RIVER'S POV I wasn't exactly sure how I've been down here in this nasty fucking dungeon, but I know it's been quite a long time. I was caked in dirt and dried blood from the beatings my parents gave me and Victor's regular feedings. I hadn't eaten the entire time I was there. My stomach no longer growled; it ached. I hadn't been given anything to drink either. I just dealt with the IV fluids they gave me what seemed to be twice daily. At some point, I believe I heard someone say it had sugar in it, which is why I haven't had my blood sugar crash. I yearned for Malachi and my family. My whole body was aching, and I just wished to be held tightly by Malachi. His soft touch touching my skin, making the pain go away. But my shoulders and face especially hurt from the hitting and having my arms chained above my head. Despite how I was feeling, I still had faith that Malachi would find me. I needed him to find me. I would only be able to hold on for so long at some point. Sadly, I am pred

MALACHI'S POV It's been a long week with River. She is finally starting to come around and her injuries are taking a lot longer to heal than we anticipated. We all assumed it may be because she isn't really eating or drinking much so her body is creating enough energy to heal her, that and her obvious blood loss. It's getting better, but very slowly. The second day after we'd gotten her home I carried her into the shower and sat there with her washing her hair and body. Getting the dried blood off her and examining the severity of the injuries, and more specifically the bite marks left by Victor. I was beyond irate seeing those marks. All of her injuries, her frail body just skin and bones, angered me. But the bites. Biting was generally reserved for marking your mate, but he wasn't marking her in that way, he was draining her of her blood until she was just on the brink of dying and then stopping. I could see the needle marks in her arms so, I assumed he was drugging her and possib

RIVER'S POV I took a deep breath when I finally woke up that morning. The air felt different in my lungs, and there was a taste left on my tongue. Each cell in my body felt like it was alive with excitement. I rolled over to face Malachi and watched him open his eyes and smile at me. "Good morning, beautiful," he greeted me with a massive grin before stretching. "How are you feeling?" "Different," I said, and he rolled over on top of me then kissed me. "How so?" He asked; his eyes were lighter than I had ever seen them. He was feeling peaceful. "I don't know the air has a taste. And it feels different when I breathe. You feel different to the touch," I explained, stroking his big arms. "That's the lycan, and I believe vampire in you. Our senses are intensified—all of them. I'd say wait till sex when everything is heightened, but I'm not so sure anything we do will top last night," he said, "speaking of last night. How do you feel physically?" "Uh, pretty good, actually. Chan

MALACHI POV I was up early that morning. Not sure if it was excitement or if I was anxious about testing the theories Morgan had on turning others into hybrids. If we could do it successfully, then that meant we could turn ourselves. And I could spend all of eternity with her. I wanted a child, too; the more I was around her, the more I wanted it. I know it was a lot of the animal part of me desiring the child, but I think I wanted a child with her in general. Now wasn't the right time, though. We weren't in a position for child-rearing yet, as Morgan said one thing at a time. First, we needed to make hybrids, so we knew how to turn us into them. So, I strolled down the stairs to our soundproofed room containing the cells that housed our rival lycans. "You are going to regret this, Malachi!" The woman said she was the only female we got. We hadn't wanted a woman because we expected that perhaps River would have a harder time risking a woman, but we needed three to test the theories

MORGAN POV I sat there waiting for the results of the test. I watched Brice and Nora for a while seeing how comforting he was to her and her transformation. I could see the same peace on his face as I did when I first saw Lilly. But there was also this alertness that he now had that he didn't before and it made me wonder if I did too. Malachi did, but he was always a bit cautious and intense anyway. "So, did you know mom and dad?" Micka asked drawing me back to the forefront of reality. "No. Like you as you were told I was abandoned by them too. The only one they raised was River, and I don't know if you could even call it that." I said annoyed that the test was taking so long. "What did they do to her?" "Tortured her. Starved her. Beat her. They were involved in her torture when she was held prisoner at Victor's." "Jesus. So, we didn't miss out on anything good huh?" "Nope." The test finally finished with a loud ringing sound. I looked at the results between all of us. River