The Fated Mate Rebellion
Knox wanted his champion sharp, and Ryder was sharpest when left alone to work.
He moved through his combinations with the focus of a man who had nothing else. Jab, cross, pivot. Drive the elbow. Reset. Every movement was precise and economical, the kind of efficiency that only came from doing the same thing ten thousand times until the body stopped needing the brain's permission. His black hair was damp at the temples, his grey sweatpants riding low on his hips, the scars across his torso catching the overhead lights with every turn.
At six-foot-four, Ryder Maddox was not a man who disappeared into a room. The other fighters clocked him the moment he entered any space and made their calcula