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.