MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA
Chapter 214: Battle Of The Mind

Chapter 214: Battle Of The Mind

Ryder’s frozen gaze shifted to the lifeless body, his breath coming in sharp, ragged gasps as he stared at the body of his woman. It was her naked figure – the way she was before he came here.

Memories of how he’d coddled her, how he’d promised to make things right flashed in his mind. "N– no. It can’t be...break!" he roared.

Shatter!

The illusion shattered in a flash. Then, he saw Reana’s form twist and shift, flickering like a mirage. The familiar features of Reana blurred and melted into something else entirely.

It was the man.

Ryder’s mind raced as the illusion shattered, leaving only the cold reality. The man had used Reana’s form to deceive him, to make him doubt himself.

The masked figure, now standing again with a look of pure malice, chuckled darkly. "So easy to deceive, aren’t you?"

Ryder stood there, still frozen, his body still trembling with the weight of what had just transpired. The pain, the guilt—it all slammed into him in an overwhelming wave. He had thought he hurt the only sunlight in his life.

Plus, he’d actually fallen into an illusion. How?

"You’re going to regret that," Ryder muttered, his voice low, dangerous.

He came to test this man, but not anymore. Ryder wants to kill him.

The room’s temperature suddenly dropped, and Ryder’s eyes began to glow red.

The man didn’t wait for Ryder to unlock his powers and quickly moved faster and viciously, as if afraid of what was coming.

Ryder barely had time to react. The masked man’s fist collided with his stomach with bone-crushing force.

Bang!

Ryder flew like a broken kite into the wall with a reverberating boom!

The cave structure trembled, debris fell around him, dust rising in choking clouds. Ryder dropped to his knees, the impact vibrated through his bones, knocking air from his lungs.

Any person could have died from that blow. But not Ryder.

He coughed. Blood spattered onto the ground. Slowly, deliberately, he rose – back straight, eyes glowing brighter with every heartbeat. His hair, long and crimson, lifted as if caught in a wind only he could feel, flames of fury dancing in the strands.

This wasn’t just test now. It was war.

The masked man hesitated, sensing the shift. "There it is," he murmured. "The real you. I was wondering when you’d reveal yourself." He grinned like a lunatic.

Ryder didn’t respond. He never did. He stepped forward, slow, grounded, and filled with lethal intent.

He can’t kill this man with punches. The only way was to kill him from the inside...his mind.

And so, Ryder’s mind flashed into the man’s mind.

Time froze.

In the blink of an eye, everything around them fell silent—like the world had been paused. No sound. No movement. Even the air stopped. Their bodies stood motionless in the center of the broken cave, locked in combat stance. But their minds... their minds were still very much alive... In a void.

Ryder’s consciousness surged forward, reaching like a spear toward the masked man’s mind. He expected resistance—walls, warmth, whispers, even screams. But instead...

There was nothing.

Just cold. Empty. Hollow. Darkness.

He pressed harder, trying to claw his way through the void. Still, nothing. No thoughts. No emotions. No identity.

It didn’t make sense. Still, he refused to back out. He pushed deeper.

And that’s when it happened.

Something cracked.

Not in the man’s mind... but in Ryder’s own.

A flash of something sharp and painful pierced through his thoughts – an invasion. The man has invaded his mind... Or Ryder has invaded his own mind. And it rattled his memories.

Ryder blinked, stunned as his memories and bloodthirsty feelings surfaced – flashes of rage, blood, deaths.

That was when it clicked.

The cold blooded, merciless, powerful creature he’d been fighting. The same masked monster who turned wolves into zombie mutts...Reana’s mate that he loathed and was scared of...

He wasn’t a stranger.

This being, this evil creature before him, was none other than him.

Snow... Ryder —whichever you want to call him.

The other Ryder. The dark half that Shadow One –or whoever did it– pulled away from him in his previous life –before he was reborn over eight hundred years ago.

This version of Ryder, this twisted version of Snow, was a broken part of himself that was created through hate, rage, insanity and every ounce of darkness that had festered within him, all because he couldn’t get Reana to choose him.

And now, it was awake. In a human form. How?

"No!" Ryder gasped, holding his head. "You shouldn’t be here."

"You tried to kill me." A voice sounded in his mind, filled with everything evil and dangerous.

Ryder’s mind swirled with horror.

"You never should’ve gotten rid of me," the voice growled, madness lacing his voice like venom. "You rid yourself of me after you used me to achieve your aim, Snow."

Ryder’s physical body staggered back, trembling, but his mind was locked, rather, trapped in his consciousness – he was not awake yet.

Meanwhile, the masked man – Dark Snow’s vacant eyes glinted with malice, a rage so potent it filled the cave with a dark, suffocating energy.

"I am you," the voice continued, "You named your pack after me, Dark Snow." His voice dripped with a vicious kind of understanding. "It means you didn’t forget me. And I will never go back. I want to merge. I’ll rule, and you’ll stay hidden."

Ryder felt the overwhelming dark desire reaping through his senses. But pushed against it, struggling to keep his focus. He had to maintain control, or Dark Snow would swallow him whole.

"You want it the hard way, it seems." With a sudden, violent move, the dark thoughts surged like a tornado, intending on devouring Ryder’s consciousness. The darkness roiled, thrashing and pushing against Ryder, trying to pull him in.

No!

Ryder fought harder, summoning every ounce of willpower he had. He pressed against the waves of rage, hate, and madness. He fought to hold onto his own mind, for Reana’s sake.

He didn’t want to descend into madness. He didn’t want to hurt her like he did in their previous life. So he fought to break away from the mental captivity.

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