Don't Poke the Luna (Xena and Ryder)

Chapter 252

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..."

My voice cracked with grief and determination.

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,

gone. The woman who had bandaged my scraped knees, who had taught me to be strong, who

her cooling body against my chest, feeling her warmth slip away like sand through my fingers. The world around me seemed to tilt,

pain so excruciating it felt like my soul was being ripped in half. The mind

Dad's wolf was gone.

broken whisper. My hands clenched into fists, nails digging crescents into my palms until they bled.

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

"AHHHHHHHHH!”

of fury beyond measure, of a

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Chapter 252

of vengeance that echoed across the territories. I swear

you've made them suffer! You will know parents' blood, I will tear you apart with my bare

tears on my face felt like acid, each drop carrying the weight of my

beginning to flow through my veins like molten metal. This should have been a moment