My eyes scanned over the crowd of trees. I remembered finding her high among branches, remembered thinking that she was so relaxed and comfortable amid the flora that she must've been given to me by the fairies. Or was an ethereal mystical creature herself.
Look up, whispered a voice in my mind.
I tilted my head up and peering straight at me were the two most beautiful pair of green eyes I had ever seen in my life.
We took each other in for just a moment. Nearly three years of separation, months filled with pain and days fueled by heartache. Our final words to each other seemed to hang in the air but were momentarily forgotten as we stared.
She was poised on a branch just above me, limbs stretched out like a jaguar to balance herself. Her hair was knotty, mud soaked her shirt and dirt covered her hands, but she was still the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on.
If I hadn’t been looking for her, I might’ve assumed she was part of the forest. Just another animal making a home or tree spreading its roots.
Elena cocked her head to the side, preternatural in her movements.
“Lyubimaya?” I asked.
Her chest rose in two fast breaths.
I saw what she was about to do before she did it. But I made no efforts to defend myself from her attack.
Elena’s hands wrapped themselves around my neck and her feet shoved against my chest. She let out an animalistic scream.
We crashed down into the ground together, her above me. Her knees pressed into my chest, her presence overwhelming my senses as we pressed against each other. Almost as entwined as the flora that surrounded us.
Elena paused for a moment, confusion growing in her expression.
“My Elena,” I sighed, eyes running furiously over her as I absorbed every new mark and crease.
She had grown older in her expression, her features growing sharper and more arresting as she matured into them. Heavy bags laid beneath her eyes, the green irises now holding ghosts and fury in their depths.
No new words marked her skin, but I could see the very faint pen. I could only make out one word. Laundry.
I reached out and pushed back her hair. It felt like straw to the touch. “My Elena, oh my Elena. Lyubimaya. My soul, my heart.”
Elena stared.
I could see her mind moving a mile a minute behind her eyes, stumbling over calculations and solutions and problems.
So quiet, that I might’ve not have even heard it, she breathed, “Kon.”
My hand cupped her cheek, my fingers and palm fitting so perfectly around her face that we could’ve been two puzzle pieces clicking together to form the final picture.
“Lyubimaya, my Elena.”
She opened her mouth–
“Mama?”
Elena leaped away from me in a flash. She hiked herself back into the branches, cooing warm words. “I’m here, my wild boy. I’m here.” Her voice was exactly the same, but I had never heard it so soft before.
The men had gathered around. Everyone wanted a closer look at our prey, the creature who had left the family in shambles. The woman who had left me less of a man.
Roman stepped forward, jaw dropping and eyes widening as he saw what had called for Elena. “Holy shit...Artyom, are you seeing this?”
Elena leaped down from the tree, her arms filled with the secret she had kept hidden so well for nearly three years.
My son.
He had the chubby face of a healthy toddler, his features still soft and pliable before maturing with age. But even despite his youth, I could still see his mother and I in him. From his blond hair, to his green eyes, to the shape of his nose and the curve of his chin.
He looked like...he looked like Natalia as a toddler. Which meant he looked like a Tarkhanov, looked like me.
My son, my boy, my firstborn.
My heir.
Babushka came behind them, her fur matted from living in the forest for so long, but she remained mostly unchanged. Perhaps she was a little less fat now, but once we had access to the rats and Roksana’s treats again, I was sure she would fatten once more.
All eyes remained on Elena and my son, despite the cat giving out a loud meow filled with fury.
Elena adjusted our son on her hip and lifted her chin up. No hellos, no tearful reunions. She just turned to Artyom and said, “There have been five men following us. I’m not sure where they are now but they can’t be far away.”
She might look half-wild but her voice remained sharp and clear. The wild instincts she’d just shown seemed to evaporate. ‘Seemed’ being the key word.
Elena may have suddenly tucked her savagery back inside herself but she was still a wild creature at heart. I could see the barbarity lurking beneath her skin–it was as familiar to me as my own–and no civilized discourse could hide it from my eyes.
“They’ve been dealt with,” I said.
She didn’t look at me. Wouldn’t even acknowledge my existence.
Anger twisted low in my gut. “You called for our help. Here it is.”
Artyom cut his dark eyes to me. I knew he wanted to discuss our options, let Elena have the freedom to choose. But he had done too much already and I ignored his loaded stare. I didn’t intervene between him and Roksana; I expected the same courtesy.
Or else.
“You are still being hunted. Titus won’t stop until she has what she wants. No matter how long it takes.” I slid my hands into my pockets, the picture of ease. “You have two options, Elena."
Everybody tensed as I prepared my ultimatum.
"Either you come with us back to the estate or you stay here and we take the child back to the estate.”
All the men looked down at their feet and a few swore under their breaths.
Elena had a less appetizing reaction. “Is that a fucking threat, Konstantin?”
She turned to me, lips peeled back to show her teeth.
Smugness covered my anger as I forced her to address me. The silent treatment act was only going to last so long. “Careful of language in front of the child.”
For a second, I thought she might lunge at me again. But instead, she drew back her shoulders, hoisted the child up and said curtly, “You have houses and safe homes everywhere, Konstantin. We’re staying in one of those.”
I knew that, knew I could've easily tucked her away in the countryside and never laid eyes on her again. I could save myself the pain, the torment, the weakness. But that boy? That child that looked just like my niece had once done? That child who had a pair of beautiful mossy-green eyes?
This family had been separated for long enough. There would be no safe houses, no hiding. We would reunite–even if Elena did everything in her power to make sure we didn't.
“None are as safe as the estate,” was my answer.
I wondered if she could see the plans for us forming in my mind.
From the darkness that flashed in her eyes, she could. It almost pained me to admit it, but Elena knew me just as well as I knew her. We were two complex individuals who had only ever unraveled for each other...
Until she had left, until she had told me she didn't love me. I don't love you, Konstantin.
“That’s not completely true, is it?” she sniped.
I smiled at her double-meaning, even if being reminded of the attack from Titus on the estate made me want to roar.
A choking sound indicated Roman was trying to hold back a laugh and failing miserably. “Oh, Elena, still a bitch, huh?”