The Alpha's Temptation

As soon as Tania entered the garden, mist rolled in front of her over the ground and wrapped her thighs as if embracing its lover. The door closed on its own with a loud groan. She shuddered and exhaled roughly.

The mist was thick, smelling of burnt wood and cedar and soft fragrance of flowers. She looked up at the sky and realized the haze of the morning sun. The mist was obscuring the mountains. It was so thick that the visibility was very poor. However, she could make out rows and rows of flowers as their thick scent hung in the air. When she glanced on her side, as she walked on the cobbled path between them, she saw how mist clung to the petals of the roses, condensing into small drops.

"This place remains clouded forever," said Biham. "The spirit will sense you and appear."

Lusitania wanted to say that she had met the spirit earlier, but she decided against it because then Biham would ask as to what she was doing in the Eslam forests.

They continued to walk through the gardens and reached the center. Suddenly the mist in front of them separated, curling away and showing the lush green grass on the ground. She heard soft hooves on the ground. She forgot to breathe when the head of a white horse emerged from the mist. As it slowly came towards her, she found herself gazing into his eyes. The white horse was taller than her, almost one and half times taller. He neighed softly as he came to her. Tania was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the horse. Its mane of white hair fell on one side.

"Pegasus," said Biham. "He is the spirit of Pegasii."

Goosebumps pebbled her skin at the sight. The mist around the spirit cleared completely and Tania noticed that his body was golden until he flared his massive wings that were golden in color.

Tania was stunned. With wide eyes she gaped at the gorgeous golden winged horse.

The spirit came near her and sniffed her. "Lusitania…" it said in a low voice that sounded as if it came from a hollow. Pegasus circled her as if inspecting her. "We have met before…" he said.

She didn't speak a word. She couldn't speak a word. Pegasus circled her again, his soft feathers touching her. She could feel cool sensations on her body as the feathers brushed her. They would disappear when they touched her and then reappear. Pegasus came to stand right in front of her and said, "Biham, you have a fine heiress. She would make a lovely queen."

Biham bowed to the spirit. "Your blessings count oh great Pegasus!"

Pegasus whuffled as if he would laugh. He lowered his head in front of Tania. She raised her hand to touch him but her hands met with the cool sensation of clouds. All at once, a sharp pain like numerous ants biting her occurred on her left arm and the side of her body. She felt like scratching it, but restrained.

"If you ever want to ride me, all you have to do is remember my name in your thoughts. I will come."

She wondered how she would ride a spirit. As if understanding her predicament, he said, "Only you will have the honor to ride me, Lusitania and no one else. I am yet to allow a ruler of Pegasii to sit on my back."

She let out a breathy, "Thank you."

Pegasus stepped back a little and then lowered his head to her in the form of courtesy. After that, he turned sharply. He started running but his hooves didn't touch the ground. Moments later, he spread his golden wings in the air and flew away.

Tania realized that she was staring at him without blinking her eyes. When he disappeared in the sky and the mist rolled back, she snapped out of her reverie. The pain returned on her left upper arm and the side of her body. She scratched herself out there. "Ah!"

"What happened?" Biham asked with worry.

"Nothing," she replied, pursing her lips.

Biham was ecstatic. There were tears of joy in his eyes. He held Tania's hand and squeezed it tightly. Then he pulled her in his embrace and said, "I am so grateful to deities to bring back my child. I never dared to dream that my child would one day enter the royal gardens, but look at you—" he said as he pulled away and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Pegasus has invited you to ride on him. Do you realize what a great honor that is?"

Tania nodded. She was dazzled and awed at the same time.

"Come, it is time to take you to show to the world," Biham said with pride filled in his chest.

As they walked back to the doors of the garden, her itch enhanced. "Ah!" she grabbed her arm. The pain was so terrible that she doubled up and sank on the ground.

"Lusitania!" Biham sat with her, perturbed as hell. "What is—" he snapped his mouth shut when he saw black lines forming on her upper arm. Her birth tattoo was taking shape. When the child was born, the tattoo was already there on his or her body, but in case of Lusitania, it was appearing or forming now that the spirit had approved of her. And he knew that the tattoo was going to be a large one. The lines crawled at a rapid speed on her arm as she shrieked with pain. All he could do was watch her and stroke her back as the black ink curled and crawled beneath her skin.

Tania was in tears. She didn't know what was happening to her. She felt as if her left arm was going numb with pain. She wanted to scratch it and remove all the ants and spiders and scorpions that were biting her, but Biham had held her right hand at the back. She screamed in pain. Sweat beads formed on her head and she was panting. "Stop it. Stop it." She begged. It took a while before the pain stopped and by that time, her face was flushed red, tears stained her cheeks and her lips had swollen a little more like that of a baby. She sat on her calves and gazed at her left upper arm. She gasped when she saw the tattoo of a winged horse over there. The golden wings of the horse flapped once and then settled permanently.

"That shows that you belong to the kingdom of Pegasii," Biham said proudly. Even his tattoo wasn't as beautiful as hers. It had black lines, but hers — it had golden wings.

They walked out of the royal gardens and as soon as they came to the main hall, Tania's gaze met with Eltanin's. She stifled a squeal of joy and an urge to go and be with him and he smothered a strong impulse to go and pacify her. She was looking like she had emerged out of a storm. His eyes fell on her new tattoo and he gulped. So, Tania was the princess of Pegasii. His eyes filled with pride. His trance broke when he heard a low growl of King Biham who stepped in front of Tania as if protecting her from him.