The Alpha's Temptation

The Commanders ordered the soldiers to march towards the Ivory Forest that was up north of Eslam. It would take a few hours to reach there.

Alphard became panicky. What was the plan of King Eltanin? Why was he changing his route? There was something very fishy going on with him. Did he think that by changing the path, he was going to protect his fae lover? Well, he could dream on. There was only one unit of soldiers of the Draka army as against his five units. They were no match against him. If they tried to resist, he was going to slaughter them all and take the fae away. Alphard would have brought more units with him, but that was the maximum that could go around the forests without being detected.

All the Nyxers turned towards the Ivory Forest. Half of them shifted into their wolves in order to run faster. Their horses followed them with other Nyxers who didn't shift.

The sun had begun to set, hanging low in the sky. Alphard's worries increased as he hoped that he wasn't too late. What if they lost the track of the Draka army? King Eltanin was a sly wolf and was known to be a great war strategist. So many times Felis had tried to capture him, but the Draka King had managed to not only evade King Felis, but also take down many of their soldiers. Alphard knew that as soon as he would confront the Draka King, chances were that there would be bloody clashes. But he was ready for.

Alphard took in a deep breath and kicked his horse. The horse started to gallop.

They reached the Ivory Forest when the sun was deep down and the lights that filtered through the leaves faded. He opened his mind link with the Commanders and asked them to trace the Draka army. They all remained hidden in the forest as they tracked the enemy. An hour later they heard the familiar horses' hooves' far in distance.

Alphard grew excited. More than the confrontation with the army, he was focused on the fae girl. He repeated his order to all the Nyxers through his mind link to not touch the carriages.

They must have run for one more hour before everything came to a stop. Alphard gave them orders to halt and wait for his signal. With his breath lodged in his throat, he strained his sense of hearing for any movement. Suddenly, he heard a sizzle of energy, as if a thousand lights burned together and hissed. He looked up at the sky and saw a faint glimmer of light rays streaking against the night sky that were coming through the trees below. He couldn't understand what was going on, but he decided for it to die down before attacking the unit.

He heard various sounds. Horses neighed. Soldiers ran around. Wheels squeaking. And then everything became quiet. To his utter surprise, instead of the army going to Pegasii, they were returning back to the same route. He let them come nearer to him, glad that they were coming in his trap, unaware.

When the Draka army was crossing them, Alphard yelled his orders, "Now!" and the Nyxers collectively howled. They all ran to where the Draka army was and attacked the soldiers.

Taken by surprise, the soldiers fought against the Nyxers. There was complete mayhem. Alphard made his way to the carriages by killing the foe with his sword or his claws. The Draka soldiers were no less. Even when they were surrounded heavily, they fought severely. One Draka soldier was able to take down seven Nyxers easily.

The carriages were only a few meters away. There were three royal carriages. He didn't know which one of them carried the fae, but what surprised him was that no one was coming out of them. With doubts plaguing his mind, he neared them as two Commanders protected him. He opened the first carriage and found it empty. Shocked and angry, he strode to the second and opened its door. Even that was empty. He let out a ferocious growl and punched the wood of the carriage so hard that it shattered on impact. The horses that were pulling it reared and then ran away. Was he being made a fool? What was the Draka army doing here when there were no royals traveling?

Now his eyes were on the third carriage. He started to walk towards it with vengeance. If he didn't find the fae girl there, he was going to create so much bloodshed that the Draka soldiers would shudder whenever they would think of him.

He opened the third carriage and his gaze met with golden eyes. There was a fae woman sitting next to him and an older fae woman was seated on the opposite bench.

The man smirked at him and crossed his arms across his chest. After giving him an assessing gaze, he said, "Were you looking for Princess Lusitania?"

Alphard didn't know who the man in the carriage was. He lifted his sword and looked at the woman next to him. She was so beautiful that she had a halo around her. He had never seen such a beautiful woman in his entire life. She was like a deity. Was this Lusitania?

"No, she is Princess Anastasia of Vilinski," said Ileus, his lips lifting up.

Alphard was… stunned. How did he know what he was about to ask? "Where was Lusitania?" And was this the fae princess? He raised his sword to attack the man.

"And I am Prince Ileus of Draoidh?" Saying that, Ileus lunged at Alphard as a menacing growl emanated from his chest.

Alphard was too shocked and confused when Ileus lunged at him. With a quick thinking he moved his sword towards the legendary prince to save himself, but his sword moved through nothing but space. Ileus had burst into shadows and smoke that coalesced behind him. He fell on the floor of the carriage in between the two fae females.