"Not interested anymore." Bernard's gaze trailed back and forth down my body before he looked away and the hungry lust left his eyes.

Old hag.

I scoffed, shaking my head and pinching my nose bridge. These men. I gazed at Luciano, mouthed to him it was fine and that he needed to put his claws away before anyone saw him. I tried to tamp down his anger, and it worked.

For a second.

"Well, these things aside, I'm came here to offer you and your pack with a truce. We'll no longer be a threat for yo—" Bernard was interrupted before he could finish.

"Not that you were." Dillion rolled his eyes again. I could tell he was already done with the evening, just like everyone else in this room was.

Why wasn't Ben and Anna back? Were they planning on marking each other right now? They had all the time in the world to properly mark, plan out their futures, and love each other, yet they decided to do all this now.

"But anyway, what are you offering?" Dillion asked, raising his eyebrows and waiting for something good to come out of his mouth.

"We both have the strongest packs in the England, and together, we can conquer other lands. We both are aware of the Alpha King's withdrawal, leaving the American throne empty for any of us to claim." A cruel smile curled over his mouth as he continued. "If we get there right in time and place our claim on the throne, we will be able to get it."

I shuddered at his words and lifted my gaze, my eyes widening and fear chilling down my spine. What had just happened? Breath got caught stuck at my throat. I looked over at Luciano, a dark shadow cast down his face, it was feral and his eyes changed colors, turning ruthless.

This was the first time in the past two years I had heard something like this.

First time.

I went over to Luciano and took his hand. He may have left the throne, but he was still a King, to me, to everyone else and he just needed time.

"I show interest in the American throne." Dillion said, folding his leg over the other one. "If you want it, run along, we will all be free from your wrath up here, at least." He mocked his idea.

"I'm going to kill that man." Luciano groaned before snapping his eyes shut tightly and squeezing my hand hard. We couldn't cause any problems—not now—not yet.

"The King's gone." Bernard repeated.

"The Hanson's still rule, they are the pureblood and we are no match to them. And while the King is gone, I would still not sabotage or take something that belongs to someone else. So, you can take the American throne, if you want it."

Luciano stifled a growl back and tore his hand away from mine before reaching to Bernard. For a split second, I thought he'd end him right there, but he didn't.

"The King is not dead, Bernard Waller." He said, taking his name—his full name. "He's just slipped away for a few weeks and when he returns, he'll be aware of your plans, resulting to your death as his first command."

My limbs froze. He had the tone of a King while he spoke, and the truth almost slipped.

Bernard lifted his head, "Who are you again?" He asked.

Luciano's eyes landed on me and I lightly shook my head, hoping he wouldn't spill. I was too terrified of being at the unpleasant side of Cordelia. If something little as this would be out, it wouldn't be long before Dillion would know that I was the former Queen and Anna was my sister.

He cleared his throat and replied. "No one of your interest."

There were two doors inside the seating room, both of them guarded by Dillion's men. Anna walked inside from one of them and Ben did from another one, at different times.

She walked up to me and leaned down to whisper in my ears. "Go."

"What?" I narrowed my eyes.

"This is the perfect time to go to the library in the East Wing and look at what you were looking at yesterday." She explained, not knowing about anything that happened inside the room. "I'll cover up. Take Luciano."

"Okay."

The Alpha's began chatting with each other about things apart from the American throne. Once Luciano was done with speaking with Ben, he came to me and we secretly slipped out of the room. As soon as coming in the clear, I wrapped my arms around his neck and locked myself in his embrace.

"Oh," I sighed out of relief. "I thought you were going to bust us all."

"I was going too." He kissed my hair and placed his hand on my back. "But then I remembered how much this means to you and that if this all is not done right, we will have another Gretel behind us, right?"

I giggled and pulled away. "Yes! Thank you, I know it must've been hard for you to hear all those things, but we can always have Bernard for our dinner once we are in the States and this all is over." My hand clasped around with his and I kissed it.

"Fuck, that man was getting on my nerves." He growled, his frustration appearing on his face.

"It's okay." I said, rubbing his hand. Watching him get all possessive about me caused another kind of beat inside my chest. I just wished it wasn't right now.

The mansion was clear tonight. A fog rolled around on the outside, and the moon disappeared between the clouds. We walked around the empty hall, finding a way to go to the East Wing of the mansion. Barely any servants could be seen as it was late in the night and everyone was at the sitting room with Dillion and that irritating, creepy Bernard.

"Catch me if you can!" I spun back, my blonde locks whipping in the air as I glanced at Luciano who was ready to chase me down.

"What would I get if I catch you?" He asked, sauntering behind me.

I kept walking further away from him. "Well, nothing except for me." I passed a wink at his direction before shooting up through the spiral, golden staircase of the mansion.

The stairs were extensive, and they went on for long. By the time I reached the second portion of the mansion, my legs were throbbing, nonetheless, I still continued to run away from Luciano who was right behind me. The hallways were immaculate, spread through, reminding me of the castle we used to live in. They were a dozen of rooms inside the mansion, each room leading to another and another.

"Slow down, princess, you might hurt yourself!" I heard him behind me.

"Run faster, you might just get to me!" I said, striding across the carpets and sliding over the furniture.

Dillion had a great taste, and it showed. I locked in heavy breaths, panting hard before halting at the entrance of the same library as last night. The library was in east wing and I went right in that direction. An image of last night crossed my mind, and I froze, briefly.

A huge arm snaked around my waist and gripped me tight, sucking the life out of my lungs. "Got you." Luciano murmured in my ears before turning me around and continuing. "Now, you're mine."

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