2 - Ghost from the past.

KAZIMIR

I didn’t come through the front door because I knew Maddox would run if he ever heard I was in his shitty club. He would use the chance to sneak away like the slimy frog he was and hide for the next couple of months before my men found him again.

No. I took the back exit, the one reeking of piss and desperation, because I wanted Maddox to piss himself when he saw me. The bastard owed me three million dollars. And tonight? He was going to pay.

The dim hallway swallowed me whole, the bass from the club thumping like a dying heartbeat. I didn’t need light to navigate. My wolf saw everything.

My brother told me not to come, that there were other ways that didn't require violence. But men like Maddox only understood violence. People like him would only respond to certain displays of violence.

Then....

A scent hit me like a bullet to the chest.

Wild and poisonous.

I knew that smell.

I knew it because I’d killed everyone who ever carried it. Everyone who carried that betrayer smell had died at my hands for their crimes against my family.

After ten years, to pick up that peculiar smell again after so long, I was feral.

Before I could react, a body slammed into me. Small and soft. All soft curves and sharp nails. Almost naked, with the fishnet and underwear she was wearing.

She looked up.

And the world fucking stopped.

Dirt brown eyes. Wide. Terrified. Raven black hair that fell across her face in waves and plump lips that looked bruised and red. Alive. She was alive.

No.

It was nearly impossible for her to be alive. How did she survive? She should be dead.

My hand shot out, fisting in her hair before she could bolt. She gasped, her pulse fluttering like a trapped bird under my grip.

Ariel Blondeau.

The only daughter of Alexander Blondeau, the man who murdered my parents in cold blood.

The family I had wiped out for their crimes against mine.

“You,” I snarled.

Her lips parted, probably to beg, then I felt it.

The electric current that charged through me was powered by my hands touching her bare skin.

My skin broke out in a sweat. No. It was impossible.

They say you only feel that unique current when you find your mate. I've heard old werewolves describe it, how it felt, but never have I thought I would feel it. That unique feeling that was a one in a million chance you would find your mate. Your other half.

In all my twenty-eight years of living, I never expected to feel it. Or even find it.

My wolf snarled, but I didn't want to believe it. It just didn't make any sense.

"No" I murmured.

She resisted under my grasp, her body thrashing wildly.

Who the fuck are you?" She exclaimed.

"Kazimir Rossi." I replied.

She stared at me with wide, unbelieving eyes, and then the hallway erupted with shouting.

“Where the fuck did she go?”

“Find her before the boss skins us alive!”

Two of Maddox’s meathead guards rounded the corner, their faces flushed with rage.

Until they saw me.

The bigger one stepped back, his throat bobbing.

I could smell the fear on him, the way he was about to lose control of his bladder.

What an idiot

“M-Mr. Rossi."

I didn’t spare him a glance. My fingers tightened around Ariel’s neck, her pulsing vein slamming against my palm.

Alive. Alive. Alive.

I couldn't fathom how she was alive and in front of me when ten years ago I saw her lay dead on the floor.

How was that possible?

How?

“Tell Maddox I’m here,” I said, my voice low.

The guards didn’t move.

I smiled. All teeth.

They ran.

....................

Maddox’s office smelled like him. Greed and the sour smell of failure. A peculiar looking dirty man whom I should never have done business with in the first place.

Men like Maddox were common in my world, and while I hated working with them, they were a necessary evil.

Cigar smoke. Cheap whiskey. The sour tang of a man who’d sold his soul for pennies. His eyes empty and soulless like his life, devoid of any meaning.

He stood when I walked in, his face draining of colour.

Good.

I loved that he feared me.

Then his gaze flicked to Ariel, still struggling in my grip.

“Kazimir,” he croaked. “I—I didn’t know you were coming. I would have been able to welcome you properly."

“Clearly.” I dragged Ariel forward, her bare feet scraping the floor. “You have been very busy.”

Maddox swallowed. “She’s one of mine. One of the new girls I acquired. She starts work tonight. I can let you have her first for free as a welcoming gift."

Ariel hissed. "I’m not yours...."

My grip tightened. That shut her up.

Maddox licked his lips. "If you just give her back, I can..."

“No.”

The room went silent.

I leaned in, letting my wolf bleed into my voice. "She’s mine now."

Ariel jerked against me. "The hell I am!"

I ignored her, focusing on Maddox. “Consider her your first payment.”

His jaw clenched. "You can’t just..."

I bared my fangs.

Maddox sat down.

................................

The second we were outside, Ariel exploded.

“Let me GO!” She twisted, nails raking down my arm, drawing blood. “You can’t just.... who the fuck do you think you are?!”

I didn’t answer. Just shoved her into the back of my car, climbing in after her.

She lunged for the door.

I caught her by the throat.

Not hard enough to hurt.

Just enough to remind her.

Her breath hitched, her pulse wild under my fingers.

“You’re going to explain two things to me, little wolf,” I murmured.

“One, why you're still breathing.”

Her lips curled. “Go to hell.”

I leaned closer, my mouth brushing her ear.

“And two…”

My canines grazed her skin.

She shuddered.

“Why the fuck you’re my mate.”