The Alpha's Temptation

Chapter ?210 Has Ileus And Anastasia Arrived?

Mesmerized, Tania stared into the quiet waters that gurgled around the little embedded stones. The cave was dark, but it was the light from the stream that dimly lit it in blues and reds and violet. She stood entranced for a long while. A desperate voice from a distance trickled her senses, but the attraction to the shimmery beam was intense. She walked closer to the water and peeked over it. She could see her reflection and what she saw startled her. Her eyes had turned violet.

The lights inside moved a little, as if throbbing, as if calling her. She brought her hand over the water and touched the surface. The lights throbbed in a second and moved up to reach her hand. With a soft hissing sound, they broke the surface of water, splashing it on her trousers and wrapped themselves around her wrist. She gasped. They curled around her wrists, tightening their hold.

"Tania!" A whip-like voice sounded from behind. The next moment, stong hands grabbed her waist tightly and pulled her back with them. She fell over the chest of her rescuer, snarling, clawing. The lights burst around her wrists and left her to settle back on the surface.

"Leave me!" she snarled, wanting to crawl back to the stream.

"This is not for you right now, love," Eltanin pressed his body against hers. He was panting hard and sweating a lot. Even though she clawed at his forearms, he let her do it and slowly pulled her out of the cave room. As soon as they were out of that cave room, he fell on his back with her still in his arms.

Tania didn't know what happened to her, but she found herself heaving and sweating. She looked down and saw blood on Eltanin's arms. "Calaman's horns!" she rasped, worry etched in her voice. "What did I do?" Quickly, she rose from his chest and looked at him. His eyes were closed as he let out a sigh of relief. She cupped his face with her hands. "Eltanin? Please talk to me!"

He opened his eyes and in a hoarse voice said, "You will stay here. I am going to that stream and helping myself."

He shook his head and got up shakily on his legs. "This is the fae land. Its powers are calling you. Anastasia warned us about it, didn't she?"

She nodded through her tears, feeling utterly frustrated. She wished she could control herself.
"So just stay here, love. I will come back soon."

"What if something happens to you?" she asked.

"It won't. I don't feel the natural pull that you feel, Tania. Trust me." Saying that Eltanin dragged himself to the cave room.

When Eltanin reached the stream, he brought his hands over the surface. The shimmer of lights paled. He understood that they had no effect on him. Taking the advantage, he just flung himself in the cool water. The stream wasn't too deep. He lay on the surface beneath the water and the light moved away from him. Little did he know that they were protecting him because they had sensed that he was Lusitania's mate.

Tania continued to stay knelt on the ground. She heard water splashing and gurgling. She waited. And waited. And waited. When she couldn't stay there longer, she got up again, with dread pounding in her chest. But Eltanin caught her on the entrance. He growled, "I asked you not to come."

She bit her lips and peered past him. Except the water splashes on the ground there was nothing. He was dressed and his wounds had begun to heal already. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her away from the cave room. "We both need sleep and food," he said. "Why don't you get food from the saddlebag?"

She left him reluctantly and walked to Wind. The morning sun had come out and spread its golden needles in the sky. Tania let out a rough exhale when the sun bathed the expanse in front of her. Tree leaves fluttered in the cool wind. Birds chirped and trilled. Wind was playing with butterflies like a child. The butterflies would come and touch his skin, sparkling their magic on him. He would whinny as if tickled by the sensation. Tania laughed at him. "Winnndd!" she called him. Wind snapped his head to her and came rushing. He nuzzled her hand. She stroked his neck as he made stupid sounds. When she stopped, he nudged her for more. She almost fell but burst into a laughter. "You are absolutely mischievous!" She went to his saddlebag and took out food that was wrapped in a soft cloth for them.

As she was going inside, she heard heavy clomps of horse feet. She turned to look, and saw that Biham and Rolfe had arrived. She was so happy to see her father that she ran to him and flung herself in a warm embrace. "I was beginning to get worried!"

Biham held his daughter for as long as she allowed, smelling her hair to calm down his nerves. "And I am glad that you are fine."

Rolfe dismounted the horse and left its reins. The horse immediately ran away to graze the nearby pastures. "Has Ileus and Anastasia arrived?"

"No," she said, holding Biham's hand and tugging him inside the cave. "We found this cave and thought of resting." She looked pointedly at the valley behind them. "Can we just go back another way?"

Rolfe let out a rough exhale. He hurried inside the cave, rubbing his hands. "No, we can't!" Biham and Tania walked behind him.
They saw that Eltanin was spread over a moss-covered boulder. When their gazes met, Eltanin rolled his eyes. He turned to his side as Tania gave him the food. "This place is dangerous!" he said, opening the cloth.

Biham let out a sigh of relief seeing Eltanin. "You galloped very fast!" he scowled at him.

Eltanin picked up the frozen piece of chicken leg and took a large bite. "I shifted!"

"What?" Biham was astonished. "Are you mad? Wolves have enhanced smelling power. How could you put Tania into so much danger?"

Eltanin raised his eyebrow. "We are both fine, aren't we?"

Rolfe started going inside the cave room when he heard the stream gurgling.

"Don't go there!" Tania warned him.

"It will be fine, Tania!" he said in an exasperated voice. He took a deep breath in as if to calm down his restlessness. "What am I even doing here?" he murmured, clearly missing Iona and kids a lot.

Biham followed Rolfe and when they emerged back, both looked fresh. They all sat down near Eltanin as Tania served them more food. As Rolfe chewed on his chicken, he said, "You can rest for a few hours, Tania. I would like you to start with Yunabi."

"Over here?"

"Yes. The sooner we finish it, the better."

"I can start right now!"

Eltanin pulled her and made her sit on his lap despite the audience. He picked out a piece from the meat and fed her. "Eat first!" Tania's cheeks heated.

Biham got up and walked out. "I will wait for Ileus and Anastasia!" he said.