The Alpha's Temptation

Every muscle in Nerio's body strained. That was Kypho. His voice was coming from somewhere far, but was audible. A woman laughed along with him.

"I didn't know that they would also catch you…" Kypho said.

"Shut up!" the woman shouted. "Jaka will wake up!"

But Kypho continued, "You deserve it, Menkar. I was hoping that you were caught sooner. Though if you still had me, you would have been safe…"

Rage bubbled inside his chest. "Did you give away the secrets? You are bound by dark spells not to give them away."

After a momentary silence, Kypho laughed. "I didn't have to give away anything. They just took it from me…"

Nerio struggled against his chains. "Tell me more! I demand it."

"Why should I tell you anything?" Kypho replied. "I am not under you any longer. You are just as much a prisoner over here as I am."

"You bloody bastard!" Nerio shouted. "You were with me for centuries. I took care of you, and this is how you pay me back?"

A loud clank was heard as if someone threw a boulder at the iron bars.

"Stay quiet, you whore!" Kypho yelled. "I am here because of you."

"You stay quiet dimwit. Jaka is sleeping!" the woman shouted back.

"Who is Jaka?" Nerio asked, not understanding the conversation between them.

The main door of the dungeons opened and Gordon walked in with a group of soldiers. As soon as Nerio saw him, he said, "I want to talk to the king. Get him now!"

Gordon ignored him completely. They opened the door of the cell next to him and pushed a prisoner inside it. Nerio heard a whimper and a sob. The guards grabbed the prisoner who seemed to be a woman with mangled hair and wearing tattered clothes. They shackled her wrists in long chains with the iron hooks. After that they all left, closing the door behind them.

The woman stared after them through her mangled hair that had come over her face. "Filthy jerks!" she spat.

When Nerio's eyes went to her, his brows furrowed. The woman snapped her head to his side and Nerio jumped up. "Sirrah?" She was appearing so thin and fragile. Wrinkles marred her skin. Her complexion was like that of a ghost. Her looks were like that of a maniac.

Sirrah narrowed her eyes. "Menkar?" she whispered as surprise bubbled in her chest. Her lips lifted into a sarcastic smile. "What brings you here? The mighty High Priest is adorning the cells of Draka. That calls for a celebration."

Nerio hissed at her. "I think you should worry about your status. The mighty queen who wanted to depose the real queen and went as far as trying to kill the real heir and the fae mate of the kingdom of Pegasii, the queen who was the master of schemes and royal plots, one who even staged fake wars between Hydra and Pegasii just to keep her husband away from his mate—" Nerios paused to see her reaction. "She was trapped and brought to Draka jail? Did the prisons of Pegasii not accept you? Or is it that Biham has rejected you?"

Sirrah lunged at him as her chains pulled her back. "You cretin! Don't forget that you were with me in this ploy!"

Nerio laughed. He shrugged. "I don't care. I will soon be free and you will still be here! However, have you heard where your daughter Morava is now?"

The gates of the dungeon opened and once again Nerio tilted his head to look as far as possible.

"Where is she?" asked Sirrah. She hadn't heard from Morava in a long time. She had asked the guards a number of times about her, but no one replied to her questions.

Nerio saw that Gordon was coming.

"Where is she?" Sirrah shouted at him.

"She is in the kingdom of Hydra," Nerio replied to dismiss her, his focus on Gordon.

Sirrah fell down on the floor, her body going listless. "Hydra?" she whispered. "How did she reach Hydra?"

Gordon came to Nerios's dungeon and said, "The king will be meeting you tomorrow."

A smile spread on his lips. Nerio looked smugly at the jailor and then sat back quietly on the damp ground. He was going to trade with the king. Tania's soul for his freedom.

When he didn't answer her back, Sirrah grew impatient. "How did she reach Hydra?" she screeched. "She was imprisoned with me!" Sirrah couldn't believe that Morava was free while she was still rotting in the Draka dungeons.

Nerio gritted his teeth. "How do I know? Ask the king when he comes here tomorrow."

"You will rot in hell!" Sirrah spat.

Nerio narrowed his eyes. "And you too."

Nerio couldn't sleep for the whole day and night. He waited for Eltanin. He had rehearsed his speech with him a hundred times. He was going to first ask them to free him and send him to Hydra borders where he would free her soul from the stone. And if he was lucky, then Felis would come and rescue him. He wouldn't even have to release Tania. And if that happened, then he would win.

He couldn't help laughing at the thought. The thought was so exciting that he felt on top of the world.

He waited for the whole morning but the king didn't come. Then he waited for the afternoon, but Eltanin didn't come then either. He grew restless. It was almost at midnight when he had closed his eyes to go off to sleep when Gordon came with a dozen guards. "The king has called you to the meeting chambers of the palace," he informed.

Nerio's excitement went a notch higher. Finally his demands would be met with. "Then what are you waiting for?" he said. "Take me up there!"

The guards opened his shackles and took him upstairs to the meeting room. The palace was absolutely quiet at this hour of the night. As soon as Nerio reached the meeting room, he saw Eltanin and Lusitania and a pair of golden eyes.