The Alpha's Temptation

"Exact revenge upon you?" Nerio hissed. "Because of you, I became a criminal in my home. Because your father came after me, I couldn't even stay in the Jade Sea. You people ousted me from my home. And you are talking about exacting revenge? I should have killed you or I should have asked Ukdah to kill you. That should have been your punishment. Raped and killed! But that demon wanted a son from you, and so he waited."

Taiyi's anger had no bounds. She lifted her hand and backhanded him. Alrakis removed his sword in time and Nerio tumbled down. The guards came around him and grabbed him. Taiyi swam to him and slapped him hard again. "Now I am going to put in a prison where you will get the same treatment as I got in those years. No, you deserve worse. I am going to—"

"Shut up, cunt!" Nerio yelled. "That's what you and your father are about!" He mocked her voice. "This punishment and that."

The soldier behind him grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. "Do you want us to kill him?" he asked.

Taiyi put her hand up to stop him. "And you are full of shit," she retorted. "A psychopath. A man who knowingly gave me in the hands on a demon and then disguised himself on the lands of Araniea as the High Priest of Cetus Monastery can't be a sane man. You went to the lengths of eating that herb for thousands of years and waited for an opportunity to get back at me. You knew about Lusitania after Sirrah used you to cast spells on Kinshra. And so you went after that poor girl. You knew about the prophecy and that is why you bought her." It wasn't difficult for the sea goddess to connect the dots. Everything became clear in her eyes. Her gaze went to the tangerine soul stone that was dangling as a pendant in his neck chain.

Nerio's eyes became wide with surprise. "How do you know about Sirrah and Kinshra?"

"I know much more than you thought I would know." She grabbed the pendent. Rage blasted in her chest. "What is your endgame, Nerio?"

Nerio let out a humorless laugh. "If you want Tania's soul back, you have to free me. And then you will also come to know my endgame."

Taiyi scoffed, "You have run out of all the deals, Nerio. Now you are at my mercy. I don't have anything to talk to you about!"

"I am going to put Tania into a lot of trouble. She will die and then your son will die too! I know they are mates!" She tried to take the chain out of his neck, but it wouldn't come out.

He laughed. "Did you think that it would be so easy to get it out of my neck? It is secured there with darkest spells. No one can take it out but me!"

Taiyi didn't want to talk anymore to him in front of the soldiers. She looked at them and pointed with her chin to take him to Stourin. She could have taken him to the capital, but she knew her father was going to simply kill him, but she needed him a little longer.

When the guards started to take him, Nerio struggled. "You are making a big mistake, Taiyi. I am going to kill Lusitania if you don't free me now. I swear to you—"

Alrakis hit him with the hilt of his sword on his head and he passed off. "The galls!" Alrakis grasped Taiyi's waist. He opened his mind link with her and said, 'You are coming with me.'

'Alrakis…' she choked with emotions. It was difficult to speak another word even through her mental link.

He pulled her close to his chest and found her shivering against him. He took her to the dolphin and made her sit in front of him. 'You are coming with me.' He caught the reins of the dolphin and as if knowing what to do, the ride dove into the sea and started towards Stourin.

Taiyi remained quiet for the whole journey back to Stourin. All these years of agony had resurfaced. The reminders of force that Ukdah used with her sent shivers down her body. It was as if she was reliving them even now.

After they came back, Taiyi personally took him to the deepest of her dungeons, right where Nerina was. "See her and see her well. Look what I have done to her." She wasn't aware that Nerina was his daughter, but she knew that she was Murel's daughter.

Nerio shuddered when he saw his daughter coming to life and then dying again. From the way Taiyi addressed her, he was sure that she didn't know she was his daughter. At the same time he knew that he was no match to Taiyi's magic, but he had a piece of Tania's soul. And only he knew the magic to release it.

"Even if you chain me like that, Taiyi, remember, you will be at a severe disadvantage. I am going to make you suffer."

Flashback:

"Ukdah!" she rasped. He had abducted her and brought her to the Hydra Kingdom. "Don't do this with me." With his demonic tattoos and eyes that flickered orange, he looked like someone who had stepped out of hell.

He laughed as he crawled on the bed. She stumbled back and hit the headboard of the bed. He had brought her to his chamber. "I will do this every day, Taiyi. Now you are mine. You will give birth to my heirs." Saying that he grabbed her neck.

---

Taiyi woke up with a scream that worked its way up in her throat. Alrakis jerked awake and pulled his wife in his lap. "Taiyi…" he whispered her name again and again until she calmed down. He rocked her in his lap and she buried her face in his chest. "I am here…" he reassured her.