‘Arin?’ The drowsy voice purrs in my ears as Ibhaan snuggles closer, almost cocooning me between his back and arms. He has embraced me in clutches with my back pressed against his front and overlooking the Pacific ocean. If I turn around, I’ll get a nostril full of his misty scent which is highly addictive and intoxicating. And the dreadful morning breath that will have me puking my guts in a loop. It has to be five or six in the morning. The sun is yet to dip out of the horizon. However, its warm redness with tinges of orange and tangerine has spread across the perimeter in a welcoming warmth. It is a rather gloomy day like it may pour any second. The ferocious ocean breeze flirts with the curtains and chiming bells on the balcony. The chirps of the birds fade in the background but the voices in my head are loud and so are the thunders in the sky. Hissssssssssss… Ella spits in agony, waking me up in a jolt. My whole body tenses and core muscles tighten. I cannot hold back. She

Who could he be? I always wonder. He had to be someone special for my mother to give up her life for him. Mom jumped off the cliff for him leaving me, her own flesh and blood, behind. It has been years but the dread and yearning is always there—as if a part of me is missing. There is restlessness, grief, and vulnerability. For years, I have been a wandering spirit roaming around in search of solace. I am desperate to fill in anyhow. I wish I could see him, meet him, talk to him. I want to shake him by the collar and ask him why he did what he did. Did he really play around my mother as the wise one claims? Was there no love, devotion, and sacrifice on his part? Why did he not die along with my mother? The subjects call my mother a fool and a traitor for choosing him above all of us. Why did he mock her faith? I want to see the creature who made me so bitter. Where is he now? Who is he? How is he spending the remnants of her life without her? Why did he disappear when he

I clumsily follow Ibhaan into the Manor, switched on his side, took off my dirty footwear and thrust my bare legs in the cotton flip-flops kept exclusively for the visitors in the lounge and launch away to stare at the wall that behold glories. ‘It’s unbelievable.’ Sierra whispers in awe at the massive chain of golden-rimmed portrayls of creatures with fangs. ‘It’s like your palace in Ah–’ ‘Arin!’ Ibhaan is on my side in a snap and almost all of our eyes widen at Sierra’s slip of tongue. I momentarily freeze in the spot. Hell! Please tell me, he did not hear the ‘Ah’ of Ahi-Empire and ‘your palace’ in the sentence. ‘Arin!’ He calls again. Keeping my expression in check, I slowly turn to him with a small smile. ‘Ye…yeah!’ I pass through the ancient grandeur palace, through its triple series of open courtyards and corridors, and reached in the middle. Variayana Manor is Shaach-eero’s pride and Vetri Pond is the ‘jewel in the crown' of that pride. The premise is a benchma

I am on an island. The air stirs on the waves, swirling over and around, rustling the trees in the jungle that stretched behind my back. Rows of palm trees are planted on my left with ample greenery full of pine trees and Indian Rosewood, and to my right is a fall that never ends. I am with a serpent who looks down with nothing but satisfying contentment in her orbs. A manly hand strokes my head. Snapping my head, I come face-to-face with someone I do not recognize. He is a bluehead male—tall, extremely pale and lean with a witty smirk on his face. The duo beams at me with parental affection. For a moment, the time stills as we look at each other. The couple’s smiles broaden the longer the time stretches. ‘Mommy?’ The words fly out of my mouth. Instantly, my palm cup over my mouth. I mumble the word one more time in disbelief. I have never used it aloud. At least, I do not remember using it aloud. My shivering gaze flickers over the female who nods at me with unshed tears

‘Could be a past love. He couldn’t be clinging to your pseudo name at Tiffany’s. Could he?’ Ella trailed off thoughtfully and almost immediately a piercing sensation went through my heart as if someone had stabbed me with a sharp knife. I want to use the same knife to stab Ibhaan’s existence out of the goddamn world. Should I ask him about the woman? I wondered. Damn! Don’t tell me he is already cheating on the horse voice before the wedding! Oops! And here I thought the wolves to be better if not superior in that department. It’s unacceptable, immoral, unethical, and wrong. It…hurts. ‘You have not let him shove his dick in any of your holes for almost what…three weeks now? Shouldn’t you be the one responsible?’ Ella proposed rationally and I couldn’t help but defend my toes like a wounded gorilla or an equally fierce version of a resembling creature. ‘I did!’ I shrieked, balling my fist to the side. ‘Besides, ain’t it his duty to stay loyal to the she-wolf he is going to comm