Red Loving The Alpha

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The castle was awakened when the news of my daughter being kidnapped was spread. The gates were shut down, the town was sealed along with the castle and no one was allowed to leave.

I dreaded for the worse while Luciano stayed calm. Valarie dabbed my forehead with a wet cloth while I closed my eyes.

"It's going to be all right," she whispered to me. We all knew nothing was going to be fine. My child was kidnap, hours after giving birth. She needed me and I needed her.

"I can't," I looked around the throne room and stood up as soon as Luciano walked in. "What happened? Where is my baby?"

Worry spread across his face as he shook his head, "We are searching for her, Red. It's going to take a while. The guards had not allowed entry for anyone the whole morning so whoever took her, was someone from the inside." He assured, holding onto my shoulders.

I panicked, "What do you mean? Who took her then? Clearly, she can't walk on her on. Let me speak with the guards," It was a demand.

"Red," He stepped closer, "Calm down,"

"Calm down?" I yelled, "How am I supposed to stay calm when my child was literally ripped away from me after hours of giving birth. She needs me, Luciano. I want her,"

"And, we will find her, just breathe." He said, sounding promising as his hands ran down my shoulders.

I chewed my lips, worry lines spread across my forehead and I waited—for something.

The dream.

"I need to go," I tore my self away from Luciano and walked away. Gretel wanted me, not my child and she was the only one who could've done this.

"Where?" Luciano ran behind me and grabbed my wrist, spinning me around.

"Gretel. I need to go to her,"

"No!" He exclaimed, frustrated as well. "No, never, you're not going anywhere near her."

"She has Fiona," I leaned closer and said, tears filling up my eyes. The pain of losing my daughter was like an open wound that hadn't stopped bleeding. My whole body shook with fright. "And, I know that."

"We can't be sure of that, Red. There are many other people that could've taken her," He replied, cupping my face with his hands and wiping away my tears.

There was a thin moment of silence between us where I cried in his arms until someone didn't come inside the throne room. Jaqueline walked, sniffing the air.

"It's a witch," She mumbled under her breath.

"Gretel?" I asked, moving away from Luciano. Jaqueline could sense when witches were around just as she sensed me for the first time—back then, I wasn't even practicing magic yet she knew.

"No but from her coven. She has been here for a very long time." She walked around the throne room, her eyes growing with tension. "I couldn't sense her before but I can now. Her scent is all over the place."

Luciano shook his head, "That's not possible. A witch could not come here without my knowledge,"

"She hid her scent and worked as one of the servants," Jaqueline stated.

I ran over to Valarie's side and asked, "Is there any servant missing from the quaters? Someone we don't know about?"

"There was a woman named Magie who recently joined a few months back—while you arrived at the castle. She smelled like she belonged to the pack but there could be a possibility that she could be a witch as she was always found taking herbs and doing unusual things." She explained and my heart dropped.

There was a witch in the castle and no one could sense her. Not even me.

"Oh, god." I breathed, placing my hand over my chest where it hurt the most. I blinked the tears from my eyes and glanced at Luciano who was concerned. "It was Gretel,"

"We are not—"

"I know it was, Luciano. I need to go to her. She wants me and this is the only she'll give Fiona back. I will talk to her," I said to him, hoping he'd understand.

"Red," He whispered my name in a heart wrenching tone, "You know that I can't let you back to her. It took days for me to find you. I don't want you to go through all that again. We have other ways to get to Gretel."

"Like?" I inquired. "She doesn't walks in daylight. No one knows where she or her coven resides. I was kept inside a cellar and there was nothing outside. It would take months for you to find our daughter and you know I can't wait till then," Dry sobs broke out of me as I spoke to him, hand in hand.

Fiona was my life now.

"No,"

"I know how to handle it. We will talk—Gretel and I will talk—we will come to an conclusion and she'll give me back my daughter. It's the only hope I have," I said, nodding my head.

The air inside the throne room thickened with tension. Valarie and Jaqueline stepped away and I spoke to Luciano alone. Going back to Gretel was my worse option but it was the only one. The dream made sense. I denied her and she took away my child.

When Luciano said nothing, I circled my hands around his neck and hugged him as tightly as I could. When he received the message, his neck went down the sides of my neck and he nuzzled, breathing heavily.

"I can't lose you,"

"I will come back," I promised. "And, Fiona will be back as well. You'll get her back—we will."

It felt like an eternity but it was only seconds after we pulled away from each other. Luciano planted a kiss over my forehead and I clenched my eyes shut. I needed to do this. I needed to give myself up to Gretel so she could leave my daughter and my husband alone.

"My mother can sense your pain so if anything goes wrong, my warriors will be around the area and they'll come searching for you, all right?" He explained, moving his lips away from my forehead.

Luciano moved to the right of the throne room where there was a table, he pulled one of the drawers open and removed a paper from it. He came back and gave it to me.

"What is this?" I asked, clutching onto it tightly. It could be the last thing I could ever receive from him.

"It's the map of the area, tunnels, trails, and routes to the castle. You'll need it if anything goes wrong. I'll have a warrior at every entrance. And, I will bring Charlotte in for questioning, we will learn where the witches reside and as soon as we do, I will come for you."

I nodded my head at his words and then crushed my body against him for the second time. The hug lasted longer and I couldn't find the energy to separate myself away from Luciano but I had too.

For the sake of our daughter, I had too.

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