Aryan's Lethal Obsession

Aryan

"Baba, will you be eating with Adah?"

Amma's question halted me in my tracks. It has been three days, yet Amma isn't bored of asking me the same question. Three days since I buried Lylah and sat before her grave for as long as I could remember. Three days of visiting Adah, only when she is asleep. Three days since, Tareq reports her daily activities, including her eating time and food intake.

"I will have my food in the dining room," I replied, knowing well what her next question would be.

"Should I ask Adah to join you?"

I sighed and turned around. "I have to leave early. No need to wake her up."

It wasn't intentional on my part to not meet her, or the urge to keep looking at her had lessened. It was the other way around. The obsession is turning thick, and before I drown her with my constant hovering, I give her the necessary respite from me. Another reason to avoid her was staring at me from the ground.

Hunter.

After losing Lylan, his only companion, he refused to leave my side. Every morning, he joined me in my workout routine, tagging along with me during breakfast. In the evening, as soon as he heard the sound of my car, he rushed to the door and waited for me. Every time I look at his lonely form, the pain surge through my heart and spreads across my chest. Maybe he was missing his friend and looking for comfort in me.

I failed Lylah. That's on me, but given a chance, would I still choose to protect Adah? The answer will still remain yes, irrespective of the scenarios. She is mine to have and mine to protect. No one can lay a hand on her, not under my roof or my watch.

I walked to the dining room, with Hunter following. Before I saw her, I smelled her when a faint scent of Lavender hit me. I raise my eyes from my phone to find Adah waiting in the dining room, adorning a wine-colored saree. On seeing me, she hastily stood up from the seat, but after one look at Hunter beside me, her expression fell. She took a small back step but didn't attempt to run away. Her arms were still clad with bandages.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, walking up to my seat.

When I was met with silence, I looked at Adah and followed her line of sight to see Hunter still at the door. Instead of growling at her, he kept staring at her, cocking his head to the side. This was the first time they met after Lylah's death, and I feared he would bark at her in anger. However, he surprised me and wagged his tail.

A laugh escaped me looking at his infatuation with Adah; that makes us two of them.

"Hunter, come here, boy."

His gaze flitted between me and Adah, and the next moment, he jogged to her and sat beside her. He still remembers my words to protect her even though he lost his friend while doing that. With Adah's pale face, she looked like she would rather lock herself, but something stopped her. Grabbing the table hard, she lowered herself to her seat. I couldn't help but raise my brow in suspicion.

Just then, Amma entered along with the staff carrying the breakfast. The surprise on her face seeing Adah told me she was not the mastermind behind it. She stared at me with a question, and I only shook my head slightly, telling her I didn't call for Adah.

I expected Adah to request me to move Hunter away from her, but her silence only made me curious. If that was not all, her appearance at breakfast, proactively dressed as my bride, set my instincts on alert. I masked my thoughts and waited till Amma and the staff were out, and only Adah and I remained.

Grabbing my cutlery, I let the silence intensify her uneasiness. Seeing her dressed to be ravaged and devoured, my throat was already parched, but I had to rein it in my desire to eat her.