Unexpectedly, Blazius' experiments have been tolerable.

Lillian had no idea what in the world they were doing. Minutes after Blazius' men and women finished their doodling and left the room, Blazius and Poline strode in and began a ritual of chanting.

Lillian was seated by then. She was bored out of her mind for the first few minutes.

Then magic began to flow along the lines of the symbols and gather around her. Lillian couldn't see it, but she could feel it, a strong current of energy against her senses. It smelled faintly like the air right after a thunderstorm.

It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but the more they chanted, their voices rising to a skin-crawling crescendo, the more Lillian wanted to strip out of her itchy skin. She stood and paced the cage. Her wolf howled inside her mind, wanting to be let out.

Lillian shook her head and pushed her wolf back. It wasn't the time to shift. Not yet. Still, her wolf pushed forward and whined, as if involuntarily, and Lillian understood that they were trying to force her to shift. She stopped pacing and glared at them. Blazius and Poline were watching her closely, their creepy chanting dying down to buzzing murmurs.

It continued for what Lillian guessed was an hour or so, and ended in an anticlimactic manner that made Lillian relieved.

Blazius peppered her with questions, like a researcher of some sort, which he was in a way. He noted down her answers in a tablet and had another witch come in to take a sample of her blood. Blazius looked very proud for some reason. Two witches came in, one with chairs for Poline and Blazius, and the other rolling a steel table in front of him, on top of which were different needles, and scalpels. Lillian didn't like that.

Poline and Blazius sat down, and the witch approached the cage with a syringe, his steps cautious.

"What's that?" Lillian asked, looking at the clear liquid in the syringe.

"That is vampire venom," Blazius said, crossing one leg over the other. "You do know how it affects werewolves, do you not?"

Lillian did. According to what she read in Anna's books, vampire venom wasn't deadly to werewolves unless in extremely large quantities. Paralysis is the worst that can happen from a vampire attack.

"Let us see how your body reacts to the venom," Blazius said. "I must say I'm very hopeful. After all, silver doesn't seem to have a strong effect on you."

Lillian frowned. Was he serious? She looked pointedly at the cage.

"I didn't say it doesn't have an effect on you," Blazius said, smiling. Lillian wanted to punch the smile away. "You aren't as affected by it as the average immortal, is what I meant. Now, hold your arm out."

Lillian hesitated. Blazius arched his brow. "Or would you rather we try it on the twins first? They are still asleep at the moment, but I'm sure we can find ways to wake them up."

Lillian stuck her arm through the bar. If she ever got out of here... No. When. When she got out of here, she would wipe the smug smile off Blazius' face.

The needle pricked her arm. Lillian snapped her teeth at the witch, and he jumped a little, glaring at her. It was petty, but she enjoyed it.

The venom burned her veins. It felt like liquid fire. Lillian stared at her arm, expecting it to be aflame. The fire traveled to her heart and all through her body. For the first few minutes, she thought her blood would melt off her body.

Hot and dizzy, Lillian sat down in the center of the cage, aware of Blazius' intense stare. Sweat beaded her forehead, and her heart rate turned sluggish. Voices garbled beneath the whistling in her ears. Sweat tickled her forehead and chilled her back, and she lost her balance and fell on the floor.

She couldn't feel her body.

Panic tightened her chest. She was reminded of that night again. Her wolf growled, trying to force her way to the front, but unable to.

She would rather be beat up than be locked inside her body this way. But life never cared about one's preferences.

Lillian focused on her breathing. In and out. In and out. She was still alive and conscious.

In and out.

After a few minutes, her brain was no longer in panic mode. She stretched her senses to her surroundings.

Blazius and Poline were right outside her cage. Now that she was paralyzed, the bastard dared get closer. Coward.

Lillian could only see their feet, but she could hear their voices clearly.

"It's disappointing, isn't it?" Poline said.

"Yes," Blazius sighed. "But it is to be expected. We cannot get the perfect creature on our first attempts. However, now we have more information. We will tweak the spells in our next group of Test subjects. Are the women ready?"

The women. What women? Lillian felt dread curl in her stomach. She really hoped they weren't talking about the kind of experiment Lillian had been through years ago.

"Yes," Poline replied. "We will start the first stage of the experiment as soon as the rooms are sterilized after the spells have been put in place. They should be ready by the end of the day. Would you like to watch again?"

"I shall see," Blazius replied. Their feet moved away and their voices drifted. Lillian was left to her wandering thoughts and loud heartbeats. She wished she could get out of here and get the twins and those women out. Instead, she was paralyzed and locked up.

It was almost an hour later when her fingers twitched. By then she was sweating bullets, her t-shirt and pants were damp with a sweat that smelled too sweet. Venom must be leaving her body.

"Mommy?"

At first, Lillian thought she was imagining things. She stopped breathing, as if the sound of her own breath would chase away the distant whisper.

"Mommy? Are you awake?"

Lillian's body jerked. Her eyes widened, and she felt her link with Ezra groggily come to life. "Ezra?"

She strained and moved her head, looking around her cage, as if she might see him when he was linking her. She was alone in the closed room. "Ezra, sweetie are you okay? Is your brother okay?"

"Yes, he's still asleep."

Lillian's heart dropped. Could children tell the difference between sleep and death? "But he's alive, right?"

"He's snoring," Ezra said. Lillian slumped down against the ground, all strength leaving her from the force of her relief.

"Okay, baby. Okay. Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?"

"No..."

"What is it? What aren't you telling me?"

"We're not alone," Ezra said. "There are other kids here."

Ezra's POV

Ezra peeked through the bars of his cage and met the other kid's eyes. He was human, but he smelled weird. Ezra wrinkled his nose, confused. The other child looked back at Ezra.

His cage was bigger than Ezra's and Elijah. Was it because he'd been here longer? Or maybe because he was bigger? Ezra didn't care. It wasn't like they'd be staying here much longer. Noah was going to come for them, he was sure of it.

"What other kids, baby?" His mommy asked in his head.

"There's a boy in a cage, like us. But he's bigger. He's as big as Danny," Ezra said, then looked at the wall on the other side of the room. "And there's a little girl. In another cage."

"How little?"

Ezra thought about it. "She's smaller than me, like Kelly. She's asleep, too."

His mommy went quiet for a while. Ezra looked around the room. It was just as big as his room in the pack. And there were cages stacked on top of each other all around the walls.

All the other cages were empty, except for the little girl's and the big boy's. Ezra sniffed the air. It smelled like witches and vampires and magic. A lot of magic that made his wolf curl his lips.

He shifted to his wolf, just to see if he could, and shifted back. The big boy watched him curiously. Ezra growled, showing him his teeth. The big boy didn't look away. He bared his teeth, too, and Ezra saw that he had sharp, thin teeth, just like aunt Amanda.

Ezra huffed, snuck his arm through the cage, and nudged his brother. Elijah mumbled something and rolled on his other side, still snoring.

Ezra looked at the burn in his arm from where the silver bars had touched him. It was healing quickly already.

He wanted to go home. He didn't want to stay here longer. His wolf kept trying to come forward. But he remembered Noah's lessons. Ezra needed to remind his wolf that Ezra was in charge. He shouldn't let him out every time he wanted to be let out.

Ezra didn't understand why. Noah said it was about learning control. But he could control his wolf just fine.

"Mommy, when is Noah coming for us?"

"He's going to come. I don't know when, but he will," his mommy said, her voice made Ezra and his wolf calmer. "But Ezra, honey, if you can escape, you do it, okay?"

"The cage is locked. One of the witches has keys. I saw him when he came to give me water when I just woke up."

"Just water? Did it smell weird?"

"No, it smelled just like water," Ezra said. "Maybe I can steal the keys from him."

"Don't put yourselves in danger, honey," his mommy said, her voice trembling a little.

"Okay."

"The other kids, are they human or immortal?" She asked.

"The little girl is immortal," Ezra said, sticking his nose out to get another good whiff of her scent. "But she's like a mix between aunt Anna and aunt Amanda."

"A mix?"

"Uh-huh. I never smelled anyone like her. But Elle smells a little like that. Like she's more than one thing."

"Okay..." his mother said slowly. "And the boy?"

"The boy is..." Ezra wrinkled his nose. "I don't know. He's like a human, but not really. And he has fangs, like aunt Amanda. Oh, Elijah is waking up!"

Elijah sat up, his blue eyes turned amber when he saw where he was. Ezra had been scared, too, when he'd just woken up. But hearing his mommy's voice made him calm.

Elijah looked at him and frowned. "Where are we?"

"Someone bad took us," Ezra said out loud. "Did you speak to mommy?"

"Yes. Why do you think they're bad?"

Ezra rolled his eyes. "The cages. Duh."

Elijah growled and looked around, meeting the eyes of the big boy. The boy didn't look away. He bared his teeth at Elijah. Elijah growled louder. "What are you looking at?"

The boy didn't answer.

"Can't he speak?" Elijah asked Ezra. Ezra shrugged.

There was noise outside their door. "Mommy said we should escape," Ezra whispered to his brother.

Elijah frowned. He touched the door of his cage and hissed, looking at the singed skin of his palm. The wound slowly healed as he looked. "Who has the keys?"

"A witch. He came here to give us water."

"You can't escape."

Ezra looked at the big boy. So he did know how to speak. "Why not?"

"Because even if you open the cage, there are a lot of them out there," the boy said, his voice a little rough, nodding toward the door. "They won't let you escape."

Ezra huffed and looked around. So if they can't go out through the door, they should find another way.

There was no window. But there was a grate covering part of the ceiling. He knew the name, they had ones back when they lived outside the pack...oh! The air vent.

Ezra nudged Elijah, looking at the air vent. Elijah looked there and grinned at his brother, then his grin faded. "But we still need the keys."

"The vent is too small," the big boy said.

"We can fit there," Ezra said. "You're too big. But don't worry, we'll bring help and come back for you."

The boy scoffed and looked away. Ezra frowned. "What? Don't you want to leave?"

"And go where?" The boy said. "They'll find me, wherever I go."

"If you go to the pack with us, they won't take you," Ezra said.

"Is that where you were?" The boy said, narrowing his dark eyes at Ezra. "In a pack."

"Yeah."

"Well, they did take you out of the pack, so it's not exactly safe."

Ezra scowled. It was true. But Ezra knew it was because of Blake. He was the one who showed the witch the way to the pack village and helped her hide. Ezra remembered Blake holding his mommy when they were taking him outside of the pack. But he'd felt odd then, his wolf was not with him and he felt like he was half asleep.

"Yes, it is," Elijah said. "It's safe. If you don't want to come, then fine."

"Just don't snitch," Ezra said.

So they waited. When Ezra woke up, the witch had come to give him a glass of water through the bars. The keys were in her pocket. He knew because he saw her opening the cage and putting the little girl in it. Now they just had to wait.

The noise outside the room grew louder. Ezra strained his ears to hear.

"...I don't care if you have to swim all the way there," a man screamed.

"The ports and the airports are all closed off, sir," a voice replied, sounding scared. "Arthur grounded all transportations out of the country."

"He can't do that!" The angry man screamed again. "The humans won't allow it! They'll lose money and that's the one thing humans will challenge even Arthur for."

"Sir, he's using elementals from Ireland to mess with the weather," a third voice said. "So they can't really do anything about it. They don't know the origin of the unusual weather is not natural."

"Just go check on the children," the angry man said. "We need to start experimenting on them soon. Make sure they have enough water to flush out the tranquilizer and the silver out of their bodies. I need them clean."

The voices moved away, and Ezra listened as one pair of footsteps drew closer. He exchanged a look with his brother. They always knew what the other was thinking without speaking.

The witch came in and looked around. "I see you're up," he said, moving to Elijah's cage with a bottle of water. "Drink this, boy."

He handed Elijah the bottle. Elijah reached for it, but instead of taking the bottle, he stuck his arms through the bars and hugged the man's neck, holding his head against the bars, then he stuck his legs through, too, and hung onto the man's upper body like a monkey, pressing him against the bars of the cage. Ezra moved, his hand stealthy.

The witch cursed and struggled. "What are you doing?! Damn it, let go, you brat!"

Elijah let go and smiled widely at the witch who cursed, holding his face. "Damn wolves! What the hell did you do that for? If Blazius didn't want you unharmed, I would've taught you a lesson."

Elijah giggled. The witch rattled Elijah's cage and left, scowling and cursing.

"Did you get them?" Elijah whispered, his eyes a bright amber.

Ezra nodded, already trying the keys on the lock of his cage.

"Hurry, they'll be back soon!" Elijah said.

"It's not easy!" Ezra said.

The big boy in the cage sat up, and was looking at them with wide eyes. Ezra finally managed to find the right key and turn it. His arm and hand burned from the silver bars, but he could take a little burn. He was a big boy. Soon, he would start fight training.

"Here, you try yours and see how difficult it is," Ezra said, giving his brother the key ring. Ezra swung his door open. It creaked loudly, and he and Elijah both froze, looking at the door. But no one seemed to have heard. So he got out of his cage and climbed the cages up to the ceiling. His eyes teared up from the burn of the silver. He sniffed. It hurt, but he could do it.

"Mommy, we got out of the cage," he linked his mommy.

"What? Are you okay? Are they taking you somewhere?"

"No! We escaped. We stole the keys from the witch," he linked as he reached the top and got closer to the vent.

He tried to find a way to open the grate without making any noise. Elijah, who was now next to him, growled and pushed him aside. He stuck his claws in the plastic grate and pulled as hard as he could. The grate came off with a loud crack and clattered to the ground, slipping from Elijah's claws.

Ezra glared at his brother, but climbed in. He sneezed. It was dusty and dirty. It didn't smell good at all.

The metallic walls of the vent made a lot of noise because they kept bumping against; it was tight. Ezra knew they should be more quiet. Miss Liv had told them that they would start learning to walk quietly very soon. Ezra thought they should've learned before they were kidnapped.

Ezra had no idea where he was leading his brother. There were so many turns and so many choices he was just following his wolf's instincts. It was like a maze.

"It's dusty in here," Elijah said as they made another turn. The vent got darker, but every once in a while they would pass over a grate like the one they'd got in through.

"Breathe from your mouth."

"Can we even get out of here? Does it even go outside?"

"Shut up! It's better than staying in a cage!" Ezra said.

"Ezra! do you-"

"Shut up!"

"No! Smell! It's mommy's smell!"

"What?" Ezra stopped worrying about where they were going and breathed through his nose. It itched and he sneezed twice before he could smell his mom's scent. Despite the dust, Ezra followed his mother's scent as it got stronger. Then they reached it. He peeked through the grate. It was a big white room with red drawings all over the ground and walls.

She was laying in a huge cage, her hair a brown pool around her head. She was alone and the room was closed.

"Can you see?" Elijah asked. "Let me see, too."

His mother sat up, awakening. She looked around. Her face was shiny with sweat, and she was moving very slowly.

"Mommy!" He linked her.

"Boys, where are you?"

"We see you!" Elijah said, sticking his head next to Ezra's to see through the grate. "We're up here."

She looked up through the bars of her cage and her eyes widened. She stood up, swaying slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, We stole the keys," Elijah handed Ezra the ring of keys and lodged his claws in the grate, edging it out of its spot. It clattered down loudly. Their mommy looked at the door, wide eyed. Someone was coming.

"Hide!" Their mommy linked them.

She ran to the edge of her cage. The grate had fallen right outside the bars.

Ezra held his breath as his mother reached for the grate. The footsteps were coming closer. Her fingers touched the grate. "Come on, come on," Ezra whispered, urging his mother's fingers to reach the grate.

The door's handle moved. Her fingers brushed the grate and pulled it in through the bars, putting it behind her.

The door opened and a vampire stuck his head in. "What's that noise?"

Ezra leaned back and pulled his brother. His heart was beating so hard and fast, Ezra looked at his chest, afraid to see it trying to get out of his chest. He peeked through the hole.

Ezra's mother rattled the bars of her cage loudly. "That was me. Just in case you guys forgot I'm here. Can I at least get some food?"

The vampire grunted. "Not yet. No food until you burn off the venom completely."

She huffed and leaned back. "Fine."

The vampire shook his head. "Be quiet." He left and closed the door behind him, muttering under his breath.

Ezra's mom breathed out in relief and stood up.

"Mommy, we'll throw you the keys," Elijah said, taking the keys back from Ezra.

"Be careful. I'll stick my hand outside the bars, throw them there," she glanced at the door, then nodded at them. "Okay. Aim well."

Elijah focused and closed one eye, aiming for his mother's hand.

"More to the left," Ezra whispered.

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing."

"If they fall on the ground they'll make noise."

"I know-"

"Boys, focus, please," their mommy linked, cutting off their banter. Ezra huffed and let his brother aim. If he was like Arthur, he could just make them fly right to his mom's hand.

Elijah dropped the keys. Ezra watched them. It was like they moved in slow motion, flying through the air and landing right in his mommy's hand. She caught them. They still made some noise.

She quickly hid them behind her back and looked at the door. But no one came this time. Quickly, she made her way to the cage's gate and tested the keys. The lock turned on the second try.

Lillian stared at the open cage. Now what?

She glanced up. The twins were taking turns peeking through the vent. It wasn't big enough for them both. It wouldn't be big enough for her.

"I can't fit in the vent," she linked them.

Ezra frowned. "No. Should we get down? We can leave with you-"

"No, there are too many people out there." She could hear them and smell them.

Over the past hour, there had been an increase in activity in the hallways outside. She looked at the boys and felt her heart swell with so much love it threatened to drown her.

Lillian closed the cage, locked it and pocketed the keys.

"Ezra, baby, I need you to listen to me," she linked him. "You and your brother need to go. They might start looking for you very soon once they find out you're missing."

"But mom-"

"No buts, young man," Lillian said with a smile. "You need to go ahead. I'm not going to fit through the vent, and you need to escape so you can call help, okay? I'll be waiting for it. Go."

"Mommy..." Elijah whimpered. Lillian felt her heart break for her babies. Why did they have to go through so much when they were still so young?

"I love you, sweetheart. I love you both. Go. I know you can do it. Stay safe, and don't trust others easily."

"How do we know who we should trust?" Ezra asked.

Lillian hesitated. It was such a simple question yet she didn't have an answer. What would Noah say? They were wolves..."Listen to your instincts," Lillian finally said.

Ezra gave her a nod. His face set in determined lines. He pulled Elijah and they disappeared.

Lillian paced her cage, chewing on her lip. What if someone came in and saw the missing vent grate? What if they noticed the twins were missing before the twins made it out to safety?

Lillian stopped. A distraction. They needed a distraction. And what bigger distraction than a werewolf on the loose, especially if that wolf was supposed to be locked up.

Lillian unlocked the cage, put the keys back in her pockets, stripped off her clothes and shifted.

Her wolf shook her head and walked out of the cage. The door of the room was locked, but her werewolf strength could handle a little door, right? Only one way to find out.

Lillian stepped back as much as she could, then ran towards the door and hit it with her shoulder.

It hurt like hell, but the noise was enough to wake the dead. She hit it again. The door cracked. A commotion broke outside. The vampire posted outside her door was calling for backup. People were running towards her door, several sets of heavy footsteps coming closer. Good.

Lillian took another running start and broke through the door in a shower of wood splinters. She rolled on the ground, some of the splinters shoving into her, and hit the wall of the hallway.

She stood up and shook her head, unsteady. She needed to learn Noah's trick of breaking open a locked door with her bare hand.

Lillian looked around. Her vampire guard and three witches stood shell shocked in the hallway. Lillian curled her lips and growled loudly. More witches and vampires rounded the hallway from the other side. She was surrounded. She pressed her hind against the wall, watching the two sides.

One of the witches raised her hand, her fingers glowing.

"Don't hurt her!" The vampire barked. "Blazius wants her safe."

"He wants her alive and locked up," the witch shot back, the glow swallowing her entire hand in a shimmer of green. "A little burn won't interfere with his experiments."

Lillian feigned a lunge. Everyone in the hallway jumped, starting forward. One of the witches couldn't stop in time and bumped into the vampire in front of him.

Lillian lunged for real this time, pumping her hind legs and jumping over the clumsy witch and his companions. They cursed. Her back brushed the ceiling as she sailed over them, using their heads as stepping stones.

A bolt of green shimmer whizzed past her, catching her side. Lillian smelled her fur burn. She landed on the ground and ran, hearing them chase behind her.

Lillian was quick, but vampires were faster. In a second, two vampires zipped past her and blocked the way ahead, a heavy weight descended on her back, knocking her body to the ground.

"Immobilize her!"

"Don't let her go!"

No. She needed more time for the kids. She strained, growling until the walls shook. Vampires were faster, but werewolves were stronger.

Lillian strained with a vicious snarl and pushed against the hands holding her down. She stood up. Her legs shook with the effort. The immortals trying to pin her down grappled. Lillian turned her head aside and snapped. They moved back, but kept their hold on her firm. All of them hung to her body away from her head to avoid her teeth.

But Lillian was a mother wolf whose pups were in danger. She took a step, forcing them to move with her.

"Damn it! Hold her in place!"

"Get some silver!"

"No! No silver, you idiot!"

Another step. The immortals' feet skidded on the floor.

"Well, at least I'm using my head! Do you have any ideas?"

"You won't have a head to use if Blazius hears you talking about hurting his prized pet," the vampire growled, tugging on Lillian's fur and moving to hold onto her neck.

"Get more people down here!"

Lillian turned her head. The vampire dodged, and her teeth snapped inches from head. He cursed and stepped back. More people joined them.

"I got tranquilizer!" One of them cried out.

"Screw it!" The vampire said. "Do it! Put her down for a nap! Blazius could wait!"

Ugh. Lillian renewed her trashing with vigor, moving several steps forward. The dozen immortals hanging off of her struggled to hold her back. She shook her body, flinging several off of her. But there were too many of them.

At least she bought the twins some time. Hopefully, they'd be out by now. Lillian felt a sting on her flank. She kicked and felt a crack, someone grunted. But the tranquilizer was already running in her bloodstream. Her muscles lost strength and her body slackened, her senses dulled. Slowly, Lillian tumbled to the floor, her mind groggy.

A wall of babies.

Lillian's mind sharpened for one brief second under the shock of what she was seeing. Through an open doorway, a pale blue light emanated from a wall in an otherwise dark room. Glass boxes lined the wall, full of a glowing faint blue liquid, with symbols drawn in red all over their surface.

Lillian's stomach twisted in knots, because before she lost consciousness, she clearly saw the outlines of babies. No, not babies. Fetuses. Hundreds of fetuses.

--- ---- ---

Hey guys! sorry for the wait, but it's a long chapter!

How did you like Ezra's POV? 

Comment and vote! I appreciate it!

Much love <3

M.B.