Don't Poke the Luna (Xena and Ryder) novel Chapter 147

Xena’s POV

I nodded and walked over to the table to examine everything laid out there. A baseball bat rested at the edge of the table. I picked it up, testing its weight in my hand before lightly touching the tip to his left leg. Despite his desperate attempt not to tremble, he still flinched.

My heart raced, my palms slightly damp with sweat. I never imagined myself interrogating someone with violence. But I had no choice. I needed to appear merciless and decisive.

“No matter how hard you try to hide it, I know this leg is already injured. Tell me what I want to know, or I’ll make sure this leg is shattered before I cut it off.”

His face turned pale. “You don’t have the guts.”

To prove him wrong, I walked back to the table and grabbed some rope. When I bent down, his eyes widened. His right leg started kicking wildly, preventing me from binding it properly. Thankfully, Dad understood my intentions and held that right leg down, allowing me to secure the rope. Ryder stepped forward, taking the rope from me and pulling it taut.

“Last chance,” I said, measuring the distance to get a good swing angle.

“You’re too weak, little sheep. This isn’t your place.” He glanced down at his foot then looked up at me with a menacing glare, challenging me, trying to overpower me with his presence.

I didn’t respond. I simply raised the bat over my head and swung down with all my might. I aimed directly for his tibia, immediately hearing the crack of bone.

A strange sensation washed over me–fear, power, and a twisted sense of satisfaction all mixed together.

His screams echoed throughout the small room, the other two Rogues cringing and looking away. But I didn’t stop. After two more consecutive hits, I stepped back.

“What were you saying?” I asked calmly.

Waiting for him to stop crying and struggling, he glared at me through tears. “Go… fuck… yourself.”

His breathing was heavy, and I swung three more times until he began begging, “Okay! I’ll talk!”

“Excellent.” I set the bat down, breathing hard myself after putting my full strength into each swing.

“Everything was done over the phone or internet. No face–to–face contact. That’s all we know.”

42

“Shut und the one on the right began shouting. His face was contorted with anger. Alpha Benedict grabbed a knife, plunging it deep into his thigh, twisting before pulling it out. He’d successfully hit an artery; the man had only minutes to live, if not seconds.

“I’m bleeding out!” he cried.

I felt dizzy, forcing myself not to throw up.

“That’s the point, Alpha Benedict said quietly.

The guy in the middle watched as blood flowed down his leg and chair, forming a large pool beneath him. Eventually, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out. Ryder now stood in front of Holden with a knife in hand.

1/2

Chapter 147

We left the phones about a file outside your territory on a tree! An old elm tree. There’s a creek nearby. Go find it, all the information is on the phones! The guy on the right was white as a sheet.

‘Yes! I can even draw you a maj

Holden nodded rapidly as Ryder put down his leg.

“Why me?” I asked.

“We don’t ask these questions. We take the money and do the job, that’s it. If you hadn’t been there, things might have been different. That idiot didn’t check before climbing over the wall, and now we’re all paying for it. Holden shook his head. Just kill me already. I’ve told you everything I know.” Holden’s voice trembled, tears in his voice.

Ryder threw the knife in his hand onto the table, the sound echoing the dim, confined room. He pulled me back into the shadows as Alpha Benedict wrote down all the instructions and information about the location of their phones.