Kama: Liberation (Vol-I)

Chapter 26: Unacceptance

Often we refuse the gifts of the universe, cursing that the divine doesn't extend love.

Alas, blind to our own foolishness, we fall in the pit of our ignorance.

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Breathless with anger, Rudra banged his fist on the wall multiple times, causing cracks to appear. They mimicked the wounds of his stubborn heart. He growled, tearing apart curtains in the wake of his intractable temper.

"She can't be my mate."

Devanj and Dilrobar exchanged glances. They knew this was to happen.

Rudra had to face the truth. He had to bleed, more than he ever did. He had to change his ways and thinking. Love wasn't going to come as and when he wanted.

Life was way more complicated.

Mataraj Pushyaar remained stoic. Rudra tried to read her, dig up what was beneath that violently violet gaze. The crimson veins were visible on her eyes. She scowled at him. "You have to accept."

Pushyaar's ways were always straight, sharp and harsh. She didn't know how to bend words or be delicate, not with her worthless son. Rudra glared at her in shock, his mind drowning in denial. "Is this what you have to say?" He held the chair where she was sitting and towered above her. Both stared daggers at each other, ripping souls apart. "Shreds of my love lay all around Ishgar, Revat and Gandhar. Those who know me, know this monster loved only once." Rudra pointed a finger at Pushyaar. "I am not going to love a second time."

Devanj and Dilrobar stepped back from their territory, watching the tension unfold from a distance. Pushyaar yanked the Rajan by the collar, baring her teeth at the show of his fangs. "What is going inside your head, Rudra, that you dare to attack me with your wrath?"

He narrowed his ebony eyes. "Anyone who asks me to love a second time is my enemy. I don't care if that's my mother, Mataraj. You already know I have bad memories with that word."

Mataraj spat on his face. Rudra wiped the saliva and glared at her. "Is this what the Mataraj chooses to do?"

"You were never used to being disciplined in a softer manner. You grew up in ruckus." Pushyaar's hands shimmered with a faint white glow and she threw him across the room. Rudra landed on the floor with a thud, his crown smashing to pieces. "You call me your foe because I agree to Indumala being your mate. But Pasha, your own wolf has chosen her."

Hot tears streamed down his scarlet eyes. He didn't care that the holy crown lay broken into pieces. To the inhabitants of the palace, this would have been an omen. He recalled his coronation day, when the cackling witchy wolf decided to raise the world as its unwanted cub.

"I will kill my wolf."

Mataraj's merciless laughter reverberated in the room, making Rudra shut his ears and groan. "You, Rudra, are immortal. You cannot kill yourself," she said, poking his gaping scars with salty stakes.

"Do you have to remind me that, Maa?" he cried, his face drenched in sorrow. "I want to kill myself. I don't want to live. Not to love another woman who isn't Petra."

"But Rudra, you must move on–" Dilrobar tried to reason, but was stopped.

Rudra pushed Dilrobar with the force of a thousand storming boulders. She wrenched her ankle but was caught from falling by Devanj. Rudra held her braid and tugged at it as cruelly as possible. "You don't have the right to speak here, Dilrobar. You are one of the most shameless women I have ever seen." He grabbed her hand and twisted it, making her scream. "You were behind her killing, so don't act like you are a complete saint now."