The Alpha's Temptation

Mizvah hadn’t returned to Pegasii and he had shifted in his wolf to cope up with his human emotions. Finally, when he couldn’t stay without her, he shifted back in his human form. After coaxing the guards for a long time, he was allowed to meet Morava.

His fingers curled around that of Morava as his eyes became misty. She was in so much pain that he felt miserable. “It is impossible to get you out of the king’s prison, Morava. I was reading the register of your crimes. You have been convicted of drugging him and then trying to kill Princess of Pegasii–“

“Shut up!” Morava screeched. “I am the princess of Pegasii!”

Mizvah became quiet as a tear rolled out of his eye. “You are…” he murmured.

“That cunt, Lusitania, took my place. She is an imposter princess. I am the real one.” Morava left the bars and walked away from Mizvah. She stabbed her fingers in her hair and stomped her foot on the ground. “I am the real princess!”

Mizvah missed her touch immediately. “Come here, Morava,” he said. “Let’s talk.”

Moments later she strode back to him and said, “You have to do something to get me out of here!” She grabbed his tunic and pulled him towards the bars. She whispered, “I have some precious gems and jewels stashed in my room in Pegasus Palace. If you can get those, we can bribe the jailer here.” Her eyes darted between his eyes. “Can you do that for me?”

“Morava!” Mizvah’s eyes widened with terror. “That would be stealing royal gems. It is a terrible crime. They can kill me!”

“If you are careful, no one will even come to know!” She cupped his face in her hands. “This is the only way I can come out.” _{throat bobbed with emotions. He knew that every jailer had a price, and in order to free Morava, the price was going to be too high. But how would he procure the gems and even if he did that, what was there for him in it? He stared into her eyes and said, “What will you give me in return, princess?”}

Morava jerked her head back. “Wh– what do you want?” She couldn’t believe that he was asking that question.

At first Mizvah thought that he shouldn’t ask, but then if he was going to put his life at risk, then why not. “I want you to promise me that you will marry me after you are free.”

Morava was stunned into silence. Her hands dropped to her side and she tried to process his demand. “Marry you?” she repeated in a hoarse voice. After a long moment of quiet, she said, “If I am free from here in a week’s time, I will marry you.” She knew that after she would be free, she wouldn’t be accepted back in Pegasii. Mizvah would be her best option. At least she would be out of this hell. Moreover, she would be able to carefully plot Tania’s execution when she would be out.

A smile flashed across Mizvah’s face and his mood lifted. Excitement surged through him. He wasn’t sure that Morava would agree so fast. He flushed and said, “Then I will leave no stone unturned to get the gems!”

Morava chuckled. She gave him the location of the gems. Mizvah kissed her dirty hands and left saying, “I will be back in three days!”

—

Felis’s General of Army, Alphard, was getting ready to march when one of the Alphas came to him.

Looking ferocious, his eyes blazing with fury, he said, “We have decided that we are going to go with you, Alphard.”

Alphard slid his sword in his sheath as he sighed. “Lobo, you all are too precious for the Hydra Kingdom. I can’t let you just get out of Hydra to search for Lerna. Felis would bury me alive even if one of you is dead! So let me go and find Lerna for you all.”

“Lerna was going to our bride!” Lobo grunted. “How can we not go for her? Over the past three days, all of us have gone insane. We all want to breed with her and if she is not going to come fast, we will lose our patience and spill our seeds inside other breeders. Felis can go to hell!”

Alphard pursed his lips. He knew that the Alphas were waiting for Lerna for a long time. He placed both his hands on Lobo’s shoulders and said, “Give me a week. I am going to get Lerna back for you.”

Lobo growled. “We have decided that we will go with you. At present four of us will accompany you. The remainder will stay here.”

Alphard was angry at Lobo. He gritted his teeth. “Have you taken permission from Felis?”

“That is your job, not mine. Inform him that four of us are going to accompany you.”

Alphard narrowed his eyes. He turned away from Lobo, muttering curses on the inside. It was his job to stay in the direct line of fire of the demon werewolf. _​

Lobo continued, “Have you found any leads about her?”

“We have. A group of spies informed of disturbance in the borders of Pegasii and Aquila. We will be going there and then heading to Draka.”

“Why not look into Pegasii also?”

“We will…” Alphard said. He couldn’t believe that the Nyxers had hidden Lerna so well that she was practically untraceable. Over the past two days he hadn’t gotten any lead about her, except that there was some disturbance in the Aquila border. Did Rolfe take her to his kingdom?

Felis gave him the permission to take four Alphas with him. When Alphard came out, ready to march, he saw that the Alphas were already waiting for him with their units. He just reminded them to stay calm and not expose themselves.

As they marched out of the Hydra Kingdom to find Lerna, Alphard only thought was–how they would disguise themselves. With their uncontrolled tattoos that looked like tentacles of a hydra, all over their bodies, it would pose a major problem. They would have to carry out most of their work during the night.

—

Rigel was waiting for Lerna in the garden outside Tania’s room. Eltanin had ‘conveyed’ Tania’s message to him.

“How am I looking?” Rigel asked as he removed a non-existent piece of lint from his tunic. He was nervous. In his anxiety to meet her, he took bath twice and combed his hair to look good so much that his scalp burned. He felt like a teenager who was going to perhaps get the first k**s from the first girl he saw. He even started concocting plans on how to steal a k**s from Lerna.

“You are looking great!” Eltanin told him for the hundredth time. “And next time you ask me, I will chop your head off!” he grunted.

Rigel scowled at him. Then he looked at the lady servants who were running with them with a tray of food in her hands to the garden. “You better hurry up!” he goaded them. When they reached the garden, Rigel’s eyes went straight to his mate who was standing near the benches under a pergola with her head up towards the sun that came out rarely these days. He halted in his tracks as he watched her hair that looked burnished under the sunrays. Her creamy complexion looked healthier than what he saw last. She looked like an angel. His angel. Moon Goddess had chosen the most beautiful girl for him.

“Come,” Eltanin said when he found Rigel staring at Lerna. Even he was staring at Tania who was chatting with Lerna. He rubbed his chest as a warm feeling suffused him. She was so beautiful that he forgot to breathe. Both of them walked to their mates, completely mesmerized.

“Ah, there you are!” Tania said as she jumped out of her chair and hugged Eltanin immediately. Eltanin dipped his chin and his eyes went half mast as soon as she was in his arms.

“Did you miss me?” he asked.

She giggled. “You were gone for an hour Elty.”

“But I missed you.”

Rigel coughed from the side, trying to convey to him that it was his moment. Eltanin scowled at him and left Tania.

When their eyes met, Rigel’s world faded in the background.

Lerna stiffened the moment she saw Rigel. She tilted her head and noticed five women with food trays, standing right behind him. She clenched her teeth and her palms fisted tightly. Jealousy burned through her. She had never felt this emotion at all in her life and she realized that she hated being jealous. Then what could she do? As the servants placed the food trays on the table in the center, Lerna noticed how they glanced at Rigel and blushed. Anger rose in her chest to the level that she felt like shifting in her wolf. She waited for all of them to leave but the girls hovered in the close vicinity. Not able to bear it any longer, she came close to Rigel and said, “I want to shift. Can you take me somewhere where I can?” She wanted to take him away from here and be alone.

Rigel was… shocked. Her sudden demand was strange. But why was it that his wolf was cartwheeling inside? “Sure!” he said. He grabbed her hand.

Eltanin and Tania were both surprised. Eltanin was thinking of kidnapping his wife to take her to their bedchamber, but here Lerna was–she was whisking away her mate to be alone with him. He liked this girl already. Very raw, very innocent with her feelings. And he couldn’t blame her. She was so new to this environment. “Stay close to the periphery of the palace gardens!” he breathed.

“I will,” Rigel replied without looking at Eltanin. He pulled Lerna with him to the woods that surrounded the garden. As soon as he was deeper inside, he shifted into his wolf. He waited for Lerna to shift too, but all she did was to walk up to him. She buried her hands in his fur and he almost growled with pleasure.

“You are beautiful,” she rasped. He was almost as tall as she was in his wolf form. She stepped back from him. She turned and ran away. She leapt in the air and when she landed, she was on her paws. She turned her head to look at Rigel and whimpered.

When Rigel saw a beautiful, she-wolf in front of him, he let out a low howl. Lerna’s wolf had deep brown fur with a white spot on her head. He padded to her and nuzzled her. She nuzzled him back.