Red Loving The Alpha

Chapter 65

I drew as much power as I could draw from the forbidden forest as it was used by witches hundreds of years ago. There were a lot of witches buried in the ground, their souls still lingering, waiting for redemption. I sensed tremendous energy casting off the cellar outside the castle as if I had just found the source of powerful witches.

My body hardened as the power trapped inside me. It came to me as a shock that they were witches down the cellar as I believed Luciano didn't keep them locked anymore after I returned.

But I was wrong.

The town in my path was cleared out, no cars, no wolves were found roaming the streets, they were empty, void of anyone. The smell of death and fire emitted from the woods nearby and it sickened me to the stomach. The ash tickled down my throat, forcing a cough out of me.

I walked in the shadows, my head down till I reached the woods. There were wolves patrolling, guarding the town borders, and they were in packs, ready to assault whoever tried to kill them. Slipping past them was a hard task, they smelled my wolf and when they did, they lunged at me, throwing me to the ground and almost biting my head off.

"Stop!" I raised my hands in defense, giving time to the wolf to recognize me. When he did, he moved back and alerted the other wolves that I wasn't a danger.

They cleared the path for me, allowing to run as far as I wanted too. The darkness swallowed me and even when I couldn't see anything, I still sprinted while finding a way to sense Gretel. She was here, her scent across the woods but I couldn't point out the exact location.

The woods were massive, going on for miles. A low grunt followed my ears and I stopped, spinning around, finding the source of the voice.

"Ben." I mumbled, getting on my knees in front of him.

He was against the three, cuts over his flesh and beyond him, I found a hundred more bodies.

Dead.

"Oh, no." My heart dropped at the sight of the bodies, they were all wolves, in their true form. "What's happening?"

"Gretel is poisoning wolves. Do not shift at any cost!" Ben groaned, clutching his stomach tight. There were deep gashes across his bare chest and a large one over his stomach. Blood smeared everywhere, down his hands and onto the soil.

I grabbed his hand, holding his wrist tight as I shut my eyes and said, "Reviactus." It was the same spell Jacqueline had told me when Vincent was poisoned during out crowning ceremony.

Ben's pain crossed through me, and even when he was not screaming, I could hear it, tossing inside my head along with the pain. I felt it all while drawing the poison away from him. It was the art of taking someone's pain and misery away—feeling it all, over and over again.

Gretel's face came in my vision, she had attacked him, just before the sun settled down and since then, he had been in pain. I stumbled back on the ground, losing a bit of my strength as my loud, ragged breathing pounded in my ears.

"You'll be fine." I whispered to him.

Ben moved his hand away and found the gashes closing up, healing as quickly as they could. "What did you do?" His brows furrowed at me.

"Just a spell to get rid of the poison." I said before looking over my shoulder and glancing at the bodies. "Is there anyone else alive or are they all dead?" I asked.

"They are dead." He shoved himself up while looking left and right. "They have been like this since hours."

"Where is Luciano?" Panic flared inside me and I held my breath back till Ben responded. Hours had passed by, and they were already so many dead wolves scattered across the woods. If it weren't for reaching here earlier, I would've lost Ben as well, along with the others.

"At the lake," He raised his shaking hands and pointed me at the direction where the lake was. I had never seen the lake before, therefore, I had no idea where it was or how it looked like. "It's a long walk away but Gretel wanted Luciano to meet him there. That was a while back,"

I placed my palm over my chest and took in a quick breath before getting on my feet.

"Go to the castle, it's better and if anyone is alive, take them as well. Annabeth or Jacqueline will be able to get rid of the poison—it's not fatal then." I suggested and he nodded.

"Thank you, Red."

I was forced to abandon Ben, he was recovering but leaving him alone felt bad, just as I felt miserable leaving Jacqueline and Annabeth in their conditions. I just prayed silently that he'd reach home or to the other wolves patrolling the woods on time and alive.

Whatever was ahead, I was prepared for it—for Gretel.

The sky was dark and clouded with the smoke from the fires burning inside the woods. The flames provided with some heat but the cold rain and thunder lashing down from the sky just turned everything ice. Mud and dirt piled in my boots and I marked the wet grounds while slowly taking the path where Ben had directed me to earlier. I was unaware that a lake around here even existed but the more I walked, I felt the energy, crawling off from a large water reserve, informing me it was nearby. A lightning bolt lightened up the sky, deafening me with its clatter. I winced and dug my fingernails deep into my palms before hiding behind a large tree to breathe for a second.

I had walked for minutes now. The castle was far, far away from where I stood and when I looked back, I was only able to see the mightiest tower of the castle, disappearing behind the heavy clouds.

The far-off lake was immense, the water was smooth and sparkling, reflecting the full moon on it. It was a relief when I sensed no death around here, just two strong forces hiding in the darkness. I opened my mouth to scream for Luciano, the only name I wanted to ever take but before the word escaped my mouth, I heard Gretel's voice.

"Come out, wherever you are!" she screamed from a distance while walking with her hands spread out and her cloak wet with the rain water. A blue spark of magic ignited from her fingers, and I finally got a glimpse of her face, covered with blood of those she had killed and her own.

There was a gash going down her cheeks and onto her neck. Someone had gotten close. Red blaze of sparks followed her, making her path, from where she came from and where she was heading too. Not only she was bundled with magic but she had prepared herself to kill anyone that was going to come in her way.

A strong, sparkling red ball of flame twisted around her in waves, waiting to be buried inside anyone who came in front of her. It was Blood magic and she was ready.

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