Chapter 33

The air was cold, wrapping me around it's bitterness. The car passed through the slope that led us to the castle. There were a few cars, crowding the area, dropping by people—creatures. The sharp tops of the silver gates glistened with ice as we crossed through them. Everyone and everything was being checked by the guards.

Memories of being at the castle, wrapped around Luciano's arms burned through my mind and I licked my lips. I was going to walk through the gates not as a queen, not as the King's mate but as the his enemy.

A gentleman came to my side, opening the passenger door for me and Pearl. We stepped out, covered in masks, our identity's hidden. Just at the entrance, our invitations were checked and our names were confirmed.

I wasn't on the list but we had the invitation and that was far more than enough for us to go through. My shoulders stiffened as I stepped inside and sucked in a deep breath while noticing my surroundings.

Nothing had seemed to change over the months.

A voice called me, "Remember what you've to do. I will be lingering around the area, looking for any danger. If you're caught, meet me at the house and we will leave immediately." Pearl whispered in my ears before merging with the crowd.

My stomach churned out of anxiety as I moved around. The castle was packed—more than I had expected. There were a lot of wolves, covered in costumes and masks, yet, my eyes searched for only one.

I kept my distance from everyone and stayed by the corners, still studying the crowd that grew with every second. When I spotted Jaqueline, I went over to her but before that, I confirmed Pearl wasn't around me.

Just as I thought, she was in another room and not where the party was.

Jaqueline raised her head, searching the area for me. When she caught my scent, she approached me. Her hand came down my back and she pulled me away from the ballroom, taking me into one of the secret hallways.

"How are you?" She asked.

"I'm fine. I got what you wanted," I said, reaching underneath my dress and pulling out Gretel's talisman that I had stolen months ago.

I gave the pendant to Jaqueline and she quickly hid it in her fists before anyone saw us.

"Thank you," She gave me a sweet smile and then continued, "I will send this over to England, my sisters there can find a way to kill her. Are you sure Gretel didn't notice her talisman went missing?"

"No," I blinked and then shook my head, "She hasn't found about it, yet."

"That's great. Are you here alone?"

"No, there is another witch with me, Pearl Lyre, and that is all. We are stay at this house in the town," I explained to her, keeping my voice low. My tone was filled with fear of the future.

"Oh, will she suspect anything?"

"No, no, she won't. She's dumb," It wasn't wrong—Pearl was dumb enough to notice I went missing, she probably thought that I was with Luciano or doing my thing. "What about the other items I'm supposed to take back to Gretel?"

"They are almost ready. Come to my chambers after the party and I will give them to you. Gretel will never notice what went wrong with her magic," Jaqueline replied.

Gretel wanted to weaken Luciano by placing doing some voodoo on his personal items and she was going to do, just on counterfeit items that Jaqueline had been preparing since last night.

I couldn't hold it back anymore so I rose on my legs and hugged Jaqueline before she left.

"Thank you for keeping me protected," I said to her. "I don't know what I would've done without you,"

When Gretel captured me and broke the connection spell Jaqueline placed over me, she forgot that Jaqueline was one of the chosen ones and we were all connected to one and other. The connection spell was indeed broken but through my talisman, I could speak with Jaqueline and tell her everything without anyone noticing.

We sought different things—I wanted my daughter back and Jaqueline wanted her son alive but we had one goal—taking Gretel down.

"It's okay, honey. Just wait for a for a few more weeks, this all will be over and you'll have your daughter back." She patted my back and assured me.

I smiled, crying a little as I pulled away from her. "I might know where they are keeping her,"

"And, where is that?" She asked.

"There is a village by north, it's far from here but I believe other witches are settled there and they have my baby." It wasn't hard to pull the information out of Damon as he was lusting over me. He didn't give the exact details but I could assume the rest without his help.

Jaqueline nodded her head and held my hand, "Well, if it's true, I will have someone look after this matter."

"Thank you," I sighed, thinking about the moment I'd get my daughter back.

I hoped for it to be soon.

Before we killed Gretel and ended her reign as the Queen of witches.

Regardless of the kindness she showed me, I couldn't let my daughter be kept in dark and danger and Jaqueline couldn't let Luciano die. We reversed the plan on Gretel and decided to take her down, reliving both of us from our problems.

"Don't thank me," she said, "You did this all,"

"No, I couldn't have done without your help. And, if it's possible, please don't let anyone know about—not even Luciano. I haven't told anyone on my side and it's better if this all stays between us,"

If one thing went wrong, Gretel wouldn't hesitate in killing my daughter. I didn't want to get on her bad side so I did what I had to do—obey her every single command, kill who she wanted me to kill and listen to her and her witches sob stories.

While they did affect me, I didn't care anymore—not about the witches—not about the werewolves.

Everyone could rot in hell for all I cared.

"Of course, he doesn't knows anything."

We separated us path in a few minutes when the crowd got larger and more wolves began entering. Jaqueline needed to attend her guests and I needed to keep my self busy till the end of this party.

When I walked back into the ballroom, Pearl appeared in front of me. I gasped at her sight.

"Have you done it?" She asked, offering me a glass of wine.

I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. For a moment, I thought she had seen me with Jaqueline but again, she was dumb.

"No," I replied, taking the glass of wine and sipping on it, "I haven't seen Luciano yet,"

"Well, that's a surprise," she groaned, looking at the people. "It's a ball for choosing a new potential queen and yet the king is missing,"

I choked on the wine and then coughed upon hearing whatever Pearl told me.

"What?" I asked, my brows enclosing. "A potential queen?"

"Yeah, I spoke to someone and she told me what this was about. No wonder they are so many female wolves here," she replied, leaning against the wall. Her eyes ran up and down my body before she continued, "Pity, he moved on so quick."

No.

We were still married.

I wanted him.

No, I didn't.

"I'm going to go," I uttered, grabbing another glass of drink from the servers walking around.

In a breath, I gulped the entire drink down and slammed the glass back on the table. Why did he want a new queen? I was furious and I fighting against my own self.

That was too quick.

My expression grew dark and everything in front of me turned red. All these women in front of me were a potential for Luciano. No shit. I glared at every single one of them, studying their faces and bodies.

He was going to mate with one of them.

My senses perked up when a hand came down, wrapping around my waist. He leaned down, nuzzling at my neck. I closed my eyes, my breathing rapid and my fingers cold upon his touch.

"I knew I'd draw your attention,"

A/N

The third book to this series (Red Saving The Alpha) is now completed and available on patreon including the other two! Read it before anyone else. www.patreon.com/miakerr Tiers start from $3!