CHAPTER.005
1146 Words
THE TRUTH I CAN’T HIDE
(Ryder’s POV)
I shouldn't have come in the first place.
The thought came to me the moment the forest went still like a graveyard.
Not normal.
Calmness looking like an uproar is trying to come up again.
The type that makes the wind become still.
Sophia stood at a distance behind me, her heart panting and palpitating.
She kept on scanning through the forest like the rogues may come out anytime.
My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless, agitated.
You waited too long, she growled.
I clenched my jaw.
“I know," I said with my head facing down.
But knowing didn't mean anything, they were already here.
"Just Stay calm, Sophia,” I said."
She kept looking at me in suspicion, anger, and pain.
It was written all over her face.
Good.
If she hated me, it made it better.
"What Truth are you talking about Ryder?" She asked.
You keep talking about revealing a truth to me, so reveal it to me now.
She demanded.
I didn't give a response thereupon,
I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling slowly.
"How do I commence?"
"How can I try to convince a girl like Luna?" She's too obstinate." I hallucinated.
“That silence your wolf felt.” I started.
Her expression shifted instantly.
Fear crept back in.
It wasn't natural.
It was something else.
"Then what was it?" She asked.
Speak up because I'm impatient, she said.
I saw the curiosity in her eyes but I hesitated and I hated it.
I've never hesitated but this.
They're suppressing it, I finally said.
Ugh!
You keep saying this, what's there in going straight to the point.
I ignored her.
But later spoke up.
“Those rogues that attacked us earlier."
"They're not ordinary rogues."
"Yes I figured that earlier," she replied immediately.
They've fully been altered.
They're something else entirely, they don't just kill, they erase and replace.
What?
This is serious, she said.
Who altered them?
I met her gaze.
“The same people who have searched every nook and cranny because of you.
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Steady.
What?
"That doesn't make any sense to me.
How can they be looking for me? I'm just a ....“Don’t,” I cut in, my voice firm.
She froze.
“Don’t say that, because you're not who you think you are.
“You felt your wolf go silent."
"Then I'm sure you know what that means?"
Not really she said.
It means power.
Strength.
Her eyes sharpened instantly.
Confusion flooded her facial expression.
“No,” she shook her head. “That didn’t feel like power. It felt like something was taken from me.”
“That’s because it was forced down,” I said. “Suppressed.”
“Why would anyone do such a thing?” she asked.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because the answer was standing right in front of me.
Mind you, they didn't come to kill you.
If they have to kill you, just know you wouldn't have been standing here.
"They came to find you."
“To take you.”
Her expression changed.
"No.. you're kidding me."
“I’m not.”
“You are.” Her voice shook slightly. “I’m just an omega."
“You’re not,” I said sharply.
The words cut through the air like a blade.
She stared at me.
Like she didn’t recognise me anymore.
Good.
Because after this, she wouldn’t recognise herself either.
"What are you saying?" I smiled and took a step closer to her.
Close enough to see every doubt in her eyes.
They've been on a search for years now. They came to look for a sign, but tonight your wolf gave it to them.
Her face paled.
“That silence?” I continued. “It wasn't a weakness.”
“It was a trigger.”
Her lips parted, her voice barely audible.
“A trigger for what?”
I held her gaze.
"For what you're indeed."
The wind moved towards us, brushing and raising dust all over us.
No that's not possible Sophia continued.
You seem not to understand.
I've lived my life as an omega.
As a weakling.
And you rejected me because of it.
The words hit harder than they should have.
Guilt flickered through me—but I buried it immediately.
Sophia please listen to me for once.
I rejected you to protect you.
Her eyes enlarged.
Don't lie to me Ryder".
"I'm not lying."
"Then make me understand."
"Explain how rejecting me in front of the entire pack and making me an object of ridicule supposed to protect me."
Because if I didn’t, they would have taken you that night.
But I didn’t say that.
Not yet.
Instead, I took a slow breath.
You're not only a wolf.
You're something rare.
Something unique.
Something they've been searching for years.
Her hands shook.
"So what am I?" She asked.
I smiled and went closer to her.
You're something powerful.
Something rare.
“And something they will destroy entire packs to control.
Fear filled her eyes now.
But beneath it.
Something else flickered.
Something stronger.
“And you knew?” she asked quietly.
I didn’t answer.
Because that alone was an answer.
Her expression shifted.
Hurt.
Betrayal.
“You knew…” she repeated.
"And you treated me the way you did?"
"Instead of telling me, you rejected me."
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice!” she snapped.
“Not when it puts your life at risk.” I shot back.
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut.
Her breathing was uneven.
Her eyes locked on mine.
Searching for truth, lies, anything.
“You think I can’t handle it?” she asked.
“It’s not about what you can handle,” I said. “It’s about what’s coming.”
“And what is coming?” she demanded.
I didn’t answer immediately.
My wolf growled low.
They're here Luna.
I sense their presence.
I stiffened.
Sophia noticed instantly.
“What is it?” she asked.
I tilted my head scanning the entire forest.
They've found us again.
If we don't leave here now, then they might harm us, especially you.
Her eyes widened.
A branch snapped in the distance.
Then another movement.
Fast.
Too fast.
“They don’t give up easily,” I muttered.
Sophia quietly came closer to me this time, not out of trust.
But survival.
“What do we do?” she said with an eye filled with a slight of fear.
I saw the flicker of fear in her eyes.
I grabbed her wrist gently and we ran.
And this time, i wasn’t just running from them.
I was running from the truth I hadn’t fully told her yet.
She may never forgive me after she hears the full story.
She still didn’t know.
- Writer
