The Alpha's Temptation

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Eltanin ran to the bathroom and washed himself. When he came out, dripping in water, Tania gave him a confused look with the jar in her hand. He splotched all the way to her, snatched it from her, closed the lid of the jar and tossed it aside. On second thoughts, he picked up the jar and strode out of the room, muttering about stupid healers, meddlesome demon wolves and vicious womenkind. He threw the jar outside his room's window, lest she got any more ideas. When he went back after changing clothes, she asked, "Are you fine?" she asked. After all, she had helped him a lot, right?

He grunted, "Yes."

"I wanted to ask you a question."

"Sure," he said. "Ask away." Questions were good. Anything to distract him from what just happened. His erection was still wrapped in ice.

"Next time when you get that puffiness, will you allow me to massage you? My hands are good!"

Eltanin's eyes became wide like saucers. All the ice melted and heat pooled in his stomach. He knew he was about to "swell" in front of her, so he ran to sit on a chair and crossed his legs.

Before he could reply to her, she said, "I saw a woman, I mean a mermaid in the water right over there." She stared at the glass wall ahead. She hesitated a little, as if he was going to dismiss her, saying that she imagined. "I was surprised to see that mermaids exist?"

His lips curved up. Eltanin picked out the flesh from the marinated, salted, and roasted fish and gave it to her. "Yes, mermaids exist. You will see them every now and then around this room."

Tania's eyes widened with amazement. "Really?"

He nodded. He wanted to tell her that those were his mother's guards spying on him. She was a sea goddess and she kept a full surveillance on him. By now, he was sure that she must have come to know about Tania, but he was also sure that she wouldn't come to question him about it unless he brought it up. It was a silent communication between them, which she respected. "Yes," he replied.

Tania sucked in air. "She was beautiful…"

Eltanin chuckled. "All mermaids are beautiful."

And Tania felt a sharp emotion that stabbed her heart at his words. She surely wasn't jealous, she tried to convince herself.

Eltanin had his meals with her again and warned her before leaving, "Don't go outside this room or mine. If you do, it will be difficult for you to find your way back and what if someone sees you?" More than the fact that she would get lost, he just didn't like the fact that she would be outside, unsafe and alone. Morava was still in the palace and he didn't trust the girl. From the corner of his eye, he saw a mermaid swimming towards them. He didn't want Tania to see her. He narrowed his eyes towards her and the moment he did that, the mermaid whirled in the opposite direction.

Tania rubbed her neck and nodded lightly. She had to go out and send the message to Menkar as to what all she did in the past two days. Moreover, she didn't want to stay in the room. "I won't," she assured him. After all, at the end of the day, she was a spy and Menkar's owls waited for her somewhere in the palace gardens.

Eltanin got up from the bed. He took the tray of food and disappeared up the stairs. Tania went to the bathroom and washed up. When she came back out, she found the king was back in the room and he was staring at her. She froze in her spot wondering if she had done something wrong, when he strode over to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

Tania was completely bamboozled. She placed her hands against his chest to push him away. Why would a king hug her? "You don't have to thank me so profusely for my work," she said, her voice mumbling against his hard chest. When he removed himself, she found him gushing all over. He spun on his heels and strode out of the room without letting her speak more. Tania stared at his back bewildered because a bigger nest of butterflies stoked in her tummy.

Tired, she went off to sleep only to wake up in the evening. It was time for her to go out and find Menkar's spy who must have mingled with the palace birds to stay hidden. She was sure that she would return early, before the moon ascended in the sky and when the first flicker of torches dazzled the palace.

Tania picked up a shawl, wrapped it around her and came out of her room. She closed the door lightly behind her and walked to the hidden passageway through which Eltanin had brought her. The tunnel was damp and smelled of roses. For the first time, she realized that the tunnel had ancient paintings throughout the length of it. She picked up a torch from a holder and brought it closer. She was mesmerized by the paintings. They were of the sea, ships, mermaids and a baby. She halted at various places to study the paintings. "Beautiful!" she sighed. She placed the torch back in a holder and then walked out of the tunnel. A thick bush of roses greeted her on either side of the entryway. That explained the scent of roses.

It was not long when she strolled all the way to the orchard of the palace. She was captivated. Under the rosy sunset, the apples glowed a light shade of red. The trees stood proud of the bounty they produced. Tania could see how well maintained the orchard was. She pulled her shawl closer as her lips curled up and entered the well laid paths in between the trees. Thankfully, there was no one working at this time of the day, so feeling confident that no one would see her, she walked ahead. She picked up a stray stick and drew arrows on the ground as she walked as signs to go back in case she lost her way. She let out a low whistle to signal the owl.

The smell of the apples was enticing. Tania plucked one and then strolled ahead. She had never had this kind of freedom back in Cetus. And she didn't know if she would ever get it again, so she dug her teeth in the flesh of the apple and hummed a tune. Almost an hour later when she turned to leave, her eyes went to the bird that was sitting on a tree, watching her with its yellow orbs.

"Nomia!" she placed her hands on her heart. "You scared me!"

The owl screeched and then flew to the nearest branch over her. She relayed her message to him about the books she translated and the owl flew to the west.

She didn't know how far she had come. The day had rolled into the night. "Oh no!" she cried. On top of that a light drizzle started. "Ohhh!" she whined, realizing that her signs must have faded. So, she did the best thing she could, she started traversing the path she came from. But soon—