The Alpha's Temptation

"Come on, Lerna!" Fafnir shouted at her. "You are using your hands like a flower."

Angered at him, she whooshed her sword at him, but he dodged her with ease. She gritted her teeth and attacked him again, but Fafnir deflected her once again. Fafnir immediately spun and slapped her thighs with his wooden sword. She shrieked and turned to face him, but the man was grinning. "Flower," he teased her.

Lerna was extremely tired and furious at him. "I am no flower!" she snapped. "It\'s just been a week of my training!"

For the past week, she was being trained in sword fighting by none other than General Fafnir. He was the best warrior in the Draka Kingdom and he was ordered by Eltanin to train Lerna. Lerna was a fast student having alpha blood, but she was still no match to the General. Every day Fafnir used to come to the palace early in the morning when the birds began chirping and would fly out of their nests to find food for their young ones.

Lerna enjoyed the sessions because they kept her busy and busy was good because she didn\'t think of Rigel during those times.

Along with Tania she also started learning how to read and write. Various tutors came to teach her. She spent hours in the library reading ancient texts and scrolls. In the short period that she was without Rigel, she realized that it had been extremely fruitful. Both Tania and Eltanin had been very helpful to her.

However, it was the night when she was most lonely and couldn\'t help thinking about Rigel. She wondered what he must be doing or what was his progress regarding his convincing his parents about her. She was lying on the bed with a small lamp that was still burning beside her table. Winters had started setting in brutally. The servant had lit the fire in the hearth and after stroking it, she had left.

Lerna was reading a message from Rigel. The messengers, three girls, had delivered this message to her. It read:

"Dear Lerna,

I hope you still remember fondly of me and are not angry. Situation here isn\'t that good still. I won\'t burden you with the details, but I do feel something is brewing in the royal household. Once things settle down, I will call you.

What are you doing right now? Tell me everything. I miss you a lot and can\'t wait to see you.

Only Yours,

Rigel"

Lerna swallowed down a lump forming at the back of her throat. She felt a sting in her eyes and then placed her arm over her eyes to stop herself from crying, but would that help? Clutching the letter close to her heart, she started crying. When she had cried enough, she got up and wrote a letter to him.

Lerna fell into the same routine over the next few days. The war with Felis was nearing. She could sense the tension in the air.

Taiyi had returned to Stourin along with Alrakis. Eltanin had thrown a huge tantrum when he saw his father leaving. Lerna didn\'t see him for the whole day after Alrakis left. Tania said that she was dealing with a small baby who didn\'t feel like moving on. That day Tania hadn\'t attended the lessons either.

At the end of a month, she was dying to go to meet Rigel. During the lesson with Fafnir, she noticed that he was very serious and wasn\'t his usual cheerful self in which he teased her a lot. She asked, "I hope everything is fine with..." she wanted to say \'you\', instead she said, "kingdom".

Fafnir stopped and lowered his sword. He shook his head and dug the sword\'s tip on the ground as he balanced his hand on its hilt. "No, flower. I will be leaving for the Aquila border. There\'s trouble brewing over there. It seems the Nyxers have attacked."

Her heart plummeted. "Were you not able to find the bridge that I had mentioned?" she asked, halting as well."

He looked away and walked to the end of the arena where they were training, his naked torso covered with sweat. She followed him with her sword. "We have..."

Lerna stopped a squeal of excitement because there were others also present in the arena.

"There\'s another thing, Lerna," he said in a serious tone.

"What?" Lerna asked, her excitement ebbing.

"We have heard that there are two or three units of Nxyers who we suspect are moving towards Orion. We thwarted an attack on Pegasii though." He picked up his tunic and wore it. "I won\'t be able to come and teach you tomorrow onwards. I can assign you another soldier if you like or you can focus on reading and writing. However, if you think you can convince Flora, you must ask her."

"Flora!"

"Yes," he replied with a smile. "She is a fae warrior and will know more tricks than me."

Lerna had never thought that Flora would be a fae warrior. "I will ask Tania!" she said excitedly.

Then Fafnir stepped closer to her and said, "Did you hear about Eltanin\'s decision?"

"What decision?" she asked.

Fafnir\'s lips curled up in a smile. He cocked his head in the same teasing manner and said, "Now if I would tell you that, it would spoil your surprise."

Lerna narrowed her eyes at him and said, "You better tell me now!"

Fafnir let out a laugh and tousled her hair. "I won\'t!" He winked.

Lerna blew a strand of her hair from her face as she looked at him with fury. Over the last few days, Fafnir had become like a brother to her. She was about to insist when a soldier came rushing to him.

"General Fafnir!" he breathed in a low voice as he nervously looked at Lerna. "Spies have come. It seems Princess Meissa has challenged Prince Rigel\'s claim to the throne."

Dread crawled down her spine as she watched the soldier with wide eyes. "Why?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

Fafnir clenched his jaw. "Come with me!" he ordered the soldier angry at him for revealing such vital information in the open.