MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA
Chapter 56: Pulling A Wool Over Her Eyes

Chapter 56: Pulling A Wool Over Her Eyes

Ryder hesitated, unsure of what to expect. With a deep sigh, he slowly turned to face her.

Reana was fighting to maintain her calm facade but couldn’t. She was shocked, angry, scared, happy... she couldn’t even pinpoint why exactly she was having such a torrent of emotions.

"I’ve never been weak," he explained before she could speak, fearing what she’d say. Closing the gap between them, he continued, "I told you before, My Luna Reana, I’m not weak." Ryder said, flashing her a nervous smile as if that would undo the exortic emotions coursing through her.

Reana didn’t deny it. He’d told her so, but her mind whirled with the implications. The way he fought was too powerful, too effortless. She’d never seen such prowess before. She herself couldn’t defeat those monsters, yet Ryder did it with ease. He killed two of them in less than five minutes. What was she to make of that?

She shuddered as she gazed up at Ryder, her heart pounding in her chest. Who was this man, really? What secrets lay hidden beneath his enigmatic smile?

As she opened her mouth to speak, she caught the other members who’d also shifted, staring at Ryder in a daze. They clearly had the same thoughts as her.

Reana swallowed back her retort. She couldn’t question him in front of everyone. "Bring down the tents. We are moving out now." Her instinct told her there would be more monsters coming for them if they didn’t leave.

Most of the warriors immediately hurried away to start dismantling the tents.

Her gaze drifted to the wounded warrior, who was still lying on the floor - he was the person who stopped Steve from going up against Ryder earlier. "How do you feel?" she asked, her voice softening slightly.

The warrior winced, his face pale with pain. "I...I’ll be fine, Luna. Just need to...catch my breath." He glanced up at Ryder, a mix of curiosity and wariness in his eyes.

Reana followed his gaze, her own thoughts still reeling from what she’d just witnessed. Ryder stood tall, his expression unreadable, like an accused waiting for judgment to be passed on them.

Returning her gaze back to the warrior, she pressed her lips together. They didn’t bring a healer with them, as none of them thought they’d encounter monsters. "Help him to the carriage." With that, she turned to leave.

"Come with me," she said curtly, her eyes locked briefly on Ryder as she strode away from the others who were about carrying the wounded to the carriage.

Ryder immediately fell into steps beside Reana. The group’s whispers and awestruck stares followed them, but Reana didn’t look back until she was inside her tent, where Mirian was still holed up in.

"Leave," she ordered, her voice firm and commanding, cutting off any chance for Mirian to utter a word.

Mirian’s eyes flicked to Ryder, then back to Reana, before she scrambled to her feet and hastily exited the tent. The flap closed behind her, and Reana turned to Ryder, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger, curiosity, and suspicion. "What are you?" she demanded, her voice low and husky.

"I’m a werewolf." Ryder’s response was matter-of-fact, but Reana’s frown deepened.

"I mean..." She trailed off, unsure of how to articulate her thoughts. "What you just did out there...it wasn’t normal. Even for a werewolf." Her eyes narrowed, searching for answers. "You killed them in your human form."

You ought to know that they were stronger in their wolf form.

"Your speed, your agility, your expertise...it’s unnatural." Reana’s voice was laced with a mix of fascination and wariness. "You seemed to have done it effortlessly, like you’re used to killing such creatures."

"That’s because it’s true." Ryder’s voice was flat, his expression calm, but a hint of something flickered in his eyes, something that made Reana’s heart skip a beat.

"Before joining the Black Moon Pack, my family hunted monsters of all kinds for a living... We were hunters. We traveled around regions, helping locals get rid of the monsters they were powerless again."

He stepped forward, closing the distance with Reana, his eyes locked onto hers with an unnerving intensity. "I was trained from a young age to track, to fight, and to kill. It’s all I’ve ever known." His voice dropped to a low tone, almost a whisper. "Speed, agility, and precision was what I was taught."

He continued, "I was taught that my first strike had to be the deadliest blow. No room for error, no time for hesitation, otherwise, someone died." He smiled bitterly, as if reminiscing about that. "And I’ve had a lot of practice, Luna Reana. A lot of practice. But unfortunately, my disease has rendered me almost useless."

Now, it was Reana’s turn to be stunned. Her heart ached for him and she felt the urge to hug him and comfort him.

His eyes flashed with a mixture of pain and vulnerability, and for a moment, Reana saw the depth of his emotional scars. She hesitated, unsure of how to comfort him, but Ryder’s next words broke the spell.

"I want you to trust me, Luna Reana. I may not be a member of the Black Moon Pack from birth, but the pack is my home now. I have no foul intentions towards it. Towards you." Ryder’s voice was low and sincere, his eyes locked onto Reana’s with a deep intensity.

He took a step closer, his movements fluid and deliberate. "I swear it on my honor, on my life. I will protect you, with every breath I take." The air seemed to vibrate with the weight of his promise, and Reana felt her heart respond to the sincerity in his words.

Reana’s lips thinned. She’d noticed that whenever he addressed her as ’Luna Reana’ instead of his endearment, ’My Luna’, it meant he was sad or feeling helpless.

Werewolves could feel it when someone was lying, but such didn’t apply to Ryder, as Reana couldn’t tell if he was lying or saying the truth. Just as she couldn’t read his future.

What mattered at the moment was what she was seeing. Ryder was sad and helpless, so, how could her heart bear to see him in such a state?

"Come here," Reana said and when he did, she pulled him into her arms, feeling his tense muscles relaxing as he gave a contented sigh.

Reana’s mind was warning her, urging her to not believe him so soon, but she ignored the bells of warnings in her head.

A subtle smile played on Ryder’s lips as he rested his head on her shoulder. He did not exactly lie about being a hunter, except, not in this lifetime.

In their first lifetime, he was born into the wealthiest, most powerful, fearless, and ruthless hunter pack, the Kaelin Pack.

Unlike other packs who prioritized expansion and politics, the Kaelin were singularly focused on one thing: purging the world of monsters.

Their pack was feared and revered in equal measure, and Ryder, being the next in line to become the Alpha of their pack, was groomed from a tender age of three to embody the Kaelin’s ruthless ideals.

It was their pack’s business for centuries, and being the only male child in the Alpha’s household, the responsibility fell on his shoulders.

He was trained to be a master hunter, a skilled fighter, and a cunning strategist - a true heir to the Kaelin legacy. But the moon goddess had other plans, and Ryder’s destiny was forever altered when he met Reana.

Ryder snapped back from his reverie, his eyes refocusing on the present. He exhaled, wrapping his arms around her so tightly that she almost couldn’t breath.

He never doubted that he’d be able to pull it off - able to tell her a seamless lie, but how long would this lie hold? If Reana decided to investigate his background behind his back, he knew she wouldn’t forgive him.

But his thoughts were cut short as Reana pulled away.

"We’re leaving now. You’ll ride on Kaid’s horse." Reana said to him.

Kaid was the wounded warrior who would be taking the carriage with Mirian. Reana hoped to find a healer in the West Wood Pack as soon as they got there.

But if only they knew what they were walking into.

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