The Alpha Killed My Husband

1| It's Finished: Where it began

*THE WORK IS BEING EDITED SIMULTANEOUSLY. KINDLY, CLEAR YOUR CACHE MEMORY IN THE SETTINGS TO GET EDITED CHAPTERS.*

Sarvayoni's:

'It's payment time.' The Supervisor announced, rubbing his dirty hands all over his chin. A few of his pimples have popped open where the trickle of blood with some fluid is smudged over the place. I grimaced in disgust at the sight of the frowning man. His mustache itched from the two sides of his upper lips as a permanent displeased expression is plastered on his ugly face.

Mad-Manish, as my co-workers like to call him, is a pain in the ass for an employer. He is a crook who likes to shout profanities like he is chanting a mantra, is never satisfied no matter how hard one works, and is a pro at finding defects. But, he is extremely successful in managing the inherited bar: The Rajbhog, and helping the enemies in disguise, like myself, unconsciously.

The noise of the cutleries clashing immediately came to a halt. There are rounds of happy chatter. No wonder Saturday is everyone's favorite. It has to be. It provides us with everything other days in the week are incapable of: freedom, happiness, and money.

'Starting with Komal.' He flashes me a disgustingly lustful smirk and points at the back cottage where his 'office for official purposes' is. 'Be quick!' He nods and walks to the back of the hall before he disappears behind two shabby wooden doors.

Komal SR. has been my identity for three years. For three years, I have been an orphan, a hobo, putting up on the streets and living at the werewolf's mercy.

From riches to rags. From castle to tavern. From soft, fluffy beds to hard cold floors. From Queen Sarvayoni to Waitress Komal SR. From The Sarp-Samrajya to Cape Comorin, I have come a long way, yet it feels strange every time someone addresses me with that. I am still not used to the harshness in people's tones. Being royalty, I am used to people treating me with the utmost respect.

It takes me a moment to comprehend that he is expecting me to follow him. The piercing eyes are on me. Had I been in the castle, I would have ordered that brat's execution in a snap. If only he had not ruined my life, killed my protector...I would not be subject to such lustful gazes.

'If,'

'What are you going to buy this week, Sarva?' Avika asks with a smile on her face. She speaks 'Sarva' in whispers, looking around to check if anyone is eavesdropping. No one does. No one would. No one cares. It is always like this in Appy Lane.

I frowned at her, taking the maid's whole being in my head. Avika is still charming, happy, and compassionate as she used to be three years back before...the final war. No wonder Mad-Manish has a soft spot for her and...I.

His ugliness has soft spots for every single living creature with a v****a. After all, he has got a reputation to maintain, a family to cherish.

Well, quite a few on that note!

Mad-Manish is passionate about only two things in his life—the Rajbhog, my workplace, and making as many babies as he can. The bald guy with a pouch for a tummy is already serving twenty of his pups back home and another one is due by the end of the month with his third wife.

Population explosion, anyone?

It has been more than a year since I have been working in the Rajbhog and not a single day has passed by since he did not suggest doing 'something' to enhance my prospects.

The audacity! The tolerance!

Dignity is my first precious commodity that was sold before I stepped foot in Cape Comorin. I just wish I could kill even a single one of them. I cannot. Not now. I don't want to be spotted. I would not do anything that'd make the Alpha suspicious that I am alive. I want to take him on the way he did to us: surprise.

To divert my anger towards a more sophisticated being who would not report me right away, I look at Avika's face hotly, hating the chirp in her voice.

She is getting way too comfortable in this pathetic life as a waitress amongst the dogs. Has she already forgotten our days of hardship? Has she forgotten the nights on the streets? Has she forgotten the vengeful oath?

'Pages!' I muse in a stern voice, giving her a harsh look that makes her smile fall immediately. Better!

'You will buy pages? Again?' She raises her perfectly shaped eyebrows in disappointment. Her composure changes and her shoulder falls. Maybe she was expecting another reply but I have none of it.

'Yes.' I nod, suddenly out of breath. I have been buying tons of pages every week—around eleven. I can only afford that much. Pages are extremely expensive in Cape Comorin, especially after the launch of those sleek devices with flat touch screens and an accompanying pencil with changeable nibs—they call them, tablets.

I like to scribble my plans, my days of misery, and the schedules on pages alongside some stories that get published at weekly and help me earn fifty rupees or a hundred. It offers me peace and perfect anonymity.

The production of paper is out of fashion nowadays. There are only a handful of companies that still make it and they charge handsomely for the painful efforts. I, very obviously, cannot afford it with this pathetic job as a waitress. The life I used to have!

As I untie my apron and make my way to the back of the room, I am reminded of the big day approaching.

Luna on the visit! The big poster read. I roll my eyes at the beautiful smiling face of Luna Aaradhya—faithful companion of my nemesis. My hatred towards him is unspeakable. If only I can reach him and kill him in the most painful way possible.

'Very soon!' I sigh.

As I open the backdoor, I am gritted by slight drizzles. I look up to spot heavy gray clouds looming over the place. It is going to be the first rain of the monsoon as it was on the day...

****

The Invasion:

The sky was drizzling slightly. It had been hours since the clouds had turned gray and started dampening the surface. It was the first rain of the monsoon. The soil was soft and muddy and it had soaked up to her knees. The girl ran deeper into the woods. Her flip-flops slapped against the surface. Her face was sweat-soaked and her breathing came out rugged.

She was Avika, my best friend and the head maid of the palace that was then crumbled to pieces as thousands of insensible, brain-washed dogs climb up to the treasures I and my husband, the Maharaja, had preserved for years.

They were looting every one of our precious possessions, only at the command of a single person—Alpha Rudransh.

She approaches a slender figure, standing by the river. It was unaffected by the bad weather. The prickly drops did not bother it. It had its back towards her, yet Avika could predict the expression and conflicts her queen might be having at the moment.

I, Sarvayoni: the queen serpent, was waiting for her with my heart in my mouth. Even though both of us were prejudicially familiar with the circumstances, our hope lingered on the sentence of confirmation as if it would change anything and chase those horrendous werewolves out of the region.

Avika's heart was beating furiously. It was breaking into a million pieces with each step she was taking towards me, Queen of Cobras. Her poor Sarvayoni! I could feel it coming out of her. I could feel it.

Her anklets made soft jingles, battling against the hue and cries in the background.

Ordinarily, Avika would twirl in arrogance. The sound is used to accelerate the heartbeats of the males effortlessly. The powerful snakes would turn around to acknowledge her gracing presence. She would squirm in pride when she would spot longingness floating in those dark orbs.

The Maharaja used to admire it too. He never expressed it verbally but being a woman, I could feel it.

Only it was falling on deaf dead ears. The seduction and happiness were evaporating along with the empire's regime, and so was the hope in my heart.

'The werewolves have taken over.' Avika panted breathlessly. Her sweat-soaked face was crimson. Her gasps were the only sound audible.

The serpent observed my rigid posture but slightly fallen shoulders. I had accepted defeat. No matter what Avika says, it will fall on deaf ears and a heart heavy with loss. Still, Avika could not stop herself. She was overwhelmed.

'Those dogs are dancing on the dead bodies. We are homeless. We are street beggars. Everything is gone, Sarva. Everything...they ruin-ruined us. You are a widow. I am a widow now. Our males are killed. Those monsters are brutal. They are taking their heads with them.' The young serpent cried. 'Now, they are hunting for us.'

Avika fell to her knees and sobbed on the earth. The heavenly fragrance of the earth that used to soothe her and a million other souls of The Sarp-Samrajya was now stinking with the presence of excessive iron in the blood, raw gunpowder, heavy dark smoke, and fire everywhere.

The war was over. The werewolves were the new rulers. Alpha Rudransh is the chief man. The army of snakes had surrendered but I would not.

Avika wanted to gag and vomit. The knot in her stomach was legitimately making her see white spots, but then females like her aren't that fragile. Her queen needed her in that deciding moment of disaster. As a Sakha (head maid), it was her duty to be at my side. She had taken a blood oath for the effect. She will never let her ancestors down.

Avika was reminded of the great valor of her mother and grandmother and great-grandmothers.

Rules and oaths and blood and bonds— are the foundation of our Samrajya. We can take more than it appears. Surely, in front of the mighty werewolf, we are mere reptiles. We lack muscle strength but, the snakes can kill. We are venomous. Our Lord, Shiva, has blessed us with the deadliest poison available on the face of the earth. We are the best revenge-seekers in the history of civilization.

The serpents do not forgive.

The mythical creatures around the world used to fear our wrath. Even a single parchment could bring havoc in the neighboring politics. It was until Alpha Rudransha took over the reins.

Still, the Maharaja had never predicted the worst invasion in our territory. None had ever fostered such courage except him...the filthy, douchebag Alpha. I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth. At the moment, I would give every breath of mine to have that dog's head hung in the middle of the square.

'Did Maharaja Vachaspati—' The small yet sensational voice was hesitant. I could not come up to speak it aloud. I could not believe that it was I who was speaking.

My twenty-four-year-old self had never anticipated that my eyes would witness such a m******e of my netizens. Ideally, I should have died alongside my husband—following my husband's commands, listening to his orders, ensuring his happiness, and providing him with all the pleasure available in the world. Those were the clauses of THE GOOD WIFE CHARTER that I had read before getting the crown.

I had never given a f**k about it then. How can I now, when he is no more? I am furious, but not because of my husband's demise. It was the destroying force that had enraged the devils.

'They killed them...all of them. M-M-M-Maharaja Vachaspati is-is no more. The dogs killed your husband, Sarva. They killed our king.' Avika's voice came out hoarse from all the crying and yelling. She was still weeping over the horrifying scene she had just witnessed.

The scream of agony and for help was still echoing in her ears.

She had seen her people dying, children being abducted by brutal creatures who, she thought, might feast on them late at night and guffaw at the crunchy taste of their tails. The snakes were lying all over, like bundles of ropes after they attended the original form.

She had seen shape-shifted females dragged by dogs.

Who knows what those monsters might do to them? Those pitiable females will be r***d, tortured, and murdered brutally. They will extract the poison canals out of their bodies and...no! She cannot even imagine it. Avika visibly shudders.

Unlike serpents, werewolves crave mating throughout the year. If they find their 'soulmate', there is nothing in between them and the woman. They won't think twice before pinning them on their bed and performing the horizontal dance without consent.

The dogs never bothered about consent. They have no respect for their women who, according to them, are only destined to birth their pups.

They neither seduce nor impress. It was all Avika and I had learned in our classes about world geography and shared politics. Things were not different in our Samrajya, but the males protected and fed us. They do not bother us about s*x until habitation season.

Even during the season, the males would try to seduce the females rather than forcing themselves like some lust-driven beasts.

It was all a female serpent would need—respect and a powerful snake to protect us while we lay eggs. The females are most vulnerable during inhabitation.

Unlike werewolves, once pregnant, a female serpent cannot shape-shift. We would have to crawl around and hiss venom to protect ourselves. It is in those times that a powerful mate comes to the rescue.

Now, the shield has been snatched off, we are unprotected from the naked eyes of our predator.

It is something that has been happening for years. It will happen again and again. It happens after each war. How could the war between the serpents and the werewolves be different?

'Did they eat him?' I asked, turning around. My heartbeats are going wild. My eggs are still unhatched and in the warmth of the castle. I cannot go and rescue my unborn child. My hope all lingered over a single male who is being served some beast's breakfast.

Once again, Avika felt herself in awe at my beauty. Even though she has seen me a billion times, naked and clothed, she still behaves as if it is the first time she is looking at me. Cladded in a knee-length floral night robe, I stand more than five feet tall in all my pride. My bronze hair was flirting recklessly with the heavy wind while my brown skin had taken a shade of pink. I was not used to being in the open for a long time.

It had been a week since I and Avika had taken refuge in an unknown corner of the city— Hanuman Hill.

Almost seven days when the earth had been shaken by the massive explosion of bombs. The trembling was rapid with tanks approaching the castle, followed by army troops. Maharaja Vachaspati had to command an immediate flee. They fought. They lost.

As a princess, my whole life has been surrounded by comfort. Till fourteen, my father provided me with every ounce of luxury available in our regime. I was pampered, spoiled, and awry of the sorrows of society. My preaching made me a ruler who would be more concerned over filling up the treasures than fretting over social issues. It was the males who had to concern themselves with all of it.

It was the first time she had found herself in gruesome trouble. I hate it.

It was during my fifteenth habitation season, that I lost herself to the courtship of Maharaja Vachaspati, the cobra. I was smitten with the copious tongue flicking, nudging, and body rubbing during the party. The male had attempted to dominate and impress me with his large size wrapping around my body like no other. His persistent attempts to convince me had melted my heart that he was a suitable mate to bear offspring.

The cobra dance had gone on for quite some time before I had allowed copulation, which had taken roughly two days.

My golden eyes were blank at the recollection. The heart-shaped lips whimpered when another explosion echoed in the background, shaking me to the core. That time was my worst nightmare.

'We have to leave now.' I had hissed in a venomous voice. My eyes were zeroed on something ruffling behind Avika in the woods. Maybe the dogs had traced the hidden canal. There was a troop of soldiers approaching us.

Avika's tall frame tensed. She was not expecting me to consider fleeing. It was written all over her face. The bravery wanted her to see me fighting till my last breath. She wanted me, Rani Sarvayoni, to wrap her mighty tail around their throat and inject the poisonous venom down their heart.

Her long braided hair wiggles from side to side when she rakes her eyes at the lady who once used to own the whole region, but was now staring at nothingness. My ocean-blue eyes had moisture of pain and helplessness.

'Do you not want to fight, Sarva? How can we show our backs to the enemies?' Avika asked in bewilderment. Her voice broke at the edge as it turned desperate in expectations.

'The braves do not act impulsively. Their every action is planned. We were caught off guard in the middle of the night. We are snatched off our land and honor. We will do the same for them. In fact, worse. We are retreating to return, Avika. We will be back to seek revenge from the Alpha. Now is just not the right time.' I explained in a powerful voice.

My eyes kept flickering back in the wood where smoke could be seen from a distance. I knew we were short on time and any conflict could only result in death. I wouldn't die without making my enemy taste the bitterness of my venom.

'Where are we going?' Avika asked, climbing by my side. The determined words had restored her faith in her lady. If I said I had plans, I HAD plans.

'Anywhere that takes me away from him. I need to perform penance for my enemy's destruction. From today onwards, my life will be solely spent on seeking revenge on the Alpha who killed my husband.' I hissed.

I turned around, closed my eyes, and took the form of my origin—a long golden King Cobra with a crown on its head. The hissings of the Nagini can be heard even from a distance. It was scary yet beautiful.

Avika follows the queue and shapeshifts into a black snake slightly smaller than me. Together, we joined the flow of the river. I had decided to let my fate lead me. I had blind faith in my lord, The AnathNath.

****

'I do not have all day, Komal. Hurry up!' Mad-Manish's voice brings me back to the present. It breaks my heart to realize that I have yet to avenge my husband's death and the fall of my country. It enrages me to accept that it has been more than three years and I have yet to taste my worst enemy's blood.

I may be late, but I am not defeated. Tomorrow's sun will witness a new glory of vengeance and hate.

I am coming to Alpha Rudransh. 'It is not finished.'