Kirill's POV:
The moment I stepped onto the porch of the sprawling Clifford mansion, a flash of movement caught my eye. A familiar figure was bolting down the marble stairs, her flight so frantic it looked as though she were running for her life.
I didn't need a second glance to recognize her. Even after five long years, my soul knew hers. When her foot slipped on the polished stone, I moved instinctively, catching her before the ground could claim her.
As I pulled her against me, our eyes locked. Those enchanting, deep pools I had memorized were swimming in tears, and the sight of them sparked a primal, murderous heat in my chest.
Across the territories, men shivered at the mere mention of my name, but here I was, feeling my heart crack because Astrid looked so hurt and devastated.
I noticed her flinch, her small hand twitching to hide a jagged, ugly bruise on her palm, marks that looked like they'd been pressed into something sharp. My jaw tightened. I wanted to tear this house down stone by stone to find who had hurt her.
"I am Kirill Bloodshade, your soon-to-be husband. And your mate." I didn't hesitate in introducing myself, hoping she would finally recognize me.
Her eyes widened, but she didn't react.
I leaned closer, my breath brushing her ear. "It's a pity you've forgotten me, Astrid. Because I haven't spent a single day of the last five years forgetting you."
"Alpha Kirill!
A voice laced with poorly concealed terror broke the silence. The house butler stood at the top of the stairs, his face pale as he glared down at Astrid.
"What are you doing out here? Get to your room, immediately!" He then turned to me with a submissive bow. "Alpha Kirill, please, follow me. I will inform the Master of your arrival at once."
I didn't look at him. I kept my eyes on her and extended my hand, offering her a silent invitation to walk in by my side.
She stared at my palm for a second before she turned and vanished into the shadows of the house without a word.
I watched her go, a hollow ache settling where my triumph should have been. I couldn't understand why she always retreated into herself when I was near. I had returned as the STRONGEST ALPHA to claim her, yet to her, I was nothing, maybe.
My beta spoke from behind, "Shall we go in, Alpha?"
"Yes."
With that, I ascended the marble stairs and went straight into the house to take my bride away.
~~~~
Astrid's POV:
When Dad first told me the name, I knew it was familiar. However, I was unable to recall it until he whispered those words, "I never forgot you."
Kirill Bloodshade.
Memory came flooding back in my head. He had been an orphan, an alpha by birth but without a throne to sit on or a family to claim him. He had been a shadow in the corners of my miserable childhood, watching me struggle through the years until we both turned eighteen.
Back then, I didn't like him. He was abrasive and constant, always mocking me for my weakness, his voice dripping with a sarcasm that felt like salt in my wounds.
He never seemed to understand that being a wolfless Omega wasn't a choice, it was a cage.
And yet, I couldn't say he was entirely cruel. There were moments, hidden from the world, when he had stood like a shield between me and the bullies who sought to break me. He had scared off the girls who tried to hurt me on Lisa's orders and the boys who used their strength as a weapon against me.
Then, in our eighteenth year, he had come to me with a desperate, wild look in his eyes. He had asked me to be his mate, to run away with him and leave this hell behind forever.
I squeezed my eyes shut, the shame of my younger self's words burning my throat. I could still see his face as I had looked him in the eye and said, "You don't have a pack, Kirill. You're just as weak as I am. I need someone who can actually protect me, someone with power. I'm sorry, I can't accept you."
I had rejected a boy who had nothing but his heart to offer, all because I was too terrified of the world to believe he could save me.
Now, standing in the shadows of my room, I couldn't wrap my mind around the transformation. The boy whom I rejected and called weak was gone. In his place stood the man who made the very earth tremble, a man feared across borders, an Alpha who had come back to claim the girl who had once deemed him not enough.
I couldn't help but feel worried. What if this marriage wasn't about the "mate" bond or some lingering childhood affection? What if it was purely about satisfying his ego?
The memory of my rejection must have festered in a man as powerful as he had become. I remembered a story I'd heard recently at the office about a woman who had turned down a childhood admirer, only for him to return years later as her husband. He hadn't wanted her love; he wanted her penance. She ended up living like a glorified servant in his house, a daily trophy of his conquest and her own mistake.
Is that what Kirill wanted? To watch me crawl?
It was the only thing that made sense. Why else would a man of his stature, an Alpha who could likely choose from the most elite, high-born she-wolves in the world, come back for me?
I was no match for him. I was still the same broken, wolfless Omega, still a girl who had to beg for mercy from the people. To him, I was a debt to be collected, a reminder of a time when he was weak and I had dared to tell him so.
I leaned my forehead against the cool wood of my door, my breath hitching. I had asked for a protector, and now the universe was giving me a conqueror, who would definitely make my life worse than hell.
"As if it's already not! Ugh! Why? Why are you doing this to me, Moon Goddess?" I complained when a hand banged the door.
"Astrid, come downstairs quickly," the housemaid said.
I looked at myself in the mirror and fixed my hair. "Gosh! I was running away with this hair and face!"
I couldn't believe how pathetic I looked. I couldn't feel anything, but I was embarrassed because even after so many years, I didn't change at all.
Opening the door of my room, I went downstairs only to find Elina and Lisa were on their knees while my father was apologizing to Kirill.
"Slap your daughter with the same intensity you slapped my bride. If you fail, I will slap her," Kirill ordered to Elina before meeting my eyes. "I can't stand the fact that the woman I love has been getting treated in such a manner."
I gulped hard and wondered what was actually happening. Before I could take the last step down, Kirill stood before me, forwarding his hand to me.
"Didn't you always want this? Take my hand and I'll show you how to take a revenge on those who have always hurt you," he whispered to my ear.