The Alpha Killed My Husband

41| Waywarding Souls

In the elevator, through the corridor, down the stairs, take a left, open the door, cross the hall, and take the first right—two ceiling-sized fading yellow doors would welcome you.

Two glass panels on either door with ancient wolf designs woven on the surface would give museum-ry vibes. If not, you’d feel yourself in one of the Disney movies. But do not be scared.

The mansion already resembles a castle with an egoistic jerk for a prince residing here. So, it’s pretty much equivalent. He is deviously handsome, cunning, clever, and brave enough to ruin a whole kingdom, but he is selfless too. Because he takes a life-changing contest darn lightly so his competitor can win effortlessly.

Oh, he doesn’t ride horses, but it isn’t an issue since he has twenty-seven drop-dead gorgeous beasts in his garage. Also, he has a very charming mate who is his archfoe but loves to jiggle her boobs in his face. During part-time, she gives him oral too—see, complying with the spirit of ‘The Antagonist Code of Conduct. Otherwise, she gets hit.

Our princess is quite forgiving. A single senseless email can make her run a marathon in prospect.

I only have to wear a gown that would suffocate me to death, make it impossible to take a simple step, and kill tiny bugs mercilessly with complimentary glass slippers to go with the look. Not to forget, I have recently died my hair blonde. The complete package.

Anyways, the area of this mansion is no joke and neither is its intricate architecture. It’s enormous and expensive and a labyrinth if you are exploring it for the first time.

The room is on the fourth floor which means I have run almost fifteen minutes.

As I stand out, I clutch the door handle as I try to catch my breath. I am hyperventilating like a lunatic having an asthma attack while undergoing cardiac arrest surgery.

Yaak, I am not sure if it’s possible but I think I made the point.

Gonna stay here the whole night? Nagini is grumpy. Of course, she hasn’t had to jog till here. She’d be perfectly fine.

Give me a moment. I might choke on air. I gasp, filling up my lungs.

Oh, why do you not perform Alternate nostril breathing here? Wait, let me get you a matt.

Stop being so sarcastic. It’s unnecessary.

See who is talking!

Ignoring her, I push the double doors feeling like a total princess. A dimly lit room opens up to me. It’s average-sized with a round bed in the middle, a couple of doors on the left, and a vanity, bookshelves, and memory board on the right.

A wooden recliner rests adjacent to the bookshelves. It’s Tarifa’s reading space. I enter the room and the lights are on. It’s automatic throughout the mansion. It does not surprise me but the euphonious music in the background does.

It’s masculine with nothing but guitar strings to fill in the space. The strings pierce through the heart, making it stop beating. I feel de-stressed. My feet mechanically take me to the recliner.

Astonishingly, Nagini does not object. It’s the slumberous composition that draws the listener to it. Leaning back, I close my eyes and feel the lyrics, imagining a blank face humming the melody.

I kept looking as my heart followed you

There’s something between us that has been unsaid

What I’ve never said I’m saying it for the first time

You’re there in my heart and my eyes since the first time I saw you

It’s the most passionate confession I have ever listen to. Vaguely, my heart agrees with it.

You’re there in my heart and my eyes since the first time I saw you

It’s due to the conspiracy of love that we’ve met again

You’re there in my heart and my eyes since the first time I saw you

Since the first time, I saw you

Beautiful. My heart whispers. The emotions make me blush. I am back in my late teens again—smitten with the tales of love at first sight. My mother’s love story has always been an inspiration. Even though half of the miseries owe their origin to her, I do not loath her. I want to understand and relate. Like her, I have always craved to burn in love.

I’m a crazy traveller and my legs don’t stop anywhere

My waywardness has started to dream about you

I’m a crazy traveller and my legs don’t stop anywhere

My waywardness has started to dream about you

No one wants freedom from the jail of love

You’re there in my heart and my eyes since the first time I saw you

It’s due to the conspiracy of love that we’ve met again

You’re there in my heart and my eyes since the first time I saw you

Since the first time, I saw you

My soul is being set free. A burden of a sort is lifted. I am haven-sent providentially. The goosebumps on my skin are ostensive.

It’s one of the times when the lyrics match my state in symmetry. I am exploring myself and my soul. I am oblivious of my physical surrounding. I want to see his face. I want to see the person who is a dream of my waywardness. Indeed, I have been a wanderer. But not anymore.

All these seasons were colourless and dull without you

All the moments that you were not a part of were useless

The life that I’m living is nothing without you

You’re there in my heart and my eyes since the first time I saw you

It’s due to the conspiracy of love that we’ve met again

You’re there in my heart and my eyes since the first time I saw you

Since the first time, I saw you.

An image is being unveiled. It’s a male—well built, tall, whiteish. His eyes are big and round. The lashes kiss his cheeks. His broad forehead his devoid of lines. It’s flawless. One of his eyebrows had pierced. I have seen the pair somewhere. I focus harder. More of him is revealed.

His nose is slightly dented but it’s perfect on his face. His lips are full and luscious. I have seen this face. I am seeing this face. I have been seeing this face. I want to see this face.

My eyes flung open—Rudransh! The song is on repeat. Its magic has faded. The passion isn’t. The goosebump isn’t. The racing heartbeat isn’t.

I sit upright in the chair, looking around the room. I am a clueless mess whose wandering soul is back her my body.

Am I in love? I question myself. There is no answer. I run my hands through the hair and peer outside the window. A crescent moon is beaming seductively. The little twinkles mock me.

My throat is parched and dry when I gulp bile rising. I feel like crying out of frustration. This is it. I cannot take it anymore. Why is it happening to me? What is my crime?

Since childhood, I have been doing nothing but enduring the thrashes of destiny. I have been this tough, prude, confident, rebellious Sarvayoni. I have been only sacrificing my today for a better tomorrow. Why am I being punished? What is my fault?

Why have I to drop in the same pit hole again and again? Will this never end? Will I spend my whole life being like this? Bitter and ugly? Luna Aaradhya was loved. Avika was loved. Scarlet is loved. Laxmi is loved. Emily is loved. Why am I an exception?

I am a queen bestowed with envious power but I am cursed. I lack everything that they had—family. Who am I?

I did not realize when the tears rolled down my cheeks and flowed freely out of my eyes. Apathetic.

‘Touching, isn’t it?’ A familiar voice echoes over the music. I don’t have to look up. I cannot. I don’t want Tarifa to witness this state. She has nothing to do with any of my baggage.

‘Yeah.’ I cough, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. I look another side of the room, away from her straight line of vision. ‘It’s...intense.’

‘When one invests heart and soul in something, it becomes intense. It’s cherishing, passionate. Soul talks with a soul. When soul converse there is nothing ordinary.’ Tarifa smiles, looking afar. Her voice drops to a level of coldness as if she is reminiscing something precious to her.

‘My son wrote it for her beloved.’ She adds after a while. ‘He composed the song in front of me when they were having their first pup. He wanted his beloved to feel special and he was being honest with his feelings.’

I am silent for I cannot think of anything sensible to say. The rhythm truly reflects someone’s dedication to a relationship and if her pup could compose something as magical as this one, she must be proud. Contrary, Tarifa is upset.

She slowly crosses the room and sits on the bed. Her eyes are moist with unshed tears as she looks past my shoulder at the memory board.

‘It’s precious.’ I choke out. Tarifa looks in dire need of comfort. Should I console her? I prefer staying seated. She looks very old with lines of wrinkles covering the whole of her face.

There are bags under her eyes, and her lips are quivering.

‘He was precious and so was his lady love. They were perfect together.’ Tarifa breathes. Tears roll down her cheeks. She is miserable.

‘Were?’ I shift in the recliner uncomfortably. This has to be bad. Sympathy overflowed from the bottom of my heart. No one deserves to go through this.

‘He died in love. His beloved died in love. They were the only forbidden couple in history. The bravest. The courageous. They burnt in love in a hope to inflame fire of love amongst the species. Only they were oblivious of the power of hatred. They sacrificed everything—their love, their daughter...their life. It was the darkest chapter of our clan. I believe it’s the same for those serpents when they killed the only hybrid.’ Tarifa is sobbing poorly.

I am stunned as my life flashes in front of my eyes. Could she be talking about my mother? She was the only serpent to—to—to...oh, AnantNath!

Before I know it, I am by Tarifa’s side, on my knees. Tears uncontrollably flow down my cheek. ‘Your daughter-in-law was a serpent?’ I sob.

‘She was Trupti?’ I ask. The desperation is evidently floating in my voice. ‘Your son was a spy. Please tell me, Tarifa. Don’t be silent. Tell me.’ My agony knows no bound.

Tarifa tilts her head, embracing me in a motherly warm... grandmotherly warm.