echoes from the past

"Katy?"

I froze.

It's been exactly five years since I have been called that name…five years since I left that life behind me.

I tried to play it cool.

I tried to ignore the voice.

"Katy! Hey!"

I turned to the checkout clerk, a teenager with a lot of black eye shadow and grabbed a couple of things within arms reach and placed them on the counter.

"I just want the bag of chips, please and thank you" I spoke to the girl in a very low voice and then as an afterthought, I smiled.

I just kept smiling…It was like if I stopped smiling, the voice would become real.

If I stopped smiling, the monster would get me.

And I would give anything for that voice to go away.

I wasn't ready to face that voice yet.

I haven't become the sword of vengeance I wished to be.

"What about the bottle of water you are holding, dude?" The girl asked me.

"You know what? Forget it"

I turned around to walk out as fast as I could, except I walked right into him.

And just like that…my heart skipped a beat.

I stared at him.

I guess five years did nothing to dampen his allure.

Lucious Nathaniel Reign!

He stood tall.

Standing tall was never a problem for him with his chiseled physique that practically emanated power and confidence.

I wish I had that. I wish I wasn't quaking in my boot in resentment and fear.

He'd come to blow up my life again…like before, just like always.

"Pardon me, Sir" I murmured, trying to get away as fast as I can.

"Katy! Hey! It's me…Lucious. Lucious Reign"

His piercing blue eyes bored into my soul, sparkling with a hint of mischief and danger.

They were the kind of eyes that drew one in, making you feel like you were drowning in their depths.

"Sorry" I whispered, yet I couldn't tear my gaze away.

His sharp jawline and prominent cheekbones framed a face that was both rugged and refined, like a work of art chiseled from granite. His dark hair was messy but in an intentional way, adding to his air of mystery and allure.

Mr. Reign was a scorching sun and I will be damned if I let him close enough to burn me again.

"Wrong person" I murmured weakly

"Then why can't you look at me?" He asked.

I pushed my hair away from my face to buy myself enough time to think.

"Sorry" This time I allowed my gaze to latch on, it was unwavering. He needs to know that I am not the girl I used to be.

"I think you have the wrong person. My name is Olivia…Livy Strong" I told him and walked around him to escape but he wasn't done with me.

"Kaitlyn Summer Reid!" He yelled and I stopped in my tracks but I didn't turn around.

"Mister! You have the wrong girl! I don't know this Katy. I'm Livy…Olivia Strong"

He came around to look at me, his eyes dancing with familiarity.

"Am I?"

His full lips curved into a sly smile, hinting at secrets and seduction.

His broad shoulders and muscular build spoke of a man who could handle himself in any situation, and his sharp instincts seemed to be constantly on high alert.

Mr. Reign was simply put…danger mixed with a hint of monstrosity and a dash of cruelty.

And he wasn't ashamed to hide that.

He leaned in, like he wanted to take in every detail of my face…he did.

"I don't think so. You've forgotten that I know you. I would know you anywhere"

"You don't know me, Sir"

There was an aura of danger surrounding him, like a whispered warning that he wasn't a man to be trifled with.

His hands went to my hair as ran his hand through it.

"What have you done to your hair, Katy?"

I bite down on my lips hard…to stop my lips from trembling and my heart from responding.

"It's Livy" I murmured and sniffed back tears that were beginning to gather.

"The hell it is!" He lost his cool. "Do you think a couple of hair dye and a poorly done nose job would make me forget my…"

"Your what?!" I screamed in his face.

I stared at him.

My eyes blaring in defiance.

Five years ago, I crawled into the back of that Rickety old truck with a stranger, broken! Wounded! In pain determined to get as far away from him as possible, determined to be stronger…to be better! To break the chains that tethered me to him for eternity and I did!

Katy Reid might have been an excuse and a weakling but Olivia Strong was not.

I am not someone he gets to fuck over ever again!

"Your what, huh?" I screamed in his face and took a step closer in defiance.

"My wife!" He screamed back. "You are my mate! Goddamn it!"

I took another step closer to him. He was taller…way taller but I straightened my posture and earned myself an extra inch.

"My. Name. Is. Livy. Strong. I am not Katy" I said in between my clenched jaw.

"You know what? fuck this!"

He grabbed me.

He pressed his lips to mine.

It was different.

Something was off.

Something about it made me weak in the knee, it made me want to cling to him just like I did years ago.

Something about his tongue in my mouth made me eighteen years old again, lying in his bed…newly mated in my red lingerie, waiting for him to give a fuck about me enough to want me…like he wanted Calsey. To love me just a little bit like he loved Calsey…just enough to come to bed and screw me senseless.

He didn't.

He didn't even show up.

My wedding night was spent alone…with a lot of shame.

I would have given anything to have him kiss me like he was doing right now.

He didn't then…why should I feel something now?

Too late, Sir!

So fucking late.

He pulled away and grabbed my face tenderly.

"It's me. It's me, look at me, Katy. It is me"

I looked at him.

I wasn't lying. I wasn't Kaitlyn Reid anymore. I haven't seen her in a long time, she had to die for Livy Strong to be born.

"Are you done?" I asked him in-between my clenched jaw.

"Not by a long shot, Katy"

"I suggest you take a step back before I kick you in-between your family jewels"

I waited for the harsh words…it wouldn't be far behind.

"I'm sorry"

I blinked.

Did he just apologize?

Since when does Lucious Reign apologize for anything?

I took a long deep breath and I looked at him.

"What do you want, sir?!"

"Isn't it obvious?"

He came closer to me and he touched my face.

It took me by surprise.

His touch was different. His everything …was different.

That look in his eyes…the way his hand shook just a little bit like I made the most steady man in the history of steady men, unsteady.

Like I did that…Me, little Katy Reid.

Like I made him unsteady.

"I want you, baby. I want you back" He declared.

"No" I stated as a matter of fact and took a step back.

"Katy?" He took a step closer to me. "I love you"

I started laughing.

It wasn't planned. It just happened.

I started laughing and I couldn't stop.

"He got jokes, people! Lucious freaking Reign got jokes!"

"I am not joking" He said. His gaze lowered like he couldn't bear to look at me. "I am in love with you, Pim-pim"

I blinked.

"Since when?!" I asked in-between my clenched jaw, I didn't believe him.

He loved Calsey.

He worshiped Calsey.

I was just collateral damage. My daughter was collateral damage.

I was just the girl he wrecked without batting an eyelid.

Poor little me! In love with a man who loved someone else.

Poor little me! Standing quietly by the corner hoping my own husband would throw scraps of affection towards me like a dog.

Poor silly me! Watching him love someone else while I die little by little everyday.

Never again!

"I don't know" he answered "It kind of creeped up on me when I wasn't looking. One second, I was normal and next, every waking thought was you"

Liar! Lair! Pants on fire! I wanted to yell at him.

He was in love with me? Since when? Nevertheless, it didn't matter.

"No" I said again.

"Katy, please"

"Go away, Mr. Reign"

I tried to walk away but he grabbed my arm and squeezed it gently.

"I'm not letting you get away again. I made that mistake before and I am not making it again"

I moved closer to him…too close and when I spoke my voice was icy cold.

"Then, get ready"

"For?"

"For a whole world of hurt, Mr. Reign"

"Katy"

"My. Name…" I moved even closer to him, I wanted him to feel every single word "...Is. Olivia. Strong"

Author's note

Drop one word for Olivia Strong