Chapter 6


    Chapter 6: Reality


    Mink''s LO.V


    No. NO!


    This cannot be happening and especially not not...not here!


    Ruksaar chatted on beside me without a care in the world as we both walked briskly back to our hotel. She was blissfully unaware of the turbulence


    that was going through my mind as I balled my hands into fists. my ws slicing out to pierce the delicate skin of my palm. The wounds would heal


    even before they were formed and I wished with all my power that my mind could work the same way.


    But his image was now imprinted in my mind and it''ll stay right there until the day I die.


    Mate.


    The bloody word tasted like poison in my mouth and I tried to suppress the shudder that rocked through me, but to no avail. Wide almond shaped


    eyes the color of topaz, with more gold than brown; they were eyes of a cat. His hair had been a dark shade of brown that almost appeared ck. I


    could picture it in the sun, however, with a brown tint to it. It would be soft to the touch-Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    I reined back my thoughts with violent self-control. I hadn''t needed a mate for over a hundred years and I certainly didn’t need one now.


    All shifters have several potential mates that they meet at varying stages in their lives. We don''t find two potential mates at the same time and even if


    we do, the first person wey our eyes on will be the one we recognize as our mates, hence nullifying the effect of our second potential mate.


    Different shifters also have different lifespan. So if a mate dies, the partner will still be able to find another mate for however long they remain alive.


    Shifters are usually paired with other shifters, but having a human as a mate isn''t unheard of.


    My mate seemed to be just that. Human.


    “Jiji! Have you heard a word of I just said?”


    Ruksaar’s irritated voice snapped me out of my trance and I realized that we''d already reached our hotel and were now nearing our room. Dear God!


    How could I be so preupied with some man that I''dpletely lost track of my surroundings?


    Thankfully, Gujarat no longer hosted any predatory shifter packs, just some non-predatory ones like a herd or two of camels and a few deer packs


    further down towards the border Gujarat shared with Maharashtra. It meant I could get my guard down once in a while but not to the point where I


    lase sight of reality.


    “Sorry,” I apologized to a grumpy Ruksaar. “What were you saying?”


    “I was saying.” she gave me a pointed look before continuing, “that we should just go back to Jharna.”


    “No.” The answer was immediate and it was out before I could stop it.


    “But what’s there to see, anyway?” Ruksaar argued. “Mouri no longer exists and this ce had been rebuilt from scratch. I don’t think you''ll even be


    able to find ghosts if you stood in the middle of the desert in the dead of night!


    We entered the room and locked the door behind us and taking off our traditional clothing, changed into sweatpants and t-shirts. Ruksaar turned the


    air conditioner on full st and fanned her face with her hands. “And besides.” she gave it onest shot. “It''s hot as hell in here!”


    I shook my head at her antics before lying down on the bed beside her. “You were a newborn when I left Gujarat with you: you hardly knew anything


    of what happened here or how I''d spent the first fourteen years of my life. There might not be ghosts in the desert, Ruksaar but there are several of


    them inside me that I need to put to rest.”


    “Then what about Jnarna? What about the house that you''re building brick by brick with your own blood and sweat?” Ruksaar asked. “We aren''t


    desert wolves, Jiji! I can’t stand the heat for that long. One week is too long a time to be spending in this god forsaken vige in the middle of


    nowhere.


    “Actually Ruksaar, we are desert wolves.” I corrected. “But we''ve been living in the mountains for the past twelve years and we have adapted to the


    climate. It doesn’t change who we are.”


    “But I want to go back home,” Ruksaar said atst, her voice quiet and soft. “Shiwalik with all its snow and bone chattering cold has be home for


    me than any ce could ever have been. And now that our house is almostplete, it feels so much like home that I hate staying away from it.”


    “I can understand, Ruksaar. Just bear with me for a week?


    Yes, I could understand what she


    meant. When we''d moved to


    Shiwalik in théyniddle Himyan


    mountain rage, the ce had


    instantly ￠ awn me in. I''d feltat =>


    peace with my wolf, with my


    demapts for the first time in over a


    century. That’s why I''d star ted to


    burt a house there, arge ￠ one.


    There were over thir y roams with


    ten more under construction.


    Building that house had meant


    spending about half of what I’d


    made my entire life, but damn it, it


    was worth it.


    The house was big enough to be a


    pack house with its numerous


    rooms and humongous size. It


    wasn''t being Built skyward but


    downwardssinto the ground, not too


    far downcthoug h, since wolves liked


    to see the world outside their +


    winddws even if all they saw was


    white. The roofs were sloping so


    that the snow could fall easily on


    them and stay there for days. It was


    a house that I''d one day leave to


    Ruksaar and her pups...mine too if I


    ever decided to have any. Some day


    that house will be filled with people


    and little pups running around


    freely...some day. Content belongs


    to


    s+


    It wasn''t long before the reality of my thoughts hit me like a p across the cheek.


    Pups?


    Was I really just thinking about


    having cubs? And what would I leave


    them with exéept for nightmares


    and demons? I was in no way ready


    tobea raother and neither did I want


    a mateHt’s funny how my thoughis


    ave-Started to change as sosh as I


    had-Seen his face. I didn’t krow the


    rran; he could have a family of his


    own for God’s sake! How could I


    even begin to imagine a future with


    him, let alone have cubs with him


    when I didn''t even know his name?


    a


    Mother Nature was ying a cruel joke on me. That had to be it.


    I was finally paying for my sins, for taking all those innocent lives when I''d burned down my entire vige. There had been about two hundred people


    in that vige then; including women and children...and I''d taken everyone''s lives.


    I turned my head toward Ruksaar to find her dozing off peacefully beside me: her hands were on top of her stomach and her ck hair was scattered


    across the pillows like a halo around her. Ruksaar is only fourteen years younger than me and she is the closest thing I''ve ever had to a family. To


    think that I almost didn''t go back for her.


    I turned my head away and rubbed at my eyes with my fingers. Being back here had been Hell for me. That fateful day kept ying on repeat over


    and over in my head, making me restless and anxious.


    Why wasn''t I at peace with my past? Why couldn’t I just move on and just be rid of all these memories?


    My mate’s face came to mind at that instant and I almostughed at the irony. The same ce that I''d cleansed of all life at one point in my life was


    now giving me a reason to live on. I''ve lived for over a century, been to thousands of different ces, seen a thousand different faces...and yet, it just


    had to be here that I find my mate, just when I thought I no longer needed one.


    Yeah...Mother Nature was indeed ying a cruel game with me.