I woke to Valor's deep baritone slow dancing in the air in a sweet lullaby.

I sat up as he held the twins and Ava was on his lap in between her sisters, all of the girls fast asleep as their father sang to them softly.

I knew the song, I had heard Valor hum it times before to Ava as she fell asleep, even when I was pregnant.

On behalf of every man

Looking out for every girl

You are the God and the weight of her world

So father's be good to your daughters

He stopped singing and our seemingly normal moment was over and I remembered that just outside my father was on patrol of our house and a man was trying to destroy what I had here. What Valor and I created together. Our family.

"When the time comes, I don't want them here. I want them safe. Away from all of this." He said.

I completely agreed. If there was a small chance that my children could be hurt for any reason or if something happened to me or Valor, I didn't want them anywhere near the chaos that was going to inevitably unfold and I wanted them to be with people I knew would love them and care for them as if they were their own.

"Giselle and Pierre." I said.

Valor looked at me, nodding in agreement.

I could feel my emotions bubbling over and I blinked away the tears.

"We will see our girls again Willow. Do not think that way." Valor said.

I knew he was right, nothing would keep me from keeping my family together and seeing them again, but that didn't stop me from worrying.

I looked up as Giselle entered, followed by Pierre, their scents faint of blood and earth, of the hunt.

Giselle froze when she saw me.

"Willow? Darling, what's wrong?" She whispered.

"I need you to take my girls. To keep them safe." I told her.

"Willow, honey I-

"Please. You're the one I trust to take care of them, if anything ever happened to me or Valor. Tell me. Promise me you'll take care of them." I told her.

She nodded, "Of course, as if they were my own."

I hugged her to me, thanking her as she smoothed down my back with her hand.

I stood up, needing to get some fresh air.

I walked out to the patio where Pierre stood, staring into the darkness.

I could sense his unease.

"They did something to him. He got away too easily." Pierre said.

Valor's chuckle sounded and I turned, confused as to why he would laugh about this.

I saw him with the twins in his arms as he stood in the doorway. I watched as his eyes began to change color, turning to a pale brown and then they lit up to a fiery amber and his chuckle was very feminine and sharp.

Almost like a witch.

That's when it hit me and I recognized the person behind the glamour. I moved immediately to grab my daughters but I had only taken one step when I was frozen in place, my eyes and lips the only thing I was able to move as I stared at the witch that was previously Valor.

It was fake.

None of it was real.

Valor.

This Valor has never existed.

I cringed in disgust. I had kissed this person, they had drank from me. They knew things I cherished most about Valor, intimate moments.

It was all a glamour, a facade that fooled us all. She was a master manipulator and she held my children and hopefully somewhere a still alive Valor.

"No, no. It's me he wants right? Take me instead." I said.

She sighed as she stared at me and I watched as she walked to the patio chair and out the twins on the cushion of the seats and she turned with a small grin. Her under eyes were dark, almost as if she were tired.

I knew that witches had a limited source of energy they could expand into magic, and it was clear she was becoming drained. She wasn't nearly as repulsive and mouthy as the time we first met.

I wanted her to take me, not only because I didn't know what the hell these psychotic people would do to my children, but also because I needed to find Valor and make sure he was alive. And then I would kill Stefan.

He didn't deserve to live after all he's done. Someone like his wasn't redeemable, he couldn't change.

I'd be doing the council a favor.

She walked forward and got in my face, my eyes trained on her as she moved slowly.

Giselle was inside the house, banging on the glass door that she couldn't seem to open or break as she hurled herself at the door again and again, trying her best to get to us.

I watched as the witch raised her hands, they were trembling and her breathing was ragged as if she had just ran a marathon. I knew it was because she was focusing her energy on too many things at once.

Me.

Pierre.

The glass door.

I watched as she placed her hand on my still outstretched wrist and she gripped me firmly and closed her eyes.

She took in a breath and moments later I felt the hold she had on me released, Pierre's hiss and the glass door shattering as her magic became undone.

I was swinging my free fist toward her face when suddenly the world around me blurred and I felt myself nauseous at the feeling and as soon as it began it had ended.

I hit a cold floor with a thud, the witch falling next to me, her energy spent as she lay on the floor still and unconscious. I searched her for anything, a weapon, anything to make something that would help me gain the upper hand, but I was left unlucky.

I looked around me, we were definitely underground. I could smell the earth, feel the coolness it brought from the walls surround me.

Maybe a bunker?

The walls were concrete and it was small. One door to my left.

I ran to it, gripping the handle gasping as my hand seared with pain and I fell back as my hand burned, the smell of my burning flesh meeting my nose.

Wolfsbane.

I stared up as a figure came in and I immediately recognized him.

Stefan.

Flashes of him ran through my mind, his hands on me. His scent. So foul and unwelcome.

I growled as I stood.

He let out a dark chuckle and that's when I smelled him.

Valor.

So familiar. His blood, and how overwhelming it was worries me.

I watched as Stefan brought him forward, his face nearly unrecognizable as he appeared in the doorway. His eyes were dark and sullen, the left so swollen you could hardly see it.

His nose was clearly broken and his entire body was bloodied and he was barely conscious and I caught him as Stefan threw him into the room.

He wanted me to watch my mate die.

He was starving and bleeding at the same time. A recipe for death.

I gasped as my body absorbed Valor so he wouldn't hit the ground, it burned like none other.

I bit onto my lip as I lowered him as gently as I cold to the ground.

They had given him wolfsbane, though not harmful to him it was detrimental to me and it seeped out of his open wounds. If I tried to let him feed from me, he would kill me with his venom, but if I didn't try at all he would certainly die.

I carefully ripped open the bloody shirt he wore, ignoring the slight stinging from the blood on his shirt as I examined Valor.

I felt a pang of sadness as I stared at my mates torso. Lacerations covered his chest and abdomen, and covered his arms.

I tried my best not to cry as I took his hand as I watched his eyes fluttering shut as he went unconscious.

"I'm here Valor. I'm going to get you out of here love." I said

I would get us out of here. I had to at least try.

I took Valor's arm, bringing it my lips and I began sucking.

Every part of me wanted to tear away from him as the poison met my lips and I spit it out as fast as I could, the bitter taste and pain causing me to heave and I turned to the side as the contents of my stomach came up.

I didn't even know if this would work, but the best tools at my disposal just happened to be myself. It was going to have to do.

I wiped my mouth as I tried my best to focus before I brought Valor's arm back to my lips and this time I bit down, focusing the energy of my wolf as I brought my canines out, letting them sink into his flesh, hissing in pain as I pulled away quicker than I would have liked to.

I growled in frustration at my inability to work through the pain.

I dropped his arm, crawling over him as I moved to his other side, gripping his arm in my hand and I took a deep breath before I began sucking the wolfsbane from him and spitting it out before it stayed in my system for too long.

I used my claw to cut a small laceration down the side of my hand. I held my hand just over Valor's mouth, letting my own blood drip into his mouth.

I could do this.

I would do this.