The Alpha's Temptation

Chapter 44 Rescue

She wondered if she was even fit for the role she was supposed to play. There was absolutely no tell-tale sign of the king being the avatar of God. He was an utterly shameless man. Were gods shameless like him and so clingy for that matter? Her cheeks burned when she remembered how he pulled her in his lap and made her eat food from him. Who does that? She grew suspicious of the fact that he had come to know of her mission and was cajoling her by being so caring in order for her to spit out her purpose. Her innocent heart couldn't think that the king had any other mission.

"Noooo!" another scream boomed across the corridor as more servants were pulled out.

Tania steeled her heart. "Enough!" she rasped. She was going to present herself in order to save all other servants. And in the meantime, she hoped that the king would notice her absence. But that wasn't going to make a difference because he was going to get married to Princess Morava and Giada was associated with the princess. He was most likely going to abet whatever Giada was doing or going to do. She strode to the door of her room and the moment she was about to open it, a low and dangerous growl emanated from behind her.

Tania spun on her heel as her heart leapt out of her ribcage, and her eyes widened when she saw a massive black wolf, nearly as tall as Glenn, in a solid mass of muscle and shiny fur. His lips were peeled back baring his sharp fangs and he was growling menacingly. His beautiful midnight fur shone and bristled in the  candle light of her room. For a long moment, her gaze remained locked with his. Her skin was lined with pimples when she saw a flicker of silvery blue spilling out of his eyes.

"Calaman's horns!" she said in a gravelly voice, her body shuddering as the wolf approached her. She turned sharply and made for the door, but the wolf leapt across the room and pinned her beneath him. He placed a paw over her back as if stopping her from opening the door. She turned her neck to  the right to face him while praying to every deity she could think of. And when she looked up, she found his snout right over her face. She froze. His low rumble turned into a deep growl and it stole her breath away. His eyes flickered again. They glowed silvery on the edges in the dim light.

Terror sank its claws into her. The sound that rumbled out of him was an ominous threat.

Eltanin growled at her, first out of anger that she didn't return back to him, and then out of frustration that she was going to jeopardize her life. He had rushed to his bedchamber in order to slip away from his guards. He had then shifted and glided his way out of the palace through a secret passageway under the cover of the night. Just to be doubly sure that no one followed, he rushed to the forest. Once he was in the forest and assured that no one came after him, he ran towards  the servant quarters and sniffed her scent to find her room. However, when he arrived in her room, he heard the commotion that was occurring outside the quarters. His first impulse was to rip out the throat of Giada.

He removed his paw from on top of her when found her visibly still beneath him. He could sense her fear, so he moved back from her. But to his chagrin, Tania hastily got up and scrambled towards the door, stifling a shriek.

He lurched at her, shifting. Every bone in his body cracked and reformed as his midnight fur retreated from every inch of his body. His paws lifted and, within a few seconds, he stood naked in front of her. "You really shouldn't have left me," he said in a garbled voice. "At all." He found her frozen in place with shoulders drawn back and eyes wide like a trencher on the trestle table.

There came a heavy knocking on the door. "Come with me!" he ordered in a low voice. _{ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​}

"Wh— what are you doing here?" Tania couldn't help but squeak when he stepped forward in all his naked glory.

"Open up!" the guard shouted from the outside. He was knocking so forcefully that the doorshook. "Who is inside?" He pounded the door harder. Eltanin rolled his eyes. He was sure that his guard had sniffed out his presence and was doubting as to what was going on.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, her voice still squeaky. She was blushing till her neck and trying to keep her eyes above his chest.

"This is not the time for questions!" he growled.

The guard shouted loudly. "Open up!"

Eltanin heard Giada on the other side. "The girl is surely in there. That's why she won't open the door. Break open the door!"

"I—" Before Tania could finish her sentence, Eltanin grabbed her thighs and lifted her up as if she weighed nothing. He threw her over his shoulder and the next moment he jumped out of the window. The door opened the moment he nimbly landed outside. After that, he didn't look back and ran with her, through the secret passageway, all the way back to his bedchamber. He heard her protesting, but nothing was more important than getting her back to safety. As for Giada, he had plans for her. His bedroom was the safest place for her to be.

Eltanin slid her down his body to the floor. His breath was ragged and his jaws  clenching tightly as he stared at her with his onyx eyes. He was feeling exponentially  better now that she was with him. All his fury and rage had vanished and  his nerves calmed just by feeling her touch. He had rescued her successfully.

The moment she was on the floor, she stumbled back away from him to maintain some distance, her cheeks became beetroot red. Her mind stopped working when she looked at his chest, refusing to look anywhere else. "Stay here," he ordered her, releasing his aura. She winced and nodded her head in silence. "I will be right back." Saying that, he walked towards his bathroom. He emerged back in the room now wearing  clothes—a white tunic and navy-blue pants with vambraces on his muscular biceps. He saw that she was still standing frozen in the same place. He knew that she was shocked by what had just happened. So, he took her hand and gently pulled her to the couch near the hearth. He placed his hands on her shoulders and nudged her to sit down. Once she was seated, he placed a tray of sliced fruit in front of her. "Don't leave this chamber, if you do, my guards will see you and then your safety will be compromised," he pleaded.

She was sitting ramrod straight. She looked at him owl eyed and said, "Your Highness, you shouldn't have brought me here. Those servants are being whipped because of me. I must go back."