The Alpha's Temptation

The servants exited the hall and Tania noticed that Nora's expressions were nonchalant. She walked out with the others. As soon as she was out of the hall, Tania lowered her voice and said to Eltanin. "Get Fafnir to keep a watch on her."

Eltanin opened his mind link and instructed Fafnir to watch Nora. Then he turned to Ileus, and glancing at Morgan, asked, "What is his crime?"

Ileus circled the servant who was sitting on his knees on the floor, trembling. "He is supplying wolfsbane illegally from the Black Fangs Mountains."

"Fuck!" Eltanin's eyes widened with shock. He turned to Morgan and grabbed his throat. He lifted him off the floor until his feet were in the air.

Morgan's eyes became red as tears started streaming down. He caught hold of Eltanin's forearm as he struggled in the air to be free. Eltanin's hand squeezed over his neck. "So you have been providing substance to kill werewolves?"

"Mercy…" Morgan sputtered. He didn't even deny his crime.

"Leave him," Tania said, touching Eltanin's back to calm him.

"I will kill him!" Eltanin growled. "How many lives has he taken? Or is he into drugs too?"

"You must leave him, Elty," Tania tried to convince him. "He is nothing but one of the links of an organized crime chain. It is vital that he stays alive."

Eltanin was extremely furious, but on Tania's insistence, he left Morgan, who immediately fell on the floor with a loud thud. He crawled away from them, rubbing his neck, coughing and wheezing.

"Guards!" Eltanin yelled. Two guards came running. "Take him to the dungeons now!"

"Please, Your Highness!" Morgan pleaded. "I will tell you everything. I will cooperate and reveal every information to you." He coughed and gulped in air as guards grasped his upper arms and lifted him up. "Don't send me to the dungeons. Just give me one more chance."

The guards started taking him away, when Tania stopped them. "Wait!"

"What is it, love?" Eltanin asked, perplexed.

"Do you supply wolfsbane in the palace too?" she asked.

Morgan shook his head. "Never! I have never supplied it in the palace."

That was a shock to both Eltanin and Tania.

"Then who was the last person whom you sold it to?" she asked. "I am sure that you don't sell it so frequently."

"I sold it to Platt. He is a soldier in your army. He came to my house to buy it today in the morning."

Eltanin clenched his teeth. He looked at the guards and waved with his chin in the direction of the door. As the guards dragged him away, he shouted, "I will cooperate and tell everything, Your Highness."

"It is not needed!" Eltanin snarled. "Prince Ileus has already swiped your mind."

Morgan's eyes flew wide open as he snapped his head to look at the Dark Prince. All he found was blazing eyes and he flinched. He looked away instantly and the guards dragged him roughly.

"I am going to meet Fafnir," said Eltanin. "Why don't both of you proceed to the dining hall? I am sure the guests must have started pouring in. Mother will be unhappy if she doesn't see you, in particular. Although this is our honor, you are the real hostess."

Tania's lips curled up. The way Eltanin said that she was the real hostess, it made her feel at home. "What are you going to do with Fafnir, Elty?" she said. "Come with me for dinner. I want to enter the dining hall with my king on the first day."

"She is right, you know," Ileus supported her. "Nothing is more important than the royal dinner."

Eltanin just wanted to go and find this soldier and be done with it. He sighed when he heard his wife's request. It was so genuine that he melted. "Okay…"

She smiled and curled her arm into his. "Let Fafnir do his work also," she chuckled.

---

The spy mounted his horse after tying the saddle bag properly, stuffed with food. He didn't know how long he would have to stay on the outside of the Draka palace. Entry to the Draka Kingdom was a challenge these days. At the same time, he hated how his master treated him over the last two days. It wasn't his fault that Tania was missing. His master was a greedy man who had so many agendas. His real name was Kypho. And he had been with Menkar for donkey years.

He rode out of the Cetus Monastery. He was going to get Lusitania this time, no matter what! He had already sent his message to his contacts in Draka with the help of his crow messengers.

---

Fafnir was supposed to be at the dinner, but after King Eltanin had given him instructions to find the soldier who bought Wolfsbane from Morgan, he was extremely furious. How was it possible that someone was selling that poisonous substance in the black market and that too, a man from the palace. Anger blasted through him when Eltanin told him about it. He rubbed his chest as he rode out of the palace and into the main market of the capital. He gave his horse to a local corral and then walked all the way to the Platt's home. There were way too many soldiers for Fafnir to remember their names, but he had found out about Platt in the records.

Platt lived in the upper story of a ramshackle building that was right behind the main market. Fafnir could have gone to him directly, instead he climbed up a roof and then padded his way towards that building, taking advantage of the quiet roads.

It was a small house with a terrace on which some herbs were drying. The smell from them wafted in the air and he knew they were dried poppy and Yage. The man was clearly into something criminal.

A lantern on the inside lent dim light to the house. A window was open. He sat quietly on the roof and waited for a while. Suddenly, he heard movement down on the road.

"Platt!" a woman banged the door rather too urgently.