Red Loving The Alpha

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

When the moon fell upon us, I found myself waiting underneath the spiral tree for Gretel. Sweat and moisture rolled down my face as my heart hammered in my chest. I imagined for the worse.

I waited along with Luciano for several more hours at the castle but nothing came out of it. The warriors bought no information and whoever stole my child was a witch that worked in the castle itself.

I pushed my hands inside the pockets of the coat I wore as my wandering eyes circled around the area, seeking for Gretel. I was desperate to have my child back and I no longer cared what I needed to do. My cheeks were puffed with all the crying and I struggled to breathe.

There were a few wolves around the area, hiding behind the dark, tall trees, waiting for Gretel to arrive so they'd attack her. It had been a few a minutes now and there was no sign of her so I decided to turn around and leave until I heard a whisper.

"I knew you'd come,"

"Gretel?" I questioned, looking everywhere. It was just like my dream but Lisa wasn't there this time. "Show yourself," I demanded as I realized that Gretel was hiding as well.

"And, why should I? So the wolves can attack me? I'm not foolish. If you want your daughter, send the wolves away and keep walking." She said, her voice rough as usual.

I took a few slow, deep breaths to soothe down my racing nerves upon hearing that she did have my daughter.

"Don't harm her, please." I whispered before bringing out my phone and dialing Ben's number so I could ask him to take the wolves away.

He picked up the call several seconds later and when he did, I turned around and peeked at the forest, "Could you ask the wolves to leave?"

"Why?"

"Gretel knows that they are here and she deems them as a threat. She won't hand over my baby if they lurk around," I explained to him and he understood.

"I'll ask them to leave then,"

After cutting the call, I heard a loud, ear-splitting howl and within a moment, the wolves were gone. I shivered underneath the cold and waited for Gretel to show herself. The field was blanketed with snow as it was winters. Everything was ice and cold. Snow poured down from the thick clouds and covered the spiral tree above me.

I gasped when a woman in cloak appeared in front of me. Unfortunately, it wasn't Gretel.

"Come with me," The woman whispered in the dark, her tone raspy and thick as she turned around to walk away. I followed right behind her.

The strange woman kept walking for several minutes until we left the field. A shudder rippled through me when I saw a few more strange, cloaked women, circling around me, one by one.

Why wasn't Gretel here? What was even happening?

Their hands connected together and I stood in the middle. My heart racing at the thought of what they were going to do with me. They whispered something under their breath and a sharp stab of pain went through me. My hair fell over my face as I dropped down with an ache that spread across my body.

The witches stopped cursing and their hands dropped down. Within a second, they turned around and disappeared in the darkness. Just as they left, Gretel showed up, grabbing my elbow and lifting me off the ground.

"That spell was necessary,"

"For what?"

"To break the magic inside you," She replied and I remembered Jaqueline. She placed a spell over me so she could feel all the pain that I could.

It was the only way Luciano could know that I was in pain and Gretel took that away from me.

"Where's my daughter?" I asked, moving myself away from her. I only wanted my daughter back—nothing else.

"She's safe—for now,"

Fear tugged at my core and I ran my hands down my arms to keep myself warm, "What do you want from me?"

"There is a lot," she responded, "But for now, you're going to come with me and we are going to leave the state."

"What about my daughter?"

"She'll be in safe hands for as long as you're obeying me. The moment you do something wrong, I will ruin your daughter." My gut twisted at her harsh words and a tear fell down my cheeks.

I wanted my child to have the perfect life but she was literally ripped away from my womb the moment her life started. None of this was going to end well.

"Why do you have to do this with me?" I sobbed, breaking down.

Gretel blew a cold breath and rolled her eyes, "Like I said, you were born to do something and it's my responsibly to ensure that you complete it." She grabbed my arm and tugged me, "Now stop whining and come with me,"

She dragged me further inside the woods where I had never been before. Splinters went into my skin and I winced with immense pain. We walked for what it seemed like for hours before we reached a bus station in a town that I never knew existed.

It was midnight, there were barely any people and even if they were, they were either humans or witches. I couldn't sense a single werewolf among the crowd that was around the bus station.

"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Well, we can't stay here. This state is ruled by werewolves. We will be moving to the town of witches where you'll be trained for a few months—"

I cut her off before she could complete, "What about my daughter?"

Her nails went deep inside my skin and her jaw clenched, "I told you, she'll be fine for as long as you obey me so go get the tickets for Lunaris and we will be leaving immediately. Ask any questions and I will ring the witches that have your daughter," she threatened, pushing me towards the bus ticket station.

I gulped down hard as she moved her hand away from my arm. I bobbed my head at the ticket station and requested for two tickets to Lunaris.

"Here you go, miss." The woman handed over the tickets to me and I ran back to Gretel.

She snatched the tickets away from my fingers and said, "That's like a good girl. Now, go get inside the bus and don't speak to anyone. Do you understand?"

I nodded, "Yes,"

I eased into the bus and tried to catch my breath while Gretel stayed outside, speaking to another woman that seemed like a witch. To where my memory took me, Lunaris was a small town, ruled by witches. It was hours away from Pennsylvania and it was in another state—far, far away from the castle.

It had been almost a year now since my magic was taken and I stopped practicing witchcraft. I did a few spells with Jaqueline but most of it was from her side. I still had no power and with a child, I was weaker than before.

I ran my finger across the windows of the bus, looking outside at the cold moon that hung on the sky with ease and waited for the bus to move.

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