The Alpha's Temptation

Alrakis stared at Taiyi incredulously. When he saw Nerio in front of them, even he couldn't believe his eyes. It was as if he had resurrected from the dead. But the way he behaved and spoke with them, he had no doubts that it was Nerio. Ever since Taiyi had told him about Nerio, all he wanted was to capture him and kill him slowly and painfully, making him bear each and every pain that he had inflicted on his mate and wife. The mere name 'Nerio' would fill him with angst and boundless rage.

He was behind Nerio when he talked to Taiyi. Nerio was tumbling down. Alrakis dashed the dolphin after him. And to his wild surprise he saw that Nerio had closed his eyes and his face was twisted in pain. Yet another chunk of hair turned white. He was holding the saddlebag tightly as if it contained some treasure.

Taking advantage of the situation, Alrakis took his sword out and directed his dolphin past him in a way that he swayed his sword over the strap of his saddlebag. It sliced over his shin, making a deep wound on his shoulder. Nerio roared in pain, as he shot his hand to his wound. The saddlebag opened from his grasp and fell deeper in the sea. "Noooo!" Nerio yelled.

Nerio was experiencing excruciating pain because his dark magic was retracting and his real features were coming back and at the same time Alrakis had slashed him with his sword. His priority was to get the saddlebag which contained the herb, but he spun and his eyes flared with anger when he saw Alrakis behind him. With every bit of energy left in him, he flung his hands towards the werewolf casting a spell.

White beams of light sizzled through his hands and shot across the water to reach Alrakis, but his dolphin saved the rider. As if sensing the coppery tang in water, it guessed what was about to happen and dived away past him. He swirled and came behind Nerio. The lights shot through the water and somewhere deeper they disappeared.

Enraged as hell, Alrakis sliced his back all over again. Taiyi had asked him to capture the culprit. If her suspicions were right, then this was Menkar.

Nerio yelled as more pain blasted through him. He shouldn't have used his dark magic because now pain blasted inside his body. All his hair became white and wrinkles appeared, showing his true form. He dashed after the bag roaring with pain. He hoped to eat the drug raw in order to maintain his appearance or go back to it. He knew that the raw drug was potent enough to cripple him for the rest of his life, but he had to take his chances.

He dived after the bag with Alrakis on his tail, his white hair flowing behind him. No way he could show his face to his pursuers. He tried to go after the saddlebag as fast as possible leaving a trail of blood behind him. He could see it falling deeper. With a roar he went after it. It was barely a few feet away from him. In a last attempt, he flapped his tail to generate a powerful stroke and get it. He was almost there. He extended his hand and grabbed it when all of a sudden, the bag swooshed away from him.

Shocked, he looked at the bag sliding away from him and going to... Taiyi.

"Are you looking for it, Menkar?" she asked, her face seething with so much anger that he shuddered. She dangled the saddlebag in front of him. She could now see that the sketch that Tania had made was exactly like the man who was in front of her. Nerio's Truth was out.

"Give it to me, Taiyi, otherwise you don't know what I am capable of," he growled, extending his hand towards the bag.

Alrakis had chased him and was standing behind Menkar with the soldiers flanking him. Some soldiers came to protect their queen.

Taiyi was so enraged that she was trembling with all the emotions. The reality of the priest had unraveled finally.

"So you have been living under the alias of Menkar. For thousands of years, you managed to stay like that. Aren't you one sick bastard?" she said through her clenched teeth. "You were the one who informed Ukdah about me on that day. Were you not?"

Nerio chuckled. He spat blood out of his mouth. "Yes, that was me. It was one of the best days of my life. You slut! I enjoyed how he kidnapped you and then took you repeatedly. Tell me how was it with him? Was it rough or was it gentle? I heard he had a peculiar taste when it came to taking females and I wonder how it was to take a sea goddess!"

Taiyi froze. Memories of her rape flashed across her mind all over again.

A loud growl from behind came and Nerio found himself in the grip of Alrakis. His sword was on his neck. But Nerio didn't flinch. He said, "You do that and Tania's soul would never be free!"

Alrakis wanted to slash his throat and kill him. It was simply unbelievable what he had done to his family. "You are insane," he hissed. "I have yet to see a man this vicious. You are vermin. A lowly rodent who has no morales."

Nerio grabbed the soul stone in his hand. And laughed. "If you kill me, Tania would never be free."

"Then you will be taken as our prisoner!" Taiyi hissed. She came to be a hand's distance from him. "You disguised yourself and lived as the High Priest of Cetus Monastery all these years. So where is the real High Priest?"

When he didn't reply, Alrakis yanked his head up by grabbing his hair. "Answer her!"

Nerio's lips lifted in a malicious smile. "What a foolish question to ask. I killed him."

"You took his place for thousands of years only to exact revenge on me?" Taiyi asked, her voice tinging with emotions ranging from disbelief to anger.