The Alpha's Temptation

Eltanin was already there in the meeting chamber along with King Biham and Lusitania when Ileus and Rolfe came an hour later. Eltanin had this teenage curiosity in his eyes when he saw Ileus again. Over the last one hour, he took exactly ten minutes to bathe and get dressed and spent the remaining time looking at the book closely. He memorized every picture in his mind and hoped that Ileus could leave it for him.

“Where is Prince Rigel?” Biham grunted.

Rigel was hovering around Lerna’s room. Although a maid was given to her who would assist her, Rigel had already sent a message to Tania that Lerna would need clothes and other things. Tania had sent her everything that a girl needed and then some more, but Rigel was still hovering over there. What if she needed something else? Moreover, she was his unclaimed mate. How could he leave her alone? There were two guards stationed in front of her door. That wasn’t enough. What if there were Felis’s informants in Pegasus Palace? What if she slipped in the bathroom and fall on her head? She was in potential danger of dying. And that thought was enough to pace nervously in front of her door. Rigel hadn’t… couldn’t… take a bath or change.

“He is not well,” Eltanin replied to cover up for his friend.

“I saw him hovering in front of Lerna’s room,” Ileus said with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure he is unwell?”

Eltanin coughed glaring at Ileus, but the wolf appeared stoic. “The last I saw him, he was not well,” he added. _{see…” Ileus said as he picked up a black grape and popped it in his mouth. He offered the grape and cheese tray to Rolfe. The demon picked up a cheese cube and ate it hungrily.}

Biham narrowed his eyes at Eltanin and then shook his head. The Prince of Orion should know how important meetings couldn’t be overlooked. Anyway, he turned his head to look at Ileus and said, “The faes closed the portals after Kinshra, my mate died. She was a fae. However, you must have arrived via a portal. Is there a way that you let the portals remain in Pegasii? This would be of immense help to me. I wanted to—”

“The portals that we have come through are the ones that only we can create. But the portals that faes create, can stay forever. There are some fae who can create portals in between realms and not all can do this,” replied Ileus. He plucked another grape from the plate and crushed it in his teeth. “But why were the portals closed? Faes don’t get angry very fast, but what triggered this kind of anger, that they closed all the portals?”

Biham shifted on his chair. He sucked in a sharp breath and his face became red with shame. He lifted his eyes and stared at Ileus but the moment he did that, he felt like his head was gripped under tremendous force. He became fixed in his place because he felt that if he moved, his head would explode. The golden eyes seemed to draw him in.

“Father!” Lusitania called him, her voice loaded with worry.

“Don’t call him, Tania,” Eltanin whispered. “Ileus is in his mind.”

“Wh—what?” Tania rasped. “Will he be fine?”

“Shh…” Eltanin placed a hand on hers under the table and stroked her to calm her down.

Moments later when Ileus released him, Biham sagged in his chair. There were sweat beads on his forehead.

“You rejected your mate?” Ileus said, his brows furrowing. _​

“I had to… under the circumstances…” he replied, guilt weighing him down. “She was accused of practicing black magic…”

“By your wife?”

“Yes…” Biham bit his lips as tears stung his eyes.

“Didn’t you know that faes had inherent magic?” Ileus asked, narrowing his eyes. His shoulders tensed.

“I don’t know what came over me that time,” Biham said as he let out a rough exhale. “I don’t even remember her using magic but she was always into mess. Once I found her staring at a mare who was found with a severed head. When I reached there, it was as if she was in a trance. Her maids accused her of using black magic to kill the horse. I didn’t believe it that time, but then several such instances started happening and then eventually—” Biham lifted his gaze to look at his daughter and his throat choked with emotions. “I didn’t want to… but things were just too against her…”

“Faes detest black magic. In fact, they severely punish those who are into it,” Ileus offered an explanation. “Your daughter, Lusitania, hasn’t as yet discovered her true potential as a fae. Her wings haven’t sprouted. Don’t you think that is weird?”

Biham sat there in shock, gaping at Ileus. “Lusitania… wings?” His eyes went to his equally shocked daughter.

Ileus continued, “I strongly believe that she is a target of fierce black magic and that could be the reason why she hasn’t developed her wings. Nonetheless, she should have her fae magic. And I hope that your people don’t think that she is practicing black magic.” He leaned forward. “Let me give you a hint, King Biham. Kinshra didn’t practice black magic. Someone around her had it and stalked her all the time or knew about her movements in the palace. Whosoever was it, is your culprit.”

Biham was too stuck in shock after listening to Ileus, as he took one ragged inhale after the other. He placed his hand on his chest as he wheezed, his mind too numb.

“Father!” Lusitania rushed to him and patted him on his back. Eltanin got up to get a tumbler of water for him. “Father?” Lusitania asked, her brows furrowed in anxiety.

He had water and relaxed back. He held Tania’s hand and kissed it. “I am fine…” he said. “It was the first time she had shown her worry for him and called him ‘Father’. The word had a lull in it. “I am fine,” he reassured her. After a long time when he settled, he said, “I will keep my eyes open from now on to find the person who is into this and once I find him or her, I will—” he smothered his words and his anger. He would take it out when he would meet that person.

“I am not sure, but I can help you in finding the person,” Rolfe said in order to help him. “I can detect people who don’t have inherent magic in them.

“That would be wonderful.” Biham was grateful that these people chose to visit him. He wanted to correct everything that had gone wrong in the past. “About the portals. Is there a chance that faes can create them again?”

“I think I know one such portal,” Lusitania said in a low, unconfident voice. “But its energy is very low… I can sense it in the Pegasus Palace.” She rubbed the back of her neck as if unsure.

“Oh yes!” Eltanin exclaimed. “You told me about it in Draka. Where is it?”

Ileus, Rolfe and Biham— they all looked at her incredulously.