survived.
She put some music on and focused on her driving. The drive would be long but it would give her the time she needed to go over her plan again. Right now, she needed to find a place to rest before daylight came. She knew she had maybe two hours before dawn. She used the car's GPS to locate a nearby motel. She drove to the motel and got a room, making sure to pay for everything in cash. When she got to her room, she took a quick shower and got settled in for the day.
Elena knew she only had two months to carry out her orders or her mother and sister would be killed. She went over the plan in her head again and again. She kept thinking about the exact moment she had come face to face with him. For every event that she planned, she always tried very hard to keep away from him. But when her agency won the bid on the king's mating ceremony, they offered her this great opportunity. She hadn't expected the leader of her vampire pack to find out about her hidden family after ten years.
Elena yawned; the daylight drowsiness took over her and in minutes she was asleep.
She woke up startled. She looked around for a moment forgetting where she was. The sun was just going down, and small strips of yellow and orange were still visible on the horizon. She threw the sheet off her body and sat at the edge of bed. She couldn't believe she was here when, just a month before she was sitting behind her desk in her office happily working on a plan for an event when the leader of her pack walked in. He ordered her to take the vampire king's event. He hinted, in a not-so-subtle way, that certain people that she knew and loved would get hurt. He even casually mentioned an address in Russia, proving that he knew where they were. But how did he find out? She shook her head, slid out of bed, and walked in to the bathroom. She took a quick shower and got dressed, thinking about the two hours she still had to drive.
She returned the keys to the manager and left the motel. After almost two hours of driving, she saw the exit to Leesville, Louisiana, the home of the vampire king and her home for the next two months—quite likely her last home. She took the exit and drove for another twenty minutes. It was just dusk now. At her next turn, she reached her destination and found herself in front of a thirty-foot-high metal gate.
"Holy shit," she murmured to herself.
She took a deep breath, lowered the window and spoke to the guard at the gate. She gave him her credentials and showed her ID. He instructed another guard to open the gate and let her in. Elena took the driveway to the front of a huge mansion. As she parked the car in front of the house, a servant came out. She got out of the car, grabbed her carry case and went to the back of the car to open the trunk. The servant pulled out the two suitcases and rolled them towards the house. "This way, my lady," he said walking in front of her.
She could see that the servant was human, which didn't surprise her because most vampires have humans helping them, especially during the day while they slept. She followed the man into the house. "This way to your room," he said turning to her.
She thanked him and smiled before following him up a set of stairs, then down a long hall. He opened a bedroom door for her and followed her into the room with her baggage.
She looked around the room in confusion, "I think this may be an error. I'm here to work; I'm not a guest."
"I was instructed to give you this room, my lady," he said bowing to her.
"Oh, okay. Please call me Elena," she said as she took in her surroundings.
"If you need anything, you just need to pick up the phone on the nightstand and call," he said before closing the door.
Elena was left standing alone in the middle of this huge room. It was bigger than her entire apartment back in Russia. She walked around checking out everything. She pulled her phone out and sent a quick text message to her sister. She knew it was early in Russia, but her sister would get it when she woke up.
She grabbed her bag from the corner and pulled a folder out. She opened it and looked at the documents the agency had given her with the information for this event. She read through the papers, noticing that there was no picture of the king and his bride to be inside. She took a deep breath and snapped the folder close.
She was on edge right now and felt that she needed to expend some energy. She had plenty of time before meeting with the king and his mate, so she decided to exercise—that always worked for her. Maybe there was a training room or some kind of gym. She pulled her exercising clothes out and put them on, then walked down the long hall and back down the stairs. There was no one around to ask for information, so she decided to investigate herself and turned down a long hall.
She walked for a few minutes and then heard the sound of banging, almost like punching behind a closed door. She followed the sound until she was facing the door. She opened the door and saw the biggest training room ever. There was equipment everywhere: one wall was full of weapons; the opposite side of the room was full of all kinds of exercise equipment.
In the far corner of the room, a man was working out with the punching bag. She looked him over and noticed that he was wearing just sweatpants and no shirt. He was probably a foot or so taller than her and she considered herself tall at five foot seven. His upper body was formed in a fabulous V-shape; his shoulders were broad and wide, his stomach was lean and his arms were like two huge logs. He was moving around the bag, deftly punching and weaving.
Elena could feel his eyes on her as he lost his focus and missed a punch, but immediately caught himself and got back his rhythm. He continued with the workout as she pretended to ignore him completely. She walked over to the wall and leisurely checked out all the weapons—it was an extensive collection. She didn't even hear...
