The Alpha's Temptation

"But how do you know that his mate is in the palace? She could be anywhere in Hydra," Eltanin countered, his shoulders tense as he continued to stare at Rigel. He knew that look. He felt the same when he had scented Tania and she had vanished.

Those were the most painful days of his life. Now that she was in Pegasii with her father, she was safe, mostly because the two most deadly foes to her were in the dungeons of Draka, namely Morava and Sirrah. He knew that Biham would keep her heavily protected. Although that was a solace to him, he missed every second of not being with her. It wasn't his fault. He was newly mated and married. He had given up hope on ever meeting his mate over the last five hundred years of his existence, but the moment his mate bond snapped into place, he knew that that was the reason for his existence. Rigel was feeling the same kind of thing or maybe the feeling right before that. And that feeling was mostly that of insecurity, of losing… horrible.

Ileus and Rolfe also looked at Rigel. Their lips lifted up. They both kind of missed that initial  feeling of when they detected their mates.

"I can smell her," Rigel's voice came out thick and menacing. "She is in that direction," he said, pointing in front of them.

"That's where the palace is!" Ileus confirmed Eltanin's doubts.

"You better control yourself, Rigel," Eltanin warned. "Otherwise this mission will be put in jeopardy!"

Rigel let out a frustrating growl because it was becoming increasingly more difficult for him to suppress his wolf. But this mission was not about putting it into jeopardy, it was about three men who had volunteered to retrieve his mate from this place. He forced his wolf down with agony.

Eltanin had come to Hydra earlier, but he hadn't known the directions so well. He was always a captive and the place had changed over the last century.

Ileus used his magic to create an illusion in which all of them now looked like Nyxers.

The Warsle Palace lay behind a big set of carved metal gates into the mountain behind, which then laid the Crimson Peaks. There was nothing crimson about them, but it was said the demon werewolves offered up sacrifices to their god, Calaman, and so the whole base of the mountain had become crimson. But it was a rumor that had been carried by the wind and gossipers. From the base, the Crimson Peaks rose so high that it was impossible to fathom how high its peaks were. The lack of people on the outside was depressing. It appeared as if no one lived there even though there were buildings all around.

As Ileus eased his mist away, Rolfe got a hold of Felis's dark magic and slowly sliced through it, creating his own around all of them, like a shield. Then he mimicked Felis's magic and replaced it with his own. "We can't travel more than a few feet away from each other," he said in a low voice.

As soon as they reached the carved gates, they saw sentries. Clad in black trousers, they looked intimidating. And when they saw a group of four Nyxers, they became suspicious.

"We have come from the bridge," Rolfe growled like a Nyxer he was impersonating.

The sentries stared at them and then they opened the gates. As soon as they entered inside, the sentries closed the doors. They all walked inside.

The Warsle Palace was huge. There were a series of halls and rooms that were on different tiers. It was a city in itself. Everywhere they looked, there were Nyxers, who were going about their work. Hardly any of the people were talking to each other. They walked down an avenue that led to buildings and spires in a higher level that were connected with each other by stony bridges. They were carved with the same stone as the mountain. Small waterfalls pooled in the corners, which merged into a stream that ran right into the center of the palace. The source of light was from inverted mushrooms on the ceiling of the palace all along its length and breadth, they glowed a bright white.

The place was just as terrible as it was beautiful. Music from a harp played from somewhere. They passed Nyxers on their way, who were all clothed in gray tunics and black trousers. Some were in navy blue tunics while some even wore red tunics. Their faces were stern and cold. Not a single one stopped for them and Ileus knew that his illusion had worked well.

"I can sense her in that direction," Rigel whispered as he pointed to the highest spire.

Ileus's gaze traveled all the way to the spire. It looked like she was locked in that tower. There were no bridges that connected to it, so how was it possible for them to lock her inside there. "How the fuck do we get in there?" Ileus rasped as all of them continued to walk in that direction. They couldn't stop, lest it would bring on suspicion. "You came here earlier as well, didn't you?" he asked Eltanin.

"I have, but I was blindfolded. And whatever I saw back then—this place has changed into entirely something different. There are way too many buildings now!" Eltanin said with disgust.

"We had escaped from the rear side of the palace," Rigel said. "And it was bloody cold, full of snow!"

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Ileus said in an irritated voice. "We would have entered from the back of the palace!"

"You can't find your bay to the back. It's just that we got a chance and escaped. Moreover, I don't remember how we reached it!" Rigel replied.

All of a sudden, they saw two Nyxers with two werewolves that were leashed like dogs. The werewolves howled the moment they saw them. Wolves sniffed the air and snarled at them. The Nyxers pulled the wolves away without apologizing. Eltanin felt horrible for those werewolves. They must have been ordinary werewolves whose beast Felis must have leashed.

"The alphas are in a great hurry," said one of them. "They want the breeder as soon as possible!"

"I know. The alphas are restless. They want to mate with her. I can feel it in their eyes. The air around them is charged with lust," the second one remarked.

"The princess should give in. It is her duty to breed. And yet she ran away!"

"Hush!" the second Nyxer hissed. "Walls have ears."

"That is the reason she is locked up there in the highest spire!" the first one murmured.

Rigel heard them and realization hit him. He stopped and leaned against a column as he clenched his jaws. His mate was the princess of Hydra, and she was going to be taken to some of the alphas for breeding. Eltanin came and stood with Rigel. "Compose yourself!" he admonished Rigel, as Ileus and Rolfe continued to walk slowly enough to keep the illusion circle intact.

Rigel sucked in a sharp breath of air. He turned his head to look at the highest spire. He felt like running to her and grabbing her. His wolf clamored on the inside.