I held Valor against my front as I leaned against the wall.

He was healing, slowly but surely nonetheless.

I could feel his chest heaving up and down in even breaths now and I knew soon enough he would open his eyes. It had been hours and most of his lacerations were closed and began to fade.

My eyes caught movement in the room and I saw the witch beginning to stir in the corner of the room and she sat up, turning my way.

I growled as she looked at me as I gripped Valor protectively.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she stared at me.

"Not that it matters to you, but he has my apprentice." She said.

I cursed inwardly because it did matter to me. The story goes that most apprentices of magic were children who were orphaned babies in the human world and the moon would harness her energy toward the child and care for them and they would be marked by the energy of the moon and soon develop the craft and if they were lucky enough they somehow find their way to their kind, but if they didn't they'd develop countless neurological problems and die at an early age.

"How old?" I asked.

"He's eight. Our kind's moon energy isn't fully developed and ready to be harnessed until puberty begins so he is completely defenseless." She said.

From how she spoke of him I knew she loved the boy, it was clear she was a maternal figure to him.

"So that's why you did this?" I asked.

"I had no choice. Stefan has him. I haven't even been able to craft under the moon and Stefan's energy is overtaking in my energy now, it's making myself and my magic dark. I pray to the moon he isn't corrupting my boy." She said.

I definitely felt for her, knowing I'd do anything to keep my girls safe.

The feel of Valor's body moving diverted my attention and I was stunned to see his piercing red eyes staring at me from his nearly completely healed face.

I hugged him to me and he buried his face in my neck, but pulled away quickly.

"How did you get here? Did he hurt you?" Valor asked, his voice low and a little hoarse from being silent for so long.

His eyes immediately snapped to the corner of the room and he hissed as he forced himself to stand and seconds later he had the witch by her throat and against the wall.

I rushed over, gripping his arm and tugging him away from her.

"They took her son Valor." I said.

"You don't know what she did to me. What she took from me. Memories of you, Ava, things I'll never get back." He hissed.

Seconds later she was out of his grasp and had appeared next to me, the only thing between her and Valor and he moved to get to her.

"Please." She begged. I turned to face her and I was stunned to see her eyes dark and I could see the veins in her face, sullen and dark shades of green and purple.

"Willow move." He said.

"I can give you the memories of your wife and your daughters back." She said.

I watched as Valor's face contorted with confusion as he turned to me.

"Daughters?" He asked.

My breath caught in my throat.

He didn't know. The fake Valor did.

I nodded quietly.

"I'm not sure how much you even remember. We had mated when my heat came, and my wolf had taken over and you were on human blood. They developed in an incredibly short amount of time. Twin girls. Scarlet and Ruby." I said to him.

He pulled me to him, resting his head against mine.

"How are they? Are they okay?" He asked.

I nodded.

"We need to get out of here." He said, turning his attention to the witch.

And I watched as he stared down at her.

"You brought my mate here, so you can send us both back." He said.

"It's not that easy. My energy is gone. I haven't seen the moon in months. I'll die with the amount of energy it would take for me to transport the both of you."

"Then send Valor." I said immediately.

A growl like sound came from Valor in protest, but there was no question about it. I was in fighting shape right now and Valor wasn't. I knew I could focus on Stefan if Valor wasn't here and I was constantly worrying about whether or not he was okay.

"Do it, and let them know it's real this time." I said to her as I pulled myself away from Valor's grip, taking steps away from him.

He cursed as he moved towards me, but she had already grabbed his wrist and I watched her eyes close.

"Find me." I told him.

He had nearly grabbed me when he disappeared, the room going silent.

I stared up at the witch who was visibly weak, her arms dropping out in front of her as she caught herself against the wall as she took in quick breaths before she stood back up on wobbly legs.

"You still haven't even told me your name." I said as I took her hand, lowering her to the ground so she could rest and that's when I was finally able to concentrate on her. Her brown eyes were large and almond shaped, her nose tiny on her face that was framed by waist length violet black hair.

She stared up at me and she pulled a small smile.

"My name is Grace." She said.

"Well Grace, it's time for us to get our shit together and get out of here. We're going to get your son too." I said.

"Willow. If I we can get to him and we all somehow got outside under the moon. I think I could get us all out of here." She said quietly.

I was going to respond when the door clattered open and I immediately lunged for the other side of the room, tucking myself in the corner as I held a finger to my lips as I stared at Grace who turned away from me as she understood.

I could smell his pungent odor before he came inside. The loud humming of a machine sounded and my lungs burned as I took in a breath.

"I was hoping you would've killed her by now Willow. Are you not up to it?" Stefan voiced.

I could hear his footsteps nearing and I growled warningly as he hovered over me. My wolf whined as she tried to show herself, but failed as my head began to ache.

"Wolfsbane, smells great doesn't it." Stefan said as he shut the door behind him, cutting off the flow of fresh air.

I could only partially shift, my claws and canines coming down, but I could feel the strain and effort it was taking on my body and I moved to my hands and knees as the stagnant air of the room seemed to thicken and it became harder to breathe and my vision began to spot with black and I dropped to the ground completely, unable to move as my face met the cold ground and my muscles cramped and I hissed in pain.

"You're going to kill her!" Grace yelled.

Stefan raised his hand and the humming of the machine was cut off and he grinned.

"You're right. I don't want to do that. I'd like to at least get a few more good fucks from her before I cause any permanent damage." He said as he stared down at me.

I could hear him unzipping his pants, and the memories came flooding back and I howled at the thought, my wolf crying as she remembered the intrusion of someone who was not our mate, someone unwanted.

I flinched as I heard a scream and everything in the room flashed and I squeezed my eyes shut and my ears rang at the high pitch, and it continued to get higher and I growled as I slammed my hands down over my ears, but it kept coming until everything around me went black.