The Alpha's Temptation

When Eltanin ran towards the guest wing, he had to suppress an urge to shift and run because he knew that if he shifted, his wolf would tear apart Princess Morava. There were about a dozen guards following him along with Fafnir. He banged open the door of Morava's bedroom and found that it was empty. Everything inside was in its place. The bed looked as if it was made recently,there wasn't a single wrinkle. It looked as if no one had even lived here. Her strong scent was also missing, replaced by that of mint and lavender.

"Call the servants who attended to her!" he barked as he ran to the closets. He couldn't believe what he saw. Not a single gown of hers was hanging. Everything was wiped clean. He placed his hands on his waist, astonished that he didn't see this coming. She was gone without even informing him.

The servants who attended to her came and stood in a line in front of him, trembling with fear.

"When did she leave?" Eltanin asked in a cold voice that promised slaughter.

"She left only a few hours back," said one of them in a low voice. "We were asked to pack everything in her room up and load it into the wagons."

"Princess Morava was in a great hurry," another servant added. "She had received a letter from her mother that she was unwell."

A muscle feathered in his jaw. "How do you know about that?" asked Eltanin. How would a servant know about such a personal letter?

"Her companion, Lady Ivy, was asking about it loudly and so we had all overheard."

Eltanin was not ready to believe that Morava would run away so quickly from his palace. She stuck to him like a fly on meat, then why would she suddenly leave? His suspicions grew even stronger. Ever since he had killed Giada and humiliated her in front of the soldiers and servants, she was looking for an opportunity to get to him. She got him at his weakest point. The bitch surely had Tania with her. And if he discovered Tania in her entourage to Pegasii, he was going to burn her at the stakes in his kingdom, letting others see it as a form of punishment.

He snapped his head towards Fafnir. "I want to meet with my father. When is Rigel arriving?"

"Your Highness, Alpha Alrakis is sleeping," Fafnir cautioned.

"Then wake him up!" he roared. "And send a unit to meet Rigel with my message!"

Fafnir jumped in place. The king was furious as hell. That meant that the servant girl was extremely important. Has the king finally fallen in love with a girl? And that too a slave girl? He nodded as he blinked. "Yes, Your Highness!" He bowed and scurried away.

---

Tania was bound, gagged and blindfolded. She was jerked awake by a bump on the floor. Something was moving and she was on the floor of it. She tried to wiggle her hands and legs, but she was stuffed in a place where she couldn't move much. The smell of mint, lavender, rose and eucalyptus oils wafted in the air. Her skin scraped against the hard metal of the trunks. She heard the creak of the wheel that was perhaps being driven by the horses. And the horses were running fast. Every bump on the road made her wince. Her ribs hurt badly. She tried to make a noise, but only heard herself mumbling against the gag cloth. Tears rolled out of her eyes as her heart slammed against her ribs.

Ivy, Princess Morava's lady companion, had abducted her. But why? Did Ivy find out Tania was the king's mate, or was this revenge because she kicked Giada and Orna? But taking such drastic measures for something so minuscule as kicking the ladies, was ridiculous. A whimper left her. She missed Eltanin immensely. She should have listened to him and stayed put, but she had wanted to send the message to Menkar. Why hadn't Nomia come? That was the second time he hadn't come out on her call. How she hoped that Eltanin would come and take her away from here as soon as possible. She promised that she would never stray again.

Tania tried her best to untie the ropes, but she just couldn't, there was no room for her to maneuver around. Fiery pain branded her wrists, stopping her. The more she tried to untie them, the more they tightened on her harder. Her throat was dry and her breath came out in short, uneven pants.

After what felt like hours of a nonstop journey, the wagon finally stopped. She waited for someone to come. She wanted to confront Ivy and ask her why. Was Princess Morava also with the entourage? She waited for a long time, but other than hearing the horses neighing and soldiers running around, her wagon never opened. She remained inside. She used every bit of energy she had left to kick the trunks, and make some noise. She heard soldiers laughing at her efforts and calling her a fool. Panic crept up into her throat, making it harder to breathe.

The wagon started to move soon after. Her pulse quickened and she felt as if she would vomit.

Eltanin.

An image of him flashed across her mind. More tears rolled down her cheeks. More images of him bounced around in her mind and her heart squeezed with love for him. It was not long when Tania had drifted off into darkness due to the lack of air.

When she opened her eyes again, she heard voices of a man and a woman. She had been dumped somewhere. Perhaps in a dungeon since the place was stone cold. Her gag and ties had been removed and someone threw a bucket full of cold water onto her face. She snapped her eyes open, but she was so tired, her vision was blurry from being blindfolded for so long. Despite the biting cold of the water, she couldn't open her eyes. She heard voices echoing from a distance, warbled and ghostly.

"Where am I?" was all she managed to croak out through her dry throat.

"In Pegasii," a woman's voice reached her ears. Was that Ivy?

Shock and disbelief blasted through her. The last time she ran through the Eslam forests, near the Pegasii borders, she had encountered the spirit of a winged horse and had followed it. She recalled how she had been blasted away from the border by a dark spell. Then how was she able to pass through the borders now? Nothing made sense. She was confused and tired and her ribs were aching.

Through her hazy vision, she saw heavy booted legs near her head. She was rolled over by them, but it was too dark to see the face of the person who did this to her.

"Tomorrow you will be executed," said the woman. "The princess is resting for now. She plans on whipping you before she executes you." The woman snickered.

She heard her boots clicking on the stone floor, the metal gates of the dungeon closing and the heavy lock dropping in its place.