A/N: Due to my laptop needing repairs, I won't have the chance to update too many entries. Sad, but true; this is until I get a reply from the technician. I'm sad about this. Anyways, enjoy with what I've uploaded. R&R!

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They laid her within a cage, bound her with a steel collar, and allowed her to wake on her own. Gabriel didn't trust her whatsoever that he had them bound her further at the hands with matching material. He could not risk even the slightest freedom while she slept. He stared into the cage. River was propped up against the wall, her head low and legs straight. Even in sleep she appeared dangerous and could wake in any moment.

The Loup-garoux stood near and looked into the cage to find the girl sleeping within the hour. Rafe and Astrid stayed on the left of the cage in reach to touch her but Gabriel ordered them back when River began to twitch. Her breathing came hazily; she struggled to regain consciousness. Her head waved side to side slowly.

River lifted her head, gazing past the iron bars and smiled over toward Gabriel. She figured that that would be his plan to lock her in a safety cage. If that were a way to intimidate her, then he would be sorely wrong. Resting within a cage came in handy for her bloodline; it held resistance whenever they believed they were too dangerous around others. Being bound was a second choice in safety matters and clearly, River noted the heaviness within her hands and neck. She blatantly tugged on the heavy chains in her weakened state. Her eyes were half opened, tired, and heavily lidded. Still, in that state, they rested in their natural frost blue tint.

"Frightened are we?" River managed to say between hazy breaths. "Afraid that I'm going to rip each and every one you to pieces." She finally coughed, shaking her body in the aftermath and finally managed to stand on her feet. The floor was icy against her warmth.

"You are going to tell me everything. You have no chance of escaping, if you do, the Loup-garoux will finish you."

River leaned to the iron bars not amused by the strength of his voice. She was too tired to care what he had to say; apparently, in thought, River was concerned if her father received her first letter, and undoubtedly the second. She knew if he hadn't heard from her, he would come find her. She risked each one of the Loup-garoux while she stood barricaded in the cage. She waved a finger at him.

"You have that happen then you will awaken a war that is not needed. I'm the one that saved your tails in the first round; lets see who will save you in the second." River chuckled darkly, her mannerism not as alert and not proper. She was still half balanced.

One of the Loup-garoux approached the cage and Gabriel stopped him from moving further. River covered her mouth from laughing. She waved her finger again.

"Let me guess, you'll want to know everything about me. Well, I wasn't planning to tell you anything since this was strictly an observation," River held onto the bars for support. "Quite to the point that it didn't go so well, I was caught red handed and now needing to be dealt with, yes?"

Gabriel came closer to the cage, growling. "Did you kill that woman?"

"The portly landlady?" River tilted her head back. "Afraid that my little observation crashed on that evening so to speak, but, I'll be honest and answer with a yes. Her death was an accident. My inner being was hungry as well; of course, her flesh didn't settle me when I changed back. You see, you have it made. You can Change whenever, and wherever you please; it does not hurt you, you thrive for it, whereas I, its torture. If I could stay as a beast the rest of my life, I would because it is what I am. Walking around in this skin only gives me a voice."

River started to walk casually around the cage, the chains clanking against one another. Gabriel continued to growl just as the Loup-garoux behind him did.

"You don't realize how much you have it made in this era. You pity yourselves because you are outnumbered when you know damn well how to fix that. You choose not too because you are so dependant on this human form and believe you are higher because you can change into a wolf; an animal or not, you'll always be vulnerable. You try to keep hidden, no? The more you advertise your whereabouts the more likely these hunters will come after you. You are all afraid to go after them and you go killing the criminals that are well deserved for punishment. Tell me if I'm not mistaken because those woods were saturated with old blood, none of which were from your, well, I caught least three. You must have had a fighter on your hands at that time."

Gabriel came over to the left, moved his son and Astrid from the cage. He lifted his hand and grabbed the chain, tugged on it and watched River fall onto her knees. Amused, she laughed and looked up at him.

"You think keeping these chains on me will work? My bloodline finds this to be useful when we cannot handle our strength, when it becomes too overwhelming. We find it both beautiful and a curse." River climbed back onto your feet. "And here the cages should suit you more than I because it will protect you. We do this to protect others; you do it as a way to frighten your own to straighten them out. I'm aware of your niece and her predicament with the hunters; I can understand that you would be furious with her."

"You still have not said what you are."

River smiled. "You never asked. I'm known as a Dyir amongst my people. I'm a royal to be more specific, and royals are jeweled with the most elegant armor when transformed. I chose to go without it because I wanted to appear more domestic as those you find in the zoo. I can fool anyone easily. My name is River Marx. . Not Lily, as your son may have named me." She emphasized her words when she looked over at Rafe. "Simply put, the Dyir is an ancient tribe that sacrificed their women to the proud black leopards of the land, crude as it sounds and very strangely knowing, the bloodline evolved from there; our gift is more of a curse because we cannot love those who we want. Though we are not outnumbered, choosing a lover isn't so easy. My father made it so. When we found out about the incident with the Loup-garoux i.e. your niece, my father became obsessed with its legends. During those three years, he studied nothing more than that, I showed interest soon and he sent me here knowing that I would easily manage to blend within the crowd as long as I disguised myself as a tourist, find your establishment and bring back knowledge and confirmation that you thrive here in Bucharest. Nothing more and nothing less."

Gabriel nodded. "And, did you exactly find what you were looking for?"

River nodded in return then bent down to stretch. "Things could have gone my way if not for the Change to occur. The Dyir have no choice but to when they have sex because it is a natural reaction. Give your son thanks to that. But, during my visitation here, a part of my life from back home came to ruin things for me. Hence, the second panther you saw. She goes by the name of Delilah, apparently while I was gone, my mother went against her in a trial and lost in the fight to defend her honor with my father. I should give thanks to each one of your for finishing her; most likely, she tried to kill me so that she had no more obstacles. You see, for my people, being a royal can go a long way as do any royal family; but we go through trials, battles to be more specific. Its simple, whoever wins remains in their position. I think that is why my father found you interesting because you don't do these things, you take what you want and look where it has got you. . Outnumbered and hunted." River back to meditate; she had given all the information she could to haul the Loup-garoux back from her.

Gabriel chuckled softly. "She finds it very entertaining to know that she'll be hunted soon. You see, how we run things here, you commit a crime, and you pay for it. You and your kind have turned the tables back onto my own. The hunters will know we are here because of you. So, in three days, you will know what its like to be hunted."

River looked up at him with a smug grin. "I wouldn't count on that because my father has not heard from me in days, remember, if you listened, Delilah stole my most recent letter. My father is going to come to find me, you kill me and there will be bloodshed. There is some beauty of being a royal. Now, you can let me go, I can write to him and tell him that I am alive; if its fair game then I can go ahead and allow you to hunt me down in those woods; fair is fair, I have no problem to allow your kind to hunt me at least I'll have the freedom to run in my true skin."

She bargained with him in the kindest way. If he allowed her to write to her father, then things would go smoothly from then on out. The choice was Gabriel's alone. River couldn't depend on his answer, he expressed it all along; she killed someone that possibly led hunters back in their territory, because of her, they might have to go into further hiding. She needed to be dealt with.