The Alpha's Temptation

Nerio was getting irritated and restless. He had waited so anxiously for the deal to take place to gain freedom, and all Eltanin was doing was wasting time. "Why do I feel that you are wasting my time? I know that you want to unlock Tania's soul as soon as possible, then why aren't you just closing this deal? You can tell me more stories later when we meet at tea," he mocked.

"I am not wasting my time," Eltanin replied. "I am gaining time. With you."

"What do you mean?" he said.

The man with golden eyes got up. He came to stand in front of Tania and said, "Can I see your soul stone?" Tania nodded. She took out the pendant from her neck, which he held in his hands.

Nerio got a little worried. He warned, "If you think that you can free her soul, trust me, you can't. No one knows the magic to unlock it except me. In case you didn't hear the conversation between me and the king, let me repeat it. You. Can't. Unlock. The Soul."

Nerio saw that the Shaman was hardly interested in what he was saying. He rattled his chains and shouted at him. "Are you deaf, moron?" But the man didn't budge from his place.

He turned over his shoulder and his eyes turned into blazing fires. Nerio flinched. He had never seen a man or a woman with such eyes in all of Araniea. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper.

Ileus's gaze dipped to the soul stone in his neck. He chanted a spell. "Vos un tampare!" The stone stirred a little as if something inside it yawned and was trying to stretch.

"Dodi ovana!" he commanded. The stone sighed, as if it was a living entity. A tiny drop of light came into being. It stretched itself around as if trying to feel its cage.

"Izaci!" Ileus ordered. The light stilled for a moment and then all of a sudden, a tangerine light pulsated inside it and flickered out.

"What are you doing?" Nerio shouted, now a little panicky. The stone heated up against his skin.

The light that came out of the stone sparkled and then suddenly it throbbed a brilliant red and yellow and white. After throbbing hard, it blasted away from him and sped towards Tania, who was watching it intensely.

Eltanin had grabbed her from behind. "Don't worry, love," he whispered. "I am right behind you. With you."

Tania was trembling. Her lips quivered when she saw that light traveling towards her. It zapped and towards Ileus's hand which was grasping the soul stone that Tania was wearing. Ileus released the stone and the moment he released it, the light that traveled to it hit it hard.

"Ahhhh!" Tania screamed.

"Stop it!" Nerio shouted. He was in excruciating pain. He couldn't believe what was happening. He was shocked.

The beams covered the soul stone that Tania was wearing but it was now dangling in the air in front of her, still attached to her chain. The light throbbed around it as if like a heartbeat, as if excited to finally go to where it belonged. It danced around her soul stone, zipping and sizzling.

"Ahhhh!" Tania shouted again as a wave of pain crashed through her. It was as if someone was whipping her. Tears flooded her eyes. Memories of what happened when she was just a five-year-old child flashed across her mind. Her body went still and then something snapped inside her. She shrieked and heard someone else's blood-curdling scream too. The next she knew was thrown out of her chair. Her hands and legs were outstretched and a thick beam of yellow and red light had attacked her heart.

"Tania!" Eltanin shouted the moment he couldn't hold her. She was jerked out of her chair and wrenched by an unknown source. Her wings had flared and she had closed her eyes. He could feel her pain, feel the increased heartbeat. "Stop it, Ileus!" he pleaded. He looked behind him and saw that Nerio too was in the same position. He was still shackled by the chains that were now so tight against his wrists that they were digging in his flesh.

"This can't be stopped now," Ileus said, his eyes still a fiery orange. "The soul is snapping into its right place."

Ileus had come a day before as soon as he heard that Nerio was in the dungeons. He didn't waste a minute and visited the prison where Nerio was. The merman was sleeping soundly. Ileus pierced his gaze into his mind and swiped his cell. But he was surprised how much this man had in his mind. He had shoved the unlocking spell at the back of his mind and Ileus was having a tough time finding it. By the time it was morning, he went back and informed Eltanin that it would take more time for him to swipe his cell. The man had locked the unlocking spell with a dark spell in his mind also.

When Nerio had asked for negotiations, Eltanin asked Ileus whether he should call him for it or not. Ileus needed more time so he agreed. Eltanin called Nerio and did so by the middle of the night because he knew that Nerio would grow impatient and tired by then. This would help Ileus in sweeping his cell all the more easily. When Nerio came to the meeting room, Ileus swiped the rest of his cell while Eltanin kept him busy with talks that Nerio would find interesting. There was no point in talking about Morava, but he said nonetheless because he knew that it wouldn't affect their plans even a bit.

Eltanin looked at his wife who was up in the air. She was unconscious now. Ileus had flung his hands forward. Thick white mist surrounded her legs and held her in place.

"Slepite Zadande!" he sent his command again, this time in a loud voice.