Xena''s POV


    Time seemed to slow as my body moved with newfound power. The first warrior leaped toward my throat. Without conscious thought, I ducked and rolled. my movements fluid and precise. As he sailed over me, I grabbed a jagged piece of metal from the destroyed equipment and drove it upward into his exposed belly.


    Blood sprayed across my face, but I was already moving, the serum making me faster than I''d ever been.


    The second warrior tried to nk me from the left. I spun to face him just as his massive jaws snapped toward my shoulder. My ws extended instinctively, and I raked them across his face, feeling his flesh and bone. He stumbled backward, blood pouring from the deep gashes I''d torn across his snout and eyes.


    The third warrior, smaller but quicker than the others, darted in from my blind spot. His teeth mped down on my left forearm with crushing force, and felt the bones crack under the pressure. Pain exploded through my arm, but the serum dulled it to a manageable throb.


    ''Get off me! I snarled, using my free hand to grab his throat. My fingers dug into his windpipe. His eyes bulged as he tried to maintain his grip on my arm.


    The fourth warrior seized the opportunity while I was grappling with his member. He lunged forward and caught my left hand in his massive jaws. The crunch of bones breaking was audible even over the sounds of our struggle. White-hot agony shot up my arm as I felt my fingers being crushed and torn.


    "Fuck!" The word tore from my throat as I realized what was happening. He was going to tear my handpletely off.


    I channeled everything I had into my right hand, driving my ws deep into the throat of the warrior choking on my forearm. Blood gushed over my fingers as I felt his windpipe copsepletely. His grip on my arm went ck as he copsed, twitching.


    The fourth warrior gave a vicious shake of his head, and I felt my left hand separate from my wrist with a wet, terrible sound. Blood spurted from the ragged


    stump.


    The blood serum dulled what should have been excruciating pain to a


    manageable throb. I stared at the ragged wound for a split second before pure rage consumed me.


    "You want to y rough?" I snarled at the warrior still holding my severed hand in his jaws. "Let''s fucking y."


    With my remaining hand, I grabbed a shard of broken ss and drove it deep into his left eye. He released my hand with a howl of agony, stumbling backward as blood and vitreous fluid leaked down his snout.


    But even as I fought off his warriors, I could feel my strength beginning to ebb. The serum was powerful, but I was losing too much blood. My vision started to blur at the edges, and my movements became slightly less precise!


    Alpha Wiley had been watching this entire time, circling like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike.


    ''My turn,'' he growled,unching toward me.


    His weight mmed into me, sending us both crashing into the wall. ster rained down as the impact left a crater in the concrete. His jaws snapped inches from my throat, saliva dripping onto my face as I used my good arm to hold him back.


    His ws raked down my torso, tearing through my remaining clothes and leaving deep gashes that immediately began bleeding.


    "You killed my son," he snarled.


    Desperation wed at my chest as I realized the truth-even with the serum, I couldn''t win this fight. Not injured, not against an Alpha with decades more experience. My left arm was useless, blood loss was making me dizzy, and Alpha Wiley was toying with me like a cat with a mouse


    That''s when I noticed it-morning sunlight streaming through the windows. We were on the seventh floor. Maybe higher.


    The realization hit me like lightning. I couldn''t defeat Alpha Wiley, but I didn''t have


    to. I just had to make sure he couldn''t hurt anyone else ever again.


    "You want me dead?" I gasped, meeting his predatory gaze. ''Fine. But you''reing with me."


    Alpha Wiley''s eyes widened in confusion just as I wrapped my good arm around his neck. Using every ounce of strength, I rolled us both toward the "What are you- Alpha Wiley realized my intention and tried to break free, but I held on with desperate fury.


    We crashed through the ss in an explosion of glittering shards. For a moment, we hung suspended in the air, the ground rushing up to meet us. Alpha *_**_* Wiley''s ws raked desperately at my arms and torso, trying to tear himself free from my death grip.


    "If I''m dying," I snarled into his ear as we plummeted, "I''m taking you with me, you bastard."


    The wind whipped through my hair as we fell, and I felt an strange sense of peace wash over me. Ryder''s face shed before my eyes. I hoped he would understand why I''d made this choice. I hoped he would forgive me for not fighting harder toe home to him.


    The ground approached with terrifying speed. Alpha Wiley''s struggles became more frantic, his ws tearing chunks of flesh from my arms and chest in his desperation to escape. But I held on, my arm locked around his throat like an iron band.


    In those final seconds before impact, I thought about dad. About Logan. About Ama. About the innocent people Alpha Wiley would never hurt again.


    Thest thing I saw was Alpha Wiley''s eyes-no longer filled with arrogance and cruelty, but with the stark terror of a man who knew he was about to die.


    Then we hit the pavement, and everything went ck.