Xena''s POV


    "I''m fine," I tried to sit up, but my body refused to cooperate. Ryder Had to help me, gently shifting me to the middle seat. He wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in the crook of my neck for a moment before leaning back. I could feel the fear and rage in his breath-he had been terrified of losing me, and I couldn''offer enoughfort to ease that.


    "Whenever you''re ready," William said, pressing the record button on the device. He ced the recorder on the console, and I stared at it nkly, my mind reying fragments of the nightmare I''d just scaped.


    "I woke up strapped to that chair. Basically, Alpha Wiley and Tatum idnapped me. Tatum..." I closed my eyes, struggling to keep my voice steady as I recounted my experience. Just saying his name made my stomach churn, those predatory eyes still crawling over every inch of my skin in my memory.


    "Anyway, I got pped before they left. I''m not sure how much time passed, then some guard or warrior came in with a young girl. She couldn''t have been more than a teenager, wearing clothes that looked like a sack. She helped me use the bathroom, but I took too long, and the guard came in and beat me."


    Ryder''s fists clenched, his expression hardening. I could feel his wolf howling inside him, hungry for revenge on my behalf.


    "Later, I woke up with Alpha Wiley and Tatum there, along with the girl and the guard. When they found out what happened, Tatum shot the guard in the head."


    "Good," Ryder muttered. There was a bloodthirsty satisfaction in his voice that should have disturbed me but somehow didn''t.


    Alpha Wiley set up what I think was a camera. He wanted me to record a video. He said if I didn''t do it right or deliberately messed up, he''d start shooting the girl from her feet up until I got it right. But because my face was swollen, they abandoned that n." My voice was eerily calm, as if I were telling a story that happened to someone else, not the horror I had just lived through.


    "What was the video for?" William asked softly, his voice careful, as though afraid too many questions might break me.


    "He wanted me to record saying I was leaving Ryder, that Ryder shouldn''te looking for me. Tatum wanted to wait, give me something to drink to help me recover. When he left to get drinks, Alpha Wiley said they had a secret room for me to live in, to be Tatum''s sex toy. He-he said I''d never get out, that this would be my life." I noticed the driver''s knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. My blood ran cold.


    "I''m sorry, but we need to know..." William closed his eyes, then opened them again, looking at me with sympathy and professional restraint. "Did he... did he touch you?"


    "Only above the waist." I nced quickly at Ryder, my voice louder than I intended.


    Ryder motioned for William to pause. He leaned closer to me. "I''m sorry I wasn''t strong enough to stop him."


    "You have nothing to apologize for. He''ll pay for it," I managed a weak smile. Ryder kissed my forehead, then looked at William, who pressed y again. "Anything else?" William asked.


    "I don''t think so. My face ruined their ns, so I don''t know what would have happened next." William nodded and turned off the recorder again. I exkrated with relief, the hardest part finally over.


    "I''m sorry, Xena," William said to me.


    What happened?" I asked. "How did I get kidnapped from the middle of our territory?"


    "After you copsed, I called Logan to tell him what happened. Some bee-like thing flew in front of me and exploded. I swallowed a tracker before I passed out," Redèr exined.


    "He was on the phone with Log when it happened, so after, Logan called the office, and we immediately went to find him. We discovered both you and Ryder were missing. We started searching right away," William exined.


    "Why wasn''t I locked up with you from the beginning?" I looked at Ryder.


    "They took me to an empty field first. He used me as a punching bag but it seemed like he didn''t want to make too big of a scene. He didn''t drug me, so I could still feel my wolf, wasn''t that weak. After that, he brought me to where you were, wanting you to reject me. Ryder smiled at me.


    My mind filled with bloody images, remembering Tatum shooting the guard, feeling a wave of fear wash over me. I immediately hugged Ryder tighter.


    "But how did they do it?" I asked softly. How had they so easily taken me from


    what should have been the safest ce? Was there a traitor among us? Or was their technology more advanced than we thought?


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