His Fake Girlfriend, His True Mate

Chapter 9

_Lyra's POV_

The growl coming from outside the room made every part of my body freeze.

For a few seconds, neither Ryder nor I moved. The entire arena felt strangely silent, with only the sound of the storm hitting the windows and my own heartbeat filling the darkness.

Ryder stood in front of me. His shoulders were tense and his eyes locked on the dark hallway ahead. He looked completely different from the cold hockey captain who always acted like nothing could scare him. This was not the Ryder who ignored his emotions and pushed everyone away. This was someone ready for danger.

“Ryder,” I whispered.

He did not look back. “Stay behind me.”

Something about the way he said it made me listen. It was not his usual arrogant tone and it was not because he wanted control. There was something else hidden in his voice. It felt like a warning because he was afraid something might happen to me.

I swallowed and looked past him toward the hallway. The emergency lights flickered once...then twice. For a brief moment, the entire arena disappeared into darkness.

When the lights returned, my eyes immediately moved toward the glass doors at the end of the hallway and that was when I saw it.

A shadow moved across the glass.

My breath caught. It was too large to be a person. I stared at it, trying to convince myself that I was seeing it wrong. But the feeling in my chest told me otherwise.

“What was that?” I whispered.

Ryder’s expression became even colder as he looked toward the dark hallway.

“Stay here.”

My eyes widened. “Where are you going?”

“To check.”

“Alone?”

He did not answer. And somehow, that scared me more than if he had simply said yes. Before I could think about it, I reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Ryder.”

His eyes lowered to where my hand was holding him. For a brief moment, his expression changed. It was not anger. It was something softer. But just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared behind the cold mask he always wore.

“You need to stay back, Lyra.”

I shook my head. “I am not letting you walk toward whatever is out there alone.”

His jaw tightened. “You are stubborn.”

I frowned. “And you are impossible.”

For the first time, a small hint of amusement appeared in his eyes. It was barely there but I saw it. Then it vanished.

“I will be back.”

Before I could respond, Ryder turned and walked into the hallway. I watched him disappear into the darkness. The strange thing was that I could barely hear him moving.

Ryder Kane was not a quiet person. He was tall, strong and built like an athlete. Someone like him should have made every step noticeable. But he moved without making a sound.

A strange feeling moved through me as I stood near the doorway, watching him disappear farther into the shadows.

“Ryder,” I whispered.

He stopped and looked back. “Do not come after me.”

I opened my mouth to argue but before I could say anything, the lights suddenly went out again. Complete darkness surrounded me. My heart jumped.

“Ryder?”

There was no answer. Then I heard it. A loud crash echoed through the hallway. My entire body went cold.

“Ryder!”

Another sound followed. Something heavy hitting the floor. A deep growl. Then another crash that made me flinch.

I could not see anything. I could only listen and every sound made the fear inside me grow stronger. Something dangerous was happening out there.

I stood frozen for a moment. Then I made a decision. I could not just stay there. Not when Ryder was out there. He had protected me again and again. I had to return the favor.

Taking a shaky breath, I forced myself to move forward. My hands trembled as I stepped into the dark hallway.

“Ryder?”

My voice sounded small in the darkness. There was no answer.

The hallway felt endless and every second that passed made the fear inside me grow stronger. I did not know what was happening. I did not know what was out there. All I knew was that Ryder was somewhere in the dark, facing whatever had been waiting for us.

Then, suddenly, the emergency lights flickered back on. I stopped because Ryder was standing right in front of me.

I almost screamed.

A second ago, he had been at the other end of the hallway. Now he was here right in front of me. There was no way he could have crossed that distance so quickly.

“How did you…”

The words left my mouth before I stopped myself. Instead, my eyes moved over him. Something was wrong.

His shirt was slightly torn near his shoulder. His usually perfect hair was messy and his breathing was heavier than normal. There was a small cut on his arm and a faint trace of blood marked his skin.

“Are you hurt?”

His expression softened for a brief moment. “I’m fine.”

I stared at him. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

I stepped closer. I was unable to believe how calmly he was acting.

“You disappeared into a dark hallway where something was attacking you and you came back injured. You cannot just stand there and tell me it is nothing.”

For a moment, Ryder only looked at me. His eyes held something I could not understand. He looked surprised. It was almost as if he was not used to someone being worried about him. Then his voice became quieter.

“Lyra.”

“What?”

“You were supposed to stay back.”

I crossed my arms. “And you were supposed to come back safely.”

For a second, neither of us spoke. The usual argument between us should have started. He should have told me I was reckless. I should have told him he was impossible. But this time, neither of us did. Because for once, we were both too aware of one thing.

He had been trying to protect me and I had been afraid of losing him.

The silence that followed felt awkward. Ryder looked at me, really looked at me, like he was trying to understand why I was so worried about him. Then he let out a quiet sigh.

“You are impossible.”

I looked at him. “You already said that.”

“And you keep proving me right.”

Despite everything that had happened, I almost smiled. Then I remembered what had happened.

“The thing outside,” I said. “What was it?”

The softness in his expression disappeared. “It is gone.”

“That is not what I asked.”

His eyes moved toward the dark hallway. “It was a wild animal.”

I stared at him. “A wild animal?”

“Yes.”

“In the middle of the arena?”

“The storm probably caused it to get inside.”

I looked past him toward the broken glass door at the end of the hallway. The damage was impossible to ignore. There were deep scratches across the glass, marks that looked like something had tried to break through. And then I saw it.

A dark stain near the frame.

It was blood. My eyes widened.

“You did that?”

Ryder followed my gaze. “It attacked me.”

“That does not answer my question.”

He stayed silent. I looked back at him.

“How did you stop it?”

His expression remained completely calm. “Training.”

I blinked. “Training?”

“Yes.”

I stared at him. “Ryder, you are a hockey player, not some kind of superhero.”

For a second, I thought I saw the smallest hint of amusement in his eyes. “I train a lot.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That is your explanation?”

“Yes.”

I studied him carefully because I knew there was something that he was not telling me. I remembered the way he moved on the ice. The way he had reached me before the puck could hit me. The way he always seemed to notice danger before anyone else.

And now this; a wild animal and a broken glass door. Ryder was standing in front of me like fighting something dangerous was just another normal day. None of it made sense.

“You are stronger than you look,” I said quietly.

His eyes met mine. “You think?”

I ignored the slight teasing in his voice. “I saw what happened.”

Ryder’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What did you see?”

I hesitated. For some reason, I did not want to say it out loud. Maybe because the moment I explained it, it would sound impossible.

“I saw you move.”

His expression became more careful.

“You moved too fast.”

For a second, something flashed in his eyes. Then it disappeared. “You were scared,” he said calmly. “Maybe it looked faster than it actually was.”

I opened my mouth to argue but the words never came. Because maybe he was right. Fear could change the way people saw things. Maybe my mind was trying to explain something that I did not understand.

Before I could answer, voices suddenly echoed through the arena.

Security had come.

A few moments later, several guards rushed toward us. Their footsteps filled the empty hallway.

“What happened?” one of them asked.

Ryder immediately changed. The concern in his eyes disappeared. It was replaced by the calm and controlled expression I was used to seeing.

“There was an animal inside.”

The guard looked confused. “An animal?”

Ryder nodded toward the broken glass door. “It got in because of the storm.”

The guards immediately began checking the area and asking questions. Everyone was focused on what had happened but I barely heard any of it.

My attention stayed on Ryder. The person who had protected me again. He always seemed to appear when I needed help.

Later, after the situation was finally handled and the arena was declared safe, Ryder insisted on driving me home.

“You do not have to,” I said as we walked toward his car.

He looked at me. “I know.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

He opened the passenger door for me. “Because it is late and I want to make sure you get home safely.”

“That is not an answer.”

“It is the answer you are getting.”

I rolled my eyes but I still got inside the car. The drive was quiet but not in the uncomfortable way I expected. For once, being around Ryder did not feel like walking into a battle.

He was not cold or distant. He actually asked if I was okay. He noticed that my hands were still slightly shaking and asked if I was feeling better. When he realized I was cold, he quietly turned up the heat without saying anything.

It felt strange. Because this was the same person who had once looked at me like I was just another problem he had to deal with. But tonight, he was the person making sure I was safe.

When we finally reached my apartment, I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned toward him. “Thank you.”

Ryder looked at me. “For what?”

“For saving me.”

His expression changed slightly. “I told you. It was nothing.”

I shook my head. “No. It was not nothing.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence between us felt different from before. It was not filled with arguments or teasing. It was just the two of us sitting there, both aware that something had changed.

Then, unexpectedly, Ryder reached out and pulled me into his arms. I froze. I never expected that from him.

Ryder Kane did not seem like the kind of person who hugged anyone. He always kept his distance. He always acted like he did not need anyone. But right now, he held me carefully....like I was someone important.

“You are safe,” he whispered.

My heart started beating faster.

“I will always protect you.”

The words were so quiet that I almost wondered if he meant to say them. Before I could respond, he slowly pulled away. The warmth disappeared and the distance between us returned.

I watched him drive away. I felt completely confused. Because tonight, I had seen a side of Ryder Kane that almost no one else seemed to know existed.

The next morning, my phone buzzed with a message from Jenna.

"Did you get home safely?"

I smiled slightly as I replied.

"Yes. Ryder drove me home. He saved us last night. There was some kind of wild animal inside the arena."

A few seconds later, she answered.

"Ryder saved you?"

I stared at the message. Before I could reply, another one appeared.

"I am going to look into what happened."

I stared at the message for a moment. I hoped that Jenna would find out where that wild animal had come from. If it had managed to get inside the arena once, what was stopping it from coming back again?

The thought sent a chill through me.

I only hoped that whatever had happened last night would never happen again.