Chapter 99: The Awakening of Shadows
Luna pulled away from Ryder, her breath shaky as the weight of his words settled on her chest. The stars above seemed brighter now, sharper, as if they too had witnessed something that had changed the world.
“You—you're falling in love with me?” she whispered, her heart pounding in her ears.
Ryder’s face softened as he met her gaze. There was a vulnerability in his eyes that she had never seen before. He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“I have been, for a while now,” he confessed, his voice low, as if the very admission carried a weight he had been carrying for too long. "I just never knew how to say it."
Luna’s heart ached at the rawness in his words. She had never expected this. She had never allowed herself to expect it. Bu
