"Why do I find solace in my loneliness But find sorrow with those with whom I share the same blood
Why do I hide behind these fake smiles of happiness
When this sorrow and unrest washes over my soul like a flood
Its pathetic how I'm laughing on the outside Laughing at how everyting is all right
While I'm crying and dying on the inside
Not wanting anyone to see my sad sad plight"

***********************

Tiara

Last night went like a drunken stupor for me. I remember getting in the car after dinner, but everything else passed around me like I was in a state of trance. I recall Gerald opening my side of the door when we reached my place. I remember him knocking at my door and Helen opening it for me. But I don't remember much after that. Like I was still in a daze while I said my gudnites to god knows who and went inside my room only to go straight to bed and passout. My brain was so drained with the overwhelming events of yesterday that I just wanted to sleep it over and forget everything that happened like a dream. One can only hope.

Next day when I woke up, it was like any normal day. I felt better. I realized I was still in the dress I wore yesterday and recalled jumping straight into bed as soon as I was back home. Groaning, I dragged myself to the bathroom and went on with my daily routine. While in the middle of the bath I heard the doorbell ring. It must be Gerald and Fiona. Helen is home to open it anyways. Not thinking much about it I finished my bath. Halen is like a grandmother I never had. She was a family friend and treated my mother as her own. After the unfortunate event of my family's demise, I remember clinging to Helen 24/7. And she did an extraordinary job taking care of me in thier absence. I live with her since then.

Gerald and Fiona were not far away, giving me every support I needed ever since. They even mooved beside Helen's house to keep us company. I heard a knock on my bedroom door and quickly wore my robe to open it, only to find Helen with a frawning face. "Morning sweety. Some people are here to see you. I suggest you dress up and come down. They are in the living room." Before I ask who are they, she rushed back down like her ass was on fire. Odd. I wanted to take my sweet time to get ready but my curiosity had its own mind and within minutes I was out of my room and down the stairs to the living / kitchen/ dining room. I found 3 people siting on one couch, facing me. Helen, Gerald and Fiona. And two of our "guests" who turned in time to look back sensing my arrival.

"YOU GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Was the first thing that came out of my mouth. "GET OUT!...OUT!" I spat with so much of venom in my tone, that it would kill someone on spot with the amout of poison I poured while delivering it. It was Kenneth and someone I have seen only once. The one who was a loyal messenger for delivering the divorce papers and making sure I signed it. So you can imagine my level of temperament when I see their sorry ass faces standing right infront of me as this very moment.

"Tiara? Please calm down. I know you want to be anywhere but here at this moment but I just came to talk. Hear me out and then you can ask me to get the hell out of here and won't find me protesting. Please?" Kenneth said as softly as he can with his deep voice. "What makes you think that you can come here to my place, sit on my sofa and order me to listin to you. Who the fuck you think you are?" I said, walking around and standing closer to my only family, I think will support me no matter what. Like on queue, Gerald stood up beside me, putting his protective hand around my shoulder and glared at Kenneth.

An inhuman roar made me jump with wide eyes. "GET YOU HAND OFF MY MATE RIGHT NOW OR I'LL BURN YOU TO ASHES, CREEPER!!" warned Kenneth with a manacing voice. Like it was Kenneth, but some demon at the same time. Gerald reluctantly took his hand off me, but still look shell shocked. I don't know if he got frightened by Kenneth's inhuman voice or he was surprised like all of us, that Kenneth called me his mate. All of us were speechless untill the man who accompanied his 'master' spoke. "Falkor? Calm down. You're scaring your mate." Falkor? Who's Falkor?? Like a magic spell was taken off, Kenneth came to his senses, blinking his eyes.

"What the hell was that freak show about?" I asked, looking straight at Kenneth, who was for some odd reason not meeting my eyes. "Care to explain?" I pressed, not letting it go. "In time. I will. But please just let me plead my case to you for now. I have lots to say, if you could just bare my presence for 5 damn minutes. I'm begging you, please Tiara?" He said, with so much vulnerability in his voice that it was hard to believe, he's the same being seconds ago who was trying to tear everyone apart in his blind rage.

I looked at Gerald for some much needed advice. His hands were fisted by his side, eyes still glaring daggers at Kenneth, letting me know that he is not a fan of that idea right now. Fiona was no different. She was standing beside her husband, holding his arm to calm him down but with a permanent frawn plastered on her face, looking as irritated as me. That left me with Helen. To my surprise, she was as calm as a cucumber. She met my eyes and nod slightly, asking me to go with it. I sighed defeatedly, not liking this situation I'm in right now.

I looked back at Kenneth and gesture him to sit. "5 minutes. That's all I have. And then you would leave. I have priorities that needs my attention." I said, folding my hands with a blank face. He Bobbed his head and send one last longing look toward me before he took a deep breath and started talking. "First of all, I'm sorry for the pain I put you through all these years." Fiona scoffed in the background. I was tempted to do just that but hold myself back at the last moment. Kenneth released a heavy breath and continued. "It was never my intention Tiara, you have to believe me. It pained me as much as it pained you baby. There is a lot that you don't know about me." He looked straight into my eyes to check if I was still with him so far.

"I know enough to not trust you again." I said with a flat tone. He let a frustrated sigh out. "NO! Tiara. You just know half of it. There's so much that I wanted to tell you but I guess I was a little late to confess." He said, with tears filled eyed. I looked away, not wanting to fall for his act. "I'm a Dragon." He said making me meet his eyes in disbelief. He nodded. "Yes. And it's one of our must follow rules that I can't reveal my secrets to anyone unless it's a family." He said, looking at me guiltily. "What about us?" Asked Fiona, with a straight face. "Tiara is my wife, that makes you all family too" he said with a sad smile.

"Was" I said, making his smile fall. He looked confused. "What?" He asked. Is he being serious right now? I tried to refresh his memory. "I was your wife. Untill I signed the divorce papers. We're no longer married. Or did you forget all about it?" I asked glaring at his companion. Realization hit him like a light bulb. "Oh...That was my friends and brothers's idea to check if..." he stopped taking a peep at his messenger for some help to finish his sentence. "That you're a gold digger or not" is he out of his mind?

"What the fuck?" Hissed Gerald. "You're joking right?" That's it. "I think your 5 minutes are up. You can leave now." I said, turning my back at them and walked towards the kitchen to take a glass of water to cool my anger. He had crossed the limits. I have no intention to talk to him anymore. "Im sorry Tiara. I know you hate to even look at my face right now but you have to give a chance. Hear my side of story before coming to a conclusion. You need to know, why I did what I did." Said Kenneth following me to the kitchen. "How could you even think so cheap of me Kenneth!? I don't blame your family or friends to accuse me of something so vile but you going with their ideas to test my intentions, is just so infuriating."

"I know. I'm sorry. But I was not in right mindset to approve or protest to things happening around me then. By the time I came back to my senses, I had already lost you. It was all a big misunderstanding princess. I swear to heavens." He said, holding his hair in a tight grip with all intentions to uproot it. He looked defeated and mad at the same time. I thought to give him a chance to explain himself to me. "What do you mean by 'not in the right mindset'? Is this the reason why you left your newly wedded wife on bed waiting, just after you said 'I do'?" I'm not going to forgive him for what he did to me but I have every right to know the answer for every question I had for him, that nearly killed me and pushed me towards the madness.

"Yes. If I would have stayed that night to consummate our marriage then I would have killed you, Tiara. So I had to run away like a coward and believed that I could explain my situation to you after I'm through my transformation." I looked at him confused. "What are you even talking about Kenneth? What transformation? I'm this close to explode. What fucking story is he blabbering about?" His friend took this as his queue to help his friend out. "What he meant was...every dragon under the age of 100 years are considered teenagers. We reach our adulthood, when we reach 100. Our dragons reach their maturity and power. And around this time, a dragon's emotions are 10 times intense than usual.

If he's starving, he could go on a hunting spree, to saite his hunger. If he's mad he could kill anyone, anyone without thinking twice and let's not talk about their sextual needs. They become animals on bed. Like he said, he could have killed you if not for me. I convinced him to come back with me untill his transition was over. So the blame is on me Tiara." He said, putting an assuring hand on Kenneth's shoulder.

"So, let me phrase it this way. Kenneth was about to turn 100 and he couldn't trust me enough, his own wife with his secrets, so he ran away like the coward that he was and hid behind his family and put his trust on his friend to play the hero and his dirty game of keeping us away only to finally succeed in the process of completely pushing me away in the end?" I gave them both a sarcastic smile. Kenneth wiped his face with both his hands. Like he doesn't know how else to convince me to believe his sorry ass story.

"I'm not sure what he's expecting from me?" I told Kenneth's friend who looked as guilty as him. Then I turned to Kenneth. "Because I don't know if you're trying to play safe by covering your mistakes just because you realized I'm your mate and want me back in your life, Kenneth but that's not going to happen. So I suggest you leave now and forget everything that ever happened as a dream and move on...like I did few years back." I said walking towards the door and opening it wide, a clean sign for them that we're done here.

I was looking straight ahead at the poster on the wall to avoid their gages. I saw them moving and soon enough they were standing outside my door. "I don't know if you realize this Tiara but, you can't run away from your destined one. I'm not giving up on you just because you're not ready to see the big picture here, princess. I'll keep coming back untill you see how much I still love you. And I know soon you'll feel the pull towards me." That made me mad. I feel like scratching his face off. "Whatever makes your dragon sleep at night Kenneth." I said, slamming the door at their faces.

I stayed that way for a while untill I was sure they left. After few minutes I heard a engine start and they left. I released a breath, I didn't know I was holding. "Can we have breakfast? I'm staving." I felt exhausted all of a sudden. "Me too. I was wondering, when they would leave." Said Fiona, following a silent Helen. "Don't strain your brain too much Sis. And you did the right thing, asking them to leave. Dragon or shifter or fae...no matter who, it is wrong to keep secrets from your other half. I didn't believe a single ass excuse he was throwing at us to cover his wrong doings." Said Gerald, pulling Fiona to his side and kissing her hair. Like he can't imagine putting her into such despair ever.

"Right. I still believe, he left you because all of a sudden he realized you're a mistake and as he was turning 100, he knew it's time he would find his mate and must have panicked and you were like a hindrance that he was desperate to get rid of before his true mate pops up. Although karma is a bitch. Who knew you would turn out to be his true mate, after his indirect rejection for you." Said Fiona, smirking. "I still can't believe He's your mate." She said in deep thought.

"Mate or not. He's not going to come back. I never forget people who are kind to me. Like wise I don't forgive those who are unkind to me either."

Please vote and comment. See you next chapter. Chao

Lina.