Don't Poke the Luna (Xena and Ryder)

Chapter 265

Xena's POV

Three figures in medical scrubs burst through the door, carrying toolboxes that clinked ominously with each step. Two warriors grabbed my arms and dragged me toward a cold metal surgical table. Alpha Wiley stood expressionless in the corner, his eyes following my every movement.

The medical team worked with clinical efficiency, their gloved hands securing leather restraints around my wrists and ankles. The straps bit into my skin as they tightened them, ensuring I couldn't move even an inch. My heart hammered against my ribs as one of the doctors approached with a large syringe.

"Anesthesia won't work on werewolves," the lead doctor said. "She'll be conscious throughout the entire procedure."

Terror clawed at my throat as the reality hit me. My breathing became rapid and shallow as panic threatened to overwhelm me.

The first needle pierced my arm, and I bit back a scream. They inserted tube after tube, turning me into nothing more than a blood bank. I could feel the warm liquid leaving my body, flowing through transparent tubes into collection bags that hung like macabre decorations around the table.

Ryder. I closed my eyes and tried to picture his green eyes, the way they crinkled when he smiled, the warmth of his arms around me. I had to survive this. I had to get back to him. We were supposed to have a future together, children, a life filled with love instead of this nightmare.

The extraction continued, and my strength ebbed away with each passing minute. My father's face flashed before my eyes - Dad, who had just sacrificed

everything to free us from Martha's tyranny. He had died believing Logan and I would be safe, that we would build something beautiful from the ashes. I couldn't let his sacrifice be meaningless.

was newly Alpha, still finding his footing. William was broken

growing weaker. The world seemed to tilt and spin around me. I could hear my heartbeat slowing, becoming irregular. Am I going to

idea how long they'd been draining me, but it felt like hours. My lips were

the chaos with cold authority. Then came the sharp sound of a

almost more frightening than

voice cut through the fog in my mind,

to tell him I was alive, but my consciousness felt like it was floating just out of reach, Sleep called to me, promisin It would be so easy to just let go, to drift away

end to the pain.

my fading awareness. Xena, stay with me. Don't you dare give

been a fighter. Even as a child, when Martha's cruelty threatened to break me, I had fought back. When the shop exploded, when they kidnapped me the

my eyes to focus, to take in my surroundings despite the exhaustion that threatened to drag me under. The three doctors were hunched over computer screens, their fingers

thin tube. The blood bags hanging from it were swollen, containing what looked like far more than the standard 600 milliliters they took during normal blood donations. The realization hit me like ice water: they weren't

Terror and

rage warred in

our mind link, my

"William."

god, his relief flooded through our connection.