The Alpha's Temptation

Rigel lunged at it with his dagger but in the next moment his scent hit his nostrils and in order to stop himself, he lost his balance, falling over the table. "Fuck you!" he growled.

Eltanin picked up the flap of the tent and stared at his friend, who was still on the ground. "What are you doing here on the borders of Hydra and Pegasii?" he growled, his lips peeling from his teeth. "Had my spies not seen you loitering on this side, I would have never known! Are you out of your mind? Or is it something that I am missing?"

"Stop acting like my father!" Rigel snapped at him as he grabbed Eltanin's extended hand to get up.

"Stop acting like your father?" Eltanin slapped his butt. "Fuck you! I think I should let your father know about it."

"Get out!" Rigel groaned as he rubbed his buttocks and limped back to his bed.

Before Rigel could hit back with his pillow, Eltanin jumped into the bed and stretched himself out. "So, care to tell me why are you here?" he said and propped his head on his elbow.

Rigel rolled his eyes. "Where is Lusitania and why are you here? Aren't you newly married? You should be catering to your wife and not me. Or have you fallen in love with me? Do I have to act like your wife now?" He leaned over to Eltanin, fluttered his eyes and said in high-pitched voice, "My sweetheart, I can't fuck you!"

Eltanin slapped him again on his butt. "You do not even remotely resemble my sweetheart and I wouldn't fuck you even if you were the last man standing in Araniea. So, get back to the point. Why are you here?"

Rigel sighed. "I think I have scented my mate."

Eltanin got up with a start, stunned and shocked. Rigel took advantage of the movement  and he went back to lie on his pillow with his hand over his head.

"You have scented your mate? In Pegasii? Somewhere in the borders of Pegasii? Is she from one of the remote settlements around here? What does she look like? And why the hell are you here and not with her? Take me to her? I hope she hasn't rejected you!"

Eltanin threw so many questions that Rigel groaned. "She isn't from Pegasii..."

"Then where is she from?" he asked excitedly. "And I can't believe that you finally found your mate!" Eltanin had imagined a thousand scenarios on how he would react to Rigel finding a mate, but at the moment all of them had vanished. His friend was a promiscuous wolf. He loved to have sex every night and it was a well-known fact that Rigel loved to... indulge. Orgies were common in his presence. Or he liked to have more than one sex partner. But to have a mate? What was he going to do? The girl has to be special for him. Eltanin was sure that the Moon Goddess would pair him with an equally lusty partner who would cater to all his sexual demands.

Rigel closed his lips tightly. He removed his hand from his head and said, "She is in the Hydra Kingdom."

Eltanin's mouth fell to the floor as his stomach curled into thick knots. His lips parted with a shocked gasp. "Hydra?" He stared at Rigel for a long moment trying to absorb the shock of the information. "That is fucking twisted," he said talking to himself. "How the hell will you retrieve her?" He would have asked Rigel to reject his mate, but for that his mate should be in front of him. Someone from Hydra meant the girl would be a breeder. Would it even be worth rescuing her? Goosebumps pebbled him just thinking about how could Rigel be paired with a girl from Hydra? Going in that kingdom meant inviting death. He got out of the bed, as tension rippled through the air.

His lips curled up when he said, "With help."

"What kind of help?" Eltanin retorted. "I have come here with two units of soldiers and I see that you have only one unit. That means that between the two of us, we have no more than a hundred soldiers. In order to retrieve your mate from Hydra, you would need the whole damn army of yours as well as my kingdom! And you are here all alone with one unit of soldiers to attack Hydra and get your mate? Have you lost your balls wolf?"

Rigel chuckled. "No. I got help from two legendary men of Lore."

"Who? I am the only one here. Who is the other one?" Eltanin said so cockily that Rigel stared at him for a moment.

"Ileus Volkov and Rolfe Aramaer."

Eltanin raised his eyebrow. A moment later he  tipped his head up and roared with laughter. He laughed so hard that he held his stomach and then sat down next to his friend. "You have actually lost your mind!" He shook his head. "Your mate is in the Hydra Kingdom and you are here with one unit of soldiers and now you are saying that you will extract the girl with the help of Ileus and Rolfe. Rigel--" Eltanin said when he stopped laughing. "--come to your senses wolf and stop imagining things! They both are from a realm whose gates are closed forever."

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," Rigel replied. He replayed the evening's events as Eltanin heard it with rapt attention.

"I would like to meet Ileus and Rolfe!" Eltanin demanded eagerly. "Where are they?"

"There's one more thing I want to add. You see I made a deal with them that I would take them to you after they helped me to get back my mate, but your presence here has ruined my chance. Now they will see you here and rather go with you to help Lusitania with translating Yunabi. That was their purpose for coming here..."

"Lusitania is in Pegasii."

It was Rigel's turn to be shocked. "What? Why? Don't tell me that old fool, Biham, forced her to go back with him?"

Eltanin scratched his scalp. He poked his tongue into his cheek and looked away, guilt weighing upon him. After his 'concubine' remark, she was so peeved at him that she left with her father. Biham had wanted her to go with him anyways. Obviously, Eltanin couldn't leave her alone, so he went along with her to Pegasii, much to Biham's chagrin. It was here that his spies had spotted Rigel.

Biham had fully recovered physically, but his wife's betrayal was eating him up  inside. This was the best opportunity to make Lusitania learn about the affairs of how to run a kingdom. While he would have fun walking without responsibility, he was going to shoulder it all on Lusitania. Surprisingly, when he was told that Eltanin and Lusitania were mates, he was stunned, but he accepted it gracefully. It was Alpha Alrakis who gave him the news. The old man was shrewd. He knew that it was important to keep Biham on their side for the smooth functioning of their plans.

"What happened man?" Rigel asked, bewildered.

"I think she misunderstood me..." was all the information he was going to give Rigel. He changed the topic. "Take me to Ileus and Rolfe!"