Don't Poke the Luna (Xena and Ryder)

Ryder's POV

XENA! I roared at the retreating vehicles, my voice tearing from my throat like shards of glass. It took me two agonizing minutes to break free from the ropes that bound me, my wrists burning as I struggled against the restraints.

The moment I was free, I stumbled toward where my mother lay crumpled on the ground. The sight of her broken body sent a wave of nausea through me, but I forced myself to keep moving.

"Ryder..." Her voice was barely a whisper, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

I dropped to my knees beside her, carefully lifting her head into my lap. "Mom, don't talk. Save your strength." My hands shook as I tried to apply pressure to the wound in her abdomen, but blood continued to seep between my fingers.

"Listen to me," she gasped, her fingers clutching weakly at my shirt. "Your father... after you and Xena left the pack... he took some warriors to search for clues... he wanted to protect you both..."

Tears blurred my vision as I leaned closer to catch her fading words.

"Promise me..." Her grip tightened with what little strength she had left. "Find him... protect Xena... protect the pack... I believe in you..."

"I WILL, Mom! I WILL!" My voice cracked with grief and determination. "I'll find Dad, I'll protect everyone!*noveldrama

A faint smile touched her lips, and for a moment she looked like the woman who used to sing me lullabies when I couldn't sleep. Then her hand went limp, and her eyes became vacant, staring at nothing.

"Mom... MOM!" I shook her shoulders desperately, but she was gone. The woman who had bandaged my scraped knees, who had taught me to be strong, who had loved me unconditionally - she would never hold me again.

I cradled her cooling body against my chest, feeling her warmth slip away like sand through my fingers. The world around me seemed to tilt, reality becoming a nightmare I couldn't wake from.

Then it hit me a pain so excruciating it felt like my soul was being ripped in half. The mind link with my father suddenly severed, leaving a hollow emptiness where his presence had always been.

Dad's wolf was gone.

"No..." The word escaped as a broken whisper. My hands clenched into fists, nails digging crescents into my palms until they bled. He was dead too. That bastard Wiley had killed both my parents, torn away the two people who meant everything to me.

Grief and rage erupted from somewhere deep in my chest, a volcanic explosion of raw emotion that threatened to consume me entirely. I gently laid my mother's body on the ground and rose to my feet, my face turned toward the darkening sky.

"AHHHHHHHHH!”

The howl that tore from my throat shook the very foundations of the earth. It was the sound of a son's anguish, of fury beyond measure, of a heart shattered into a million pieces. Birds fled from the trees, and somewhere in the distance, wild animals answered with mournful cries of their own.

"WILEY!" His name became curse on my lips, a promise of vengeance that echoed across the territories. I swear on my

e hands! I will make you suffer as you've made them suffer! You will know parents' blood, I will tear you apart with my bare pain beyond imagination!"

The tears on my face felt like acid, each drop carrying the weight of my loss and the fire of my determination.

That's when I felt it - the Alpha power beginning to flow through my veins like molten metal. This should have been a moment of triumph, the culmination of years of training and preparation. Instead, it tasted of ash and blood.

The power crashed over me in waves, connecting me to every member of our pack. I could feel their terror, their grief, their desperate hope that I would somehow make this right. The weight of their expectations settled on my shoulders like a mountain, threatening to crush me under its burden.

I had lost the two most important people in my world. But I would not could not- lose Xena too.

"Take... take the bodies to the morgue," I commanded, my voice rough and hollow. I couldn't look at my mother's face again, couldn't bear to see her lifeless eyes staring at nothing.

My warriors moved with careful reverence, lifting Luna Kestrel and Mike's bodies with gentle hands. I could see the grief in their faces, the way they struggled to maintain composure in the face of our losses.

Twice. She had been kidnapped twice now, and both times I had failed to protect her. The failures cut through me like knives, each one a reminder of my inadequacy as a mate, as an Alpha.

"Alpha..." One of my warriors approached, and without thinking, I spun around and drove my fist into his jaw. The crack of impact did nothing to ease the rage burning in my chest.

"What the hell happened here? Were you all asleep when they broke through our defenses? You don't have so much as a scratch on you!" I stalked toward the garage, my vision tinged red with fury. "Get the fucking cars, NOW!"

Everyone scrambled toward the vehicles, but I was done waiting Done being reactive. Done being one step behind while the people I loved paid the price. Chapter Comments

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