The Alpha's Temptation

For a long time Alrakis stroked her. He caressed her back gently with his long fingers, making her feel safe in his protective embrace. He rested his chin over her head as she buried her face in his chest and cried till she was tired of crying. When she didn't have tears to cry, she let out dry sobs.

"I feel like such a fool..." she said in a hoarse voice.

"Why?" he asked, happy to hear her voice. The clam around them was still closed tightly. It was as if it was protecting the occupants.

"After so many years, it should have been nothing. The memories should have receded, but the moment I saw Nerio, they all... resurfaced." They came back to her like angry waves crashing through her body.

He kissed the crown of her head. "That's natural, Taiyi. I would have been surprised had they not come back to you. I want you to cry as much as you want to, in front of me. Because after this I won't let you cry. You are my strong woman. No one can see your tears but me. No one should know that the appearance of Nerio has affected you to the core level."

"Alrakis..." She lifted her face to her husband.

He tipped his face down to gaze into her eyes. "I mean it, Taiyi. The one person who has made our life miserable for thousands of years, can't succeed again. We won't let him." He kissed her forehead and then her eyes and the bridge of her nose. "You are my beautiful wife. Goddess of the Jade Sea. We have a beautiful family. Think of all the happiness that is going to come. Stop thinking of the past. You have dwelled enough. Let us together face the future love."

A faint smile came on her lips. Her mate was always by her side in such times. Being the queen of her kingdom, it was not possible to show her weaknesses to her subjects, but when she was alone with him, she would unwind. She buried her face in his chest again and inhaled his intoxicating smell. "I love you..."

"And I love you," he said resting his chin on her head. "No. I think I love you more than you love me."

She chuckled. "That is incorrect. I love you more than you love me."

"Well, I can prove my love is far more than yours," the stubborn man wouldn't let it go.

After their cute little banter, they went off to sleep. When Taiyi woke up in the morning, she found that Alrakis was sleeping soundly next to her. The wounds on his back had healed overnight. She removed the strands of hair from his forehead and kissed him. Then she got up and got dressed. She had a lot on her mind.

She sent a message to her father about Nerio. After that even though she wanted to meet him, she restrained herself. She wasn't sure if she would end up killing him.

When King Izo received the message, the first thing he did was to send a whole army to the Kingdom of Murel. He ordered his General to capture Murel for abetting crime and for not handing him over the prisoner of the crown.

Next, Izo went to Stourin to meet Taiyi.

"Where is he?" he growled as soon as he entered the main hall where she was waiting for him.

"Father, we have to be very patient with him," she said and explained the whole situation. "The tangerine soul stone in his neck is bound to him with dark magic and only he can unlock it. Tania is in grave danger if he doesn't agree to free her."

"So what do you suggest, Taiyi?" Izo said as his chest rumbled with a ferocious growl. "That bastard managed to stay hidden for so long. He was plotting to not only take over the whole of Araniea, he wanted to rule the Jade Sea as well. Can you imagine anyone as pathetic as him? And you want me to spare him?" He got up from the coral bench and swam away.

"I am asking you to be patient with him. If Tania dies, Eltanin will follow her to the fade. Please father," she begged him. "You must understand how crucial it is to keep him alive at this point."

Izo gritted his teeth as he stabbed his fingers in his hair. "Do you think Murel would know how to free Tania? I have sent my soldiers to capture him."

Tania jerked her head back in surprise. "That was fast!"

He shrugged. "I am going to make his life one living hell!" Suddenly, he turned to her and said, "How about we pawn Murel's life with Tania's? Who knows Nerio might yield."

Taiyi raised her eyebrow. "We can try..."

"Then take me to him. I will try my mighty best," King Izo said, rubbing his palms. He was eager to punish Nerio.

Taiyi took Izo to the deepest dungeons of her palace.

There he saw Nerio chained to a rock. His hands were outstretched. They were bound in thick chains and those chains disappeared somewhere far. His tail was tied in a net so tight that if he moved, the net only tightened further.

Izo glared at him, his chest bubbling with so much rage that he couldn't help his magic traveling up his chest and coiling down his arms.

Nerio looked at him and smirked. "Do what you want to King Izo, but you can't touch my hair. I will cast one spell and she will be dead!" Ever since he had come to the dungeons, he was cursing his fate. Had his herbs not been stolen, he wouldn't have faced this situation. Till now, he didn't know who had stolen them. Also while he was here, he tried to cast a dark spell on the tangerine soul stone, but the light inside would flicker and then extinguish just as fast.

Izo moved so fast that in less than a second, he was in front of Nerio. He peeled his lips back, baring his teeth. "You have forgotten one thing, Nerio."