Anton pushed Oana behind him as she snarled at Flaviu. Her arms tightened around his. Flaviu's angry eyes snapped to Oana, his lip curling in disgust. "Control your mutt, Anton."

"Fuck off, Flaviu," Anton snapped. He knew that Flaviu would not hesitate to kill Oana. He turned around and pushed Oana back, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Let him take me, Oana."

Oana's eyes shone with unshed tears as she looked up at him. "Take you?" She shook her head. "No."

Anton's hands squeezed her shoulders. "He's not going to kill me, Oana. Trust me. Let him take me, and I will be returned to you before you know it."

Oana searched his face before reluctantly nodding. "Fine." She pulled him by his shirt and pressed a hard kiss to his lips. "Come back to me, mate."

"I will," Anton breathed. He pushed away from Oana and stepped out through the cage's door. He forced his feet to move and follow Flaviu down the hallway and away from his mate. Before they moved through the big double doors, he put electrical cuffs on Anton's wrists. "Am I a danger to you, Flaviu?" Anton asked, amused.

Flaviu gave him a stern look. "Shut up." He pushed Anton through the double doors. He roughly led Anton into a large room. Everything was sterilized white. Too much intimidating equipment lined the walls, making all sorts of noises. Flaviu pushed Anton onto the table and tightened his limbs against the surface.

"You do think that I'm a danger," Anton antagonized. "Don't you, Flaviu?"

Flaviu rolled his eyes and turned to the large table beside the bed. "Are you sure that you can't Morph?" Flaviu asked him as he was messing with something on the table; Anton couldn't see what.

Anton's eyebrows furrowed as he watched Flaviu. "I can't. I told you this already."

Flaviu shrugged one shoulder, still refusing to turn around. "I don't think you're telling the truth." Flaviu turned around, holding a large syringe in his hand. "You have to understand where I'm coming from, Anton. Your DNA has to have some form of Morpher inside of you. How else would you wind up with Oana?"

Anton's eyes narrowed at him. "The fates decided that I was her mate."

Flaviu shook his head as he chuckled. "You truly believe in all that fate talk?" He moved closer to Anton's side and held up the syringe. "I'm going to make that beast come out of you. One way or another." He bent down and found a vein to inject whatever was inside of the syringe. "I'm going to find out how you were able to find a mate, and I was not."

Anton shook his head as the needle poked through his skin. "What's in the syringe, Flaviu?"

Flavius' eyes were dark as he looked up at him. "I've been holding different beasts in this lab for nearly a decade. In this syringe is all of their DNA." He returned his attention to the syringe. He slowly pushed the liquid into Anton's bloodstream. "One way or another, I will have you into a Morpher." Once the syringe was empty, Flaviu moved away from him and back to the table. "I don't care how long it takes, Anton. I will keep you and your precious mate in that cage until I get what I want."

Anton shook his head. His body was already feeling heavy. "This is unethical, Flaviu. You can't do this forever."

Flaviu nodded. "True." He turned back to Anton and tapped at another full syringe. "That's why I've got to do all this in one session. Eventually, your parents will start making demands to see you." He sighed, annoyed. "They're already asking way too many questions."

Anton closed his eyes. Flaviu found another vein in his arm and continued to repeat the process of filling his bloodstream with different Morpher DNA. He didn't know how long he was strapped to that chair, but his body felt heavy by the time Flaviu was done. His skin was itchy, and his head spun whenever he stood up. Two guards were called in to carry Anton back to his cage.

Anton heard Oana's cries when the guards threw him into the cage. The door was slammed shut, leaving them alone. He heard Oana calling his name, but he couldn't respond. Oana helped him sit up against the wall.

Oana leaned closer to him and took a deep breath. "What did he do to you, Anton?" Her voice broke. "You do not smell like yourself."

Anton took a deep breath and opened his eyes to look at her. "He's wanting me to Morph."

Oana's eyebrows furrowed. "How?" she squeaked. "You cannot Morph."

Anton nodded slowly, his head pounding. "He believes that because we found each other, there is some form of Morpher inside me. Even though I can't Morph, I could still find a mate." He took a deep breath. "Flaviu can Morph, and he has to live without a mate."

Oana crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe the fates decided he was too evil to have a mate. That is his punishment."

Anton chuckled. "You're probably right." He was silent for a moment, catching his breath. "He injected me with different Morpher DNA in the hope that one of them sticks and I'm able to Morph."

Oana reached up and brushed his hair away from his forehead. "Do you think it will work?"

Anton shrugged. "I have no idea, Oana. If one of them does stick, he'll be right in that I did already have some Morpher inside of me."

Oana's eyes filled with tears as she searched his face. Anton's heart broke when he saw her tears. He reached out and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his mouth and gently kissing her knuckles. "What's wrong?"

Oana shook her head, lowering her chin to her chest and mumbling words in her language.

Anton sighed as he forced his body to move. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her into his lap. "Oana, what's wrong?"

Oana pressed her face into his chest. "I am afraid, Anton. With what Flaviu is doing, he could take you away from me." She looked up at him, tears now falling down her cheeks. "I just found you."

Anton shook his head as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "No one is going to take you away from me. The fates brought us together, knowing that this was going to happen." He brought his head down and rested his forehead against hers. "If we weren't meant to be together, they would have given you another mate." He pressed a soft kiss against her lips. "I'm not going anywhere."