Don’t Poke the Luna Chapter 227

Xena’s POV

"We... have to get... out of here." I forced the words through gritted teeth, pain shooting through my ribs with every breath.

"Where are we?" William's voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.

"I don't know." Using the door handle for support, I fought against my body's protests as I stood. Every movement sent fresh waves of agony through my broken ribs, but I couldn't afford to show weakness now.

Once I found my balance, I stumbled toward William to untie his restraints. My fingers fumbled with the chains, slick with blood and sweat. It took longer than I wanted, but finally the metal clanked to the floor. William collapsed forward, clutching his chest as he fell to his hands and knees, his face pressed against the cold concrete.

"Fuck..." he groaned, his voice muffled against the floor.

"Come on. We need to get you to a hospital." I extended my hand toward him, biting down hard on my tongue to keep from crying out as the movement pulled at my damaged ribs.

"How do we get out of here?" William asked through clenched teeth, struggling to look up at me.

"Fast." I helped him to his feet, his weight heavy against my injured side. Every step was torture, but I forced myself to keep moving.

"I mean, which way do we go?"

My hand found the door handle, and I paused. "I don't know, but we can't stay here." Looking at William, both of us barely clothed and covered in blood, supporting each other's broken bodies, the reality of our situation hit me. "Ready?"

"As ready as I can be." William nodded, and I turned the handle.

The hallway stretched out before us, dimly lit and eerily quiet. I chose left instinctively, and we began our desperate escape. With each step, I felt sharp objects cutting into my bare feet, leaving bloody footprints on the cold floor. The pain was excruciating, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

"There she is!" The shout came from behind us, echoing off the walls.

"Don't look back, keep running!" William yelled, his breath ragged.

Ahead, I spotted a sign for stairs. We didn't slow down, hitting the heavy door with our combined momentum. The weight of it caught us both off guard, and we stumbled, nearly falling down the steps that appeared much closer than I'd expected.

"Down!" I shouted, and William and I began our descent. We'd only made it down one flight when the door above us exploded open, slamming into the wall with such force that concrete dust rained down on us.

"They went down!" A voice crackled over a radio. "She's on the stairs, moving toward the third floor!"

I didn't stop. We kept going down, taking the steps as fast as our injured bodies would allow. But exhaustion and pain were taking their toll. When I missed a step, William lost his balance, his weight pulling both of us down several stairs in a tangle of limbs. The sound of something snapping echoed through the stairwell, followed by William's agonized cry.

His ankle was twisted at an unnatural angle, and he crumpled to the floor. My knees hit the concrete hard, sending fresh shockwaves of pain through my already battered body.

"Shit!" William grabbed his ankle, his face contorted in agony.

"I'm sorry, William." Without hesitation, I wrapped my hands around his ankle and snapped it back into place.

"Jesus Christ, Xena!" William roared, but I was already pulling him to his feet. The guards were getting closer, their footsteps echoing down the stairwell. I dragged William the rest of the way to the door marked with large red letters: "EXIT."

"Run, William!" I shouted as we threw our combined weight against the door.

The night air hit us like a slap, cold and unforgiving. Wind whipped through my hair, stinging the open wounds on my face and body. Behind the building stretched a narrow alley lined with parked cars and dumpsters, but no real cover.

We'd only made it twenty yards when the door behind us burst open again.

"Dear little Xena." Alpha Wiley's voice sent ice through my veins. "Stop!" His command cut through the night air like a blade.

We froze immediately. When I turned to face him, I saw the guns. Multiple weapons pointed directly at us, held by men whose faces showed no mercy.

"I must admit, I didn't expect you to do that." Alpha Wiley stood surrounded by his men, all of them waiting for his signal. "You killed my son." His face twisted with grief and rage.

"You killed Tatum?" William stared at me in shock.

"I ripped his heart out with my bare hands. I guess you should make sure everyone gets sprayed with that shit before you send them to rape your son." I could feel Alpha Wiley's hatred radiating off him like heat from a furnace.

"When I take your life, I won't show you any mercy." Alpha Wiley's eyes were cold as death as he raised his AK-47, the sound of the bullet chambering echoing in the alley.

"If you kill William or me, I won't help you." I played my only remaining card, the one bargaining chip I had left.

Alpha Wiley paused, then began to laugh. The sound started low but grew louder and more unhinged with each second. "You're amusing," he said through his maniacal laughter.

"We'll see about that." Alpha Wiley nodded to someone behind us.

Four armed men approached, roughly cuffing our hands behind our backs and pressing gun barrels to our heads. Since William couldn't stand properly, another warrior grabbed him and began dragging him forward.

My mind raced, searching for any possible escape plan. I could shift into wolf form, but that wouldn't be enough to kill all these men. I'd just become a bigger target, giving them more surface area to shoot. William was completely defenseless, being dragged in front of me with his ankle barely healed and unable to support his weight.

While I was distracted watching William's struggle, I tripped on the first step leading back into the building.

"Stupid bitch!" the guard snarled, then drove his fist into my already broken ribs. Even though I'd seen it coming, the impact knocked the wind out of me completely.

My wolf was slowly trying to take control. Alpha Wiley knew I had her, so when the warrior looked at me, I didn't try to hide her fury. Una took over. She didn't shift, but she extended her claws. As the warrior reached down to roughly pull me to my feet, she struck out with lightning speed, slashing his throat open. More blood sprayed across my already blood-soaked body.

The moment I killed him, I realized I'd made a terrible mistake. "Xena!" I heard William shout. I spun around to see Alpha Wiley already in front of me, raising his gun. The butt of the rifle connected with my temple before I could dodge.

Everything spun wildly. I fought desperately to stay conscious, but the pain and concussion made thinking nearly impossible. The world became a blur of shadows and spinning lights. Though I didn't completely black out, darkness danced at the edges of my vision as I felt Alpha Wiley hoist me over his shoulder and carry me back up the stairs.

Despite my efforts to focus, it was useless. Blood dripped steadily from my head, leaving a trail behind us. In my dazed state, I was thrown onto the floor, the rough carpet breaking my fall but doing nothing to cushion the impact against my injured ribs.