The Alpha's Temptation

Crease formed on his forehead. How come only fifty soldiers were coming? Did Eltanin think that he was so powerful that he could take him with just fifty soldiers? Or was he mocking him? No, that couldn't be. This wasn't the time to mock anyone.

The soldier continued, "There is a carriage with a wagon that is traveling right in the middle of the group."

Felis left his eating and got up. This meant that Lusitania was in the carriage. What was the wagon for? He didn't have the time to think over it. "Get me ready!" he ordered his men. He turned towards the soldier and asked, "When did you see the group?"

"I saw them, a little over two hours. It took me an hour to reach here, so they should be here in an hour or so," the soldier informed. He was patrolling the woods of the ivory forest.

A servant came to help him wash his hands. Another came to ready him up with armor and sword. If only fifty men were coming, then he would be more than enough to take over them.

As soon as he marched out of his tent, he commanded Alphard, "Take two units and hide in the forests in a way that when I order you, you are ready to ambush them."

"Yes, Your Highness," Alphard said, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Also do not touch, and I repeat, you will not touch the horse or the carriage she is riding in."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Alphard really wanted to see her but now he wouldn't dare touch her because Felis was interested in him. Saying that Alphard strode to where the soldiers had camped. He ordered five units of twenty men each to hide and come with him to the forest that surrounded the dirt path which led to the border.

In less than half an hour, all of them were in their positions, hiding in the forest and waiting for the group to arrive. Felis was standing with his army at the border. He was admiring Menkar that the man had some negotiation powers. If it had not been for him, Eltanin would have never agreed to come to the Hydra border so easily.

Anticipation built inside him as and as he heard the distant rumble in the ground. They were coming and soon all his problems would be taken care of.

He waited for an hour when he saw the first flag of the royals. There were four soldiers bearing the Draka flag. His lips lifted into a smile. He knew that Eltanin must be right behind them. He was now sure that the carriage contained the fae girl.

As and as the group came forward, Felis pulled the reins of his horse, ready to release him the moment he saw Eltanin. He was laughing at the Draka King for being so cleverly maneuvered by the High Priest of Cetus. He knew that Menkar was now ousted from Cetus, but that was just the plan. Now he was going to come to Hydra with all the secrets he had gathered so far. And then, together they are going to make the perfect strategy to bring the world Araniea to their feet.

Excited at the thought, Felis nudged his horse to move ahead a little as soon as he saw the group approaching him.

The soldiers of Draka came to a halt in front of the Hydra army.

Felis was surprised that all of them were standing absolutely still. It didn't matter. He opened his mental link with Alphard and said, "Surround them now." The moment he said that, every Nyxer of the army came out and ambushed the whole group. Yet not a single soldier flinched or looked scared.

Felis's eyes scanned the whole group. Eltanin wasn't there. Was he in the carriage? He didn't know what to do now? "Where is your king?" he shouted as he saw the flags of Draka flapping in the wind.

But oddly there was no answer. Instead, the soldiers parted and made a way for him. Felis wondered if they thought he was such a fool that he would enter between them, then they were mistaken. He had to reach the carriage because he was certain that Eltanin, Lusitania and Menkar were inside it. So, he signaled his men to follow him. As he rode towards the carriage, his men followed him.

The Draka soldiers further gave them space to enter, but none raised a sword.

Alphard was a little wary of the carriages. The last time, when he had gone near a carriage, he had come across a man with golden eyes. So he opened his mind link with Felis and said, "You have to be careful, Your Highness. Don't open the carriage, but ask someone else to open it."

As soon as Felis reached the middle of the group where the carriage and the wagon were, he yelled at the coachman to open the door.

At the same time, he nudged his horse to go towards the wagon. "Open it!" Two soldiers of the Draka opened the wagon and Felis jerked his head back in complete surprise. A very shriveled up merman was lying inside a cage. He was hardly four feet in length.

The merman had a very long white beard and white hair. His listless tail was flapping feebly against the cage. The merman coughed and said, "I— I am Menkar…"

Felis stared at the merman. His frustration rose pretty high. He was expecting a healthy priest with Eltanin and Tania, but who was this? The merman whispered something that sounded like "help" and "save" and spat blood. It was as if his body was… rotting without water. Felis was getting agitated by the minute. He turned back to the horse.

The coachman jumped and opened the carriage. A woman was sitting inside with her hood over her face in a way that her face was hidden completely.

"Who are you? Come out!" This wasn't the fae girl. Where were her wings?

The woman got out of the carriage and pulled her hood down. Shock blasted in his chest at the unexpected.