The Alpha's Temptation

Fafnir gave a bag to Tania. She took it and looked at it intensely. She said, "This is the bottle of wolfsbane that was found in Nora's possession."

Platt paled when Tania took the bottle out of the bag and dangled it in front of him. His eyes drifted to Nora. She started crying again. His mind went completely. What was happening? Dizziness blurred his vision and for a moment he thought he would faint. He stood in his place, trying not to fall.

Tania walked to Nora who was so pale and sick that it was impossible for her to move. As soon as she had drunk the tea, Eltanin ordered Gordon to take her to the healer. He asked him to wash her stomach so that she survived. The healer had helped her vomit it all out, yet the poison had affected her badly. She felt numb in her limbs. She couldn't move. She tried to crawl out of the bed and run, but her hands were shackled. The poison was so strong that her wolf had died. She felt like an empty shell. On top of that, the queen and the General were questioning her nonstop. The king too joined them from time to time.

Tania looked at Platt and gave him the bottle. "She says that the bottle was given by you. Now the question is, why would you want to kill your queen?"

A growl emerged from the back. Platt spun and saw the king entering. Every little kernel of energy and hope in him evaporated.

"Answer her question," Eltanin growled.

Platt spun back to the queen with wide eyes and tension radiating off his face. "I didn't give th—this b—bottle to her." He peered at Nora who had gone stiff. "I am not the kind who would do it. Sh—she is vicious." He pointed at Nora. "She must have done it on her own."

Tania raised an eyebrow. "Before you speak any further, let me tell you that we have Morgan in the dungeons. And he has already given his statement against you. You purchased wolfsbane from him." Then she gave the bottle back to Fafnir. She walked to Nora who was shrinking all the more. "You gave that wolfsbane to Nora to kill me. I am going to ask you the question again." She paused. "Why did you try to kill me? Was it on Menkar's behest?"

"Wh-who is Menkar?" Platt stuttered.

Eltanin stepped forward and slapped hard on Platt's face. He fell to the ground shrieking in pain. Blood trickled down his cheek. "This head of yours is going to go to Menkar. Now speak the truth!" he growled and his aura spilled. Platt froze. His head started aching so bad that he knelt on the ground in submission.

His lips trembled and his body shuddered. "Nora is the culprit. She asked for it. I only purchased it from Morgan, but I didn't know that she would give it to the queen." He said partial truth. Moreover, the bitch hadn't even spoken with him about how to give the poison to the queen. She just worked on her own. He hated that she was trying to show that she was smarter than him and Kypho. Look where all of them landed.

"He is a liar!" Nora whimpered. "He along with—" she snapped her mouth shut.

"Along with?" Eltanin growled his claws elongating.

Tania knew that her mate was too furious. She wanted to calm him but it was necessary to send the message to everyone that traitors would not be spared.

Nora started shaking. She looked at Platt who was glaring at her. When Eltanin looked at Platt glaring at her and stopping her to speak the name, he lunged at him. He grabbed his face and gouged Platt's left eye. His shriek resonated in the south wing. His eyeball was in Eltanin's hand. He stepped closer to Nora who had started crying. He dropped the eyeball in her lap and said, "Start speaking."

Platt was on the floor, still shrieking with pain. "Mercy, oh, great king. Mercy!" Blood trickled out of his empty eye socket. Now he realized that he had fallen into a trap set up by the royals. The trap was perfect. They played on his emotions while hiding Nora all the time. In the meantime, they saved Nora just so that she faced him during cross questioning. Now the king and queen were on their second phase of the plan. Torture.

Eltanin pointed with his chin to Fafnir. He kicked Platt in his gut and he shrieked again. Nora couldn't see the torture. The rivulets of blood that were flowing out around Platt was more than enough for her to open her mouth.

"Speakkkk!" Eltanin snarled, bringing his claws to her face.

She blurted, "We were asked by the spy of the Cetus Monastery to kill the queen."

Eltanin lowered his hand when Tania stroked his back. His nerves settled a little.

Nora continued, "The spy, Kypho, gave us money to provide him with information."

"From how long is this going on?" Eltanin asked, glancing at Fafnir.

"Almost ten years," Nora replied. "But initially the information was very insignificant. However, after we heard that a slave was your lover and then that slave turned out to be the Princess of Pegasii, our vigilance increased."

Eltanin felt like killing her, but it was Tania's hand that had stopped him.

"Kypho had increased our pay. He was the one who gave us instructions about what to do next."

"So that is how Kypho managed to get me the in the king's ball in the beginning?" Tania mused.

"We helped Kypho to get a slave girl in the ball," Nora said through her tears. "But I swear that I didn't know who it was. Kypho never revealed it to us. It was supposed to be a great secret."

Tania remembered how easy it was for her to get inside the ball where she met Eltanin for the first time.

Nora revealed—