The Alpha's Temptation

Eltanin shrugged. "I don't know. I just kept my mind open and could connect with Fafnir."

Biham jerked his head back and tried to open his mind link with his men, but he couldn't feel anything through his mind's channel. He glanced at Eltanin and couldn't help but acknowledge that he was a very strong werewolf. Often, he had seen blue aether spilling out of his eyes. That was the sign that he was the son of a goddess, but opening a mind link through realms? That was something else.

Lord Krail was riding with Jiada. She was shifting in her place a little. "What is it, Jiada?" he asked, knowing that she did this when she was disturbed or had something in her mind which she was unsure of.

Jiada caressed her husband's knuckles and said, "I think we should both go to Pegasii, Krail."

"Why?" Krail grunted, not happy with her decision. He wanted to be with his granddaughter. Throughout the journey he had wondered about his grandchildren. He had secretly planned on meeting Alpha Alrakis and coming up with ideas on how to soon have the grandkids.

"Kinshra would need us, my lord… I don't want to leave her alone with Biham. He is a king and would be attending to his duties most of the time. Kinshra would be left alone and I am afraid that the evil forces would still be there to harm her," she replied, her voice full of concern.

Lord Krail took a shaky breath in. Evil forces. Dark magic. They had ruined his daughter's life. He couldn't agree more with his wife. "Let us see…" Saying that he sidled his horse to Ileus and Anastasia's. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

They all stopped under a giant oak tree, the thicket around which was dense. "We need to rest our horses," said Eltanin. Tania was again becoming extremely restless. She was getting in and out of daze. He looked at Flora who immediately took out a calming draft from her saddle bag and handed it to him. "Have it, Tania," Eltanin urged her. She shook her head, feeling jittery.

"It is talking to me," she said in a low and hoarse voice.

Eltanin's heart squeezed. "I know. This will stop it from talking to you." He didn't know whether what Flora gave was a calming draft or not, but he trusted Flora and he needed Tania to trust him.

Tania looked at the pale pink potion in a bottle. "Okay…" she said in a defeated voice.

Eltanin opened the cork of the bottle and gave the potion to her. She closed her eyes and leaned against his chest after having it. He caressed her hair as she sat on his lap, rocking her every now and then.

The rest of them dismounted and refreshed themselves in a nearby creek. There was a lot of anticipation as to what would happen next. Lusitania was surely going to gain a lot of attention now that her wings had sprouted. Biham had returned with Kinshra, his fae mate. How would the citizens of Pegasii take this? Ileus came to Eltanin and they talked about several things in hushed voices.

As and as they rounded the bend, they stopped speaking with each other. The ground was covered with thick moss and so even the horses' steps were quiet. The air was still. There were no birds chirping. The usual rustle of leaves as the cool winds blew was absent. With every passing hour, the temperature of the place seemed to drop. Eltanin made Tania wear the cloak and tugged his hood over her head, and tugged the halves of his on her side. She continued to keep her eyes closed, buried in the crook of his arm, battling with the magic.

The sun had started dropping from the sky to a different world. Soon, the rays of light started to fade and the mist around them thickened.

Ileus was leading the group on his horse. He pointed to a clearing and said, "This appears to be a good place to create the portal," he said.

"Do you want me to create one?" Anastasia asked, lazily. She was feeling very sleepy and just wanted to have a good night's rest. Journey through Sgiáth Bio always made her very tired.

"No, love," he kissed the crown of her head. "I can do it now. I learned it from Rolfe the last time." Anastasia gave him a weak smile as he dismounted the horse.

Ileus and Lord Krail dismounted the horse and they created two portals.

---

Alphard and his men were marching through Eslam Forest to go to the north where the Draka army was traveling. Some of his Nyxers had shifted into their wolf form. They were ahead of the rest of the army. They would go and check out the progress of the Draka army and then come back and give him the information. Alphard was happy that they were in tandem with the arrival of the Draka soldiers. He was going to ambush them just before the Pegasii border. A wave of excitement ran through him as he thought about Lusitania, the half fae. He felt like shifting but that would jeopardize his looks, so he took a deep breath in and stayed on his horse.

They reached the route where the Draka army was supposed to come. All the Nyxers halted several feet away on both sides of the dirt road. As soon as the soldiers would come, they would attack. Several Nyxers were already sent to alert them in advance. To hide their smell, the Nyxers had used oils and lotions that were extracted from the leaves of this forest.

All at once, Alphard received the information from one of the commanders, "The army has changed its path."

"What?" Alphard snapped.

"It was sudden. But they are headed to the west, near the Ivory Forest!"

Alphard's brows knitted deep. "Ivory Forest? That is high up in the north!" Why would the army go there? Unless— Alphard shouted orders. "We will go to the Ivory Forest then. Follow the route through the forests!"