Chapter 32 Friends
“Just like what I thought. I’ll see you again. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon,” Ryzen said as he dropped from one of Lunaria’s lower branches like gravity was only a suggestion to him.
Selene’s eyes followed the movement automatically. Not because she was impressed—she refused to admit that—but because he moved the way a wolf moved when it knew it belonged somewhere. Smooth. Quiet. Certain.
She leaned back against the thick root she always used, folding her arms across her chest like it was a shield she didn’t need but liked wearing anyway.
“You really love staying here, don’t you?” she said, voice light. “Just a little more, and I’ll start thinking you’re following me.”
Ryzen lifted an eyebrow as he walked closer, the sunlight slipping through the glowing leaves and catching in his hair. “Following you?” he repeated, as if testing the word. Then he pointed lazily at the ground. “I got here first.”
Selene tilted her head. “And how exactly am I supposed to confirm that?”
He gave her a look, half offended, half amused. “So you accuse me and then demand evidence?”
“Mm,” Selene hummed. “That’s how it works. Welcome to my world.”
Ryzen laughed under his breath and lowered himself onto the opposite root, sitting like he’d been invited. One arm rested over his knee, relaxed, while his gaze stayed steady on her face as if he could read what she didn’t say.
“You’re funny,” he said.
Selene scoffed. “No. I’m patient. There’s a difference.”
“I’ll take either.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re too comfortable.”
Ryzen shrugged. “This place is comfortable.”
Selene’s gaze flicked briefly around them. The forest was still. No shouting students. No whispers hiding behind hands. No eyes waiting for her to stumble.
Only the tree breathing, slow and alive.
“Or,” she said, “you’re just shameless.”
Ryzen smiled like she’d complimented him. “That too.”
Selene let out a small laugh despite herself—short, like she tried to swallow it before it escaped. It annoyed her that he could pull that out of her so easily. It annoyed her more that it felt… normal.
Ryzen watched her for a moment longer than necessary, like he’d memorized the way she smiled and didn’t want to lose it.
“Confidence looks good on you,” he said again, softer this time. Not flirty exactly. Not teasing. Just… honest.
Selene’s expression shifted into something guarded again, but her ears burned anyway.
“Careful,” she warned. “If you keep talking like that, I might start thinking you’re trying to win me over.”
Ryzen leaned back against the root and stretched his legs out. “Maybe I am.”
Selene blinked once. Twice. “You’re bold.”
“I’m bored,” he corrected. “And you’re the only interesting thing happening on campus right now.”
Selene’s lips curled. “Oh? So the Bloodbound Rite isn’t interesting?”
“It’s dramatic,” Ryzen said. “There’s a difference.”
Selene stared at him for a second, then shook her head like she couldn’t believe him. “You’re actually ridiculous.”
He grinned. “And yet you keep coming back.”
Selene opened her mouth—ready to throw something sharp back at him—when his gaze shifted. Just a little. Not to the tree. Not to the book in her bag.
To her.
It wasn’t playful anymore.
Ryzen’s voice dropped, the teasing thinning into something more serious. “Are you okay?”
The question landed gently, but it still hit.
Selene’s fingers tightened against her arms. She didn’t answer right away. She didn’t even look away. She just watched him like she was trying to decide if this was another trap.
“Why?” she asked finally. “Do I look like I’m falling apart?”
“No,” he said simply. “You look like you’re holding yourself together too hard.”
Selene’s throat tightened in a way she hated. She forced a scoff, because scoffing was easier than admitting anything real.
“You don’t know me,” she said.
Ryzen didn’t argue. He didn’t push. He just nodded like he accepted that.
“I don’t,” he agreed. “But I saw your face coming out of Christopher's office earlier.”
Selene’s eyes narrowed. “You were there?”
“I don’t like eavesdropping,” he said. “But the noise was… loud.”
Selene let out a slow breath through her nose. “So you saw the little show.”
Ryzen’s mouth twitched. “Mm. That part where you didn’t raise your voice once and still managed to make him feel stupid?”
Selene’s lips curved faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “He wanted a story. I let them have one.”
Ryzen tilted his head. “And the rumors?”
Selene’s expression hardened. “Let them talk.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Selene’s gaze dropped for a brief second, just to the ground, just to the roots beneath them. She didn’t like answering questions like this. Questions that made her admit she felt anything at all.
But here—under Lunaria—everything was quieter. The silence didn’t feel like a threat. It felt like permission.
So she spoke, softly, as if saying it too loud would make it real.
“It’s exhausting,” she admitted. “Not the rumors. Not the people.” Her jaw tightened. “It’s the way they believe anything if it tastes good enough.”
Ryzen’s eyes didn’t leave her face.
Selene swallowed. “And it’s… worse because it’s not random.”
Selene exhaled and finally looked back up at him. “It’s someone close.”
Ryzen’s gaze sharpened slightly. “Your sister.”
Selene didn’t react, but a small muscle in her jaw flexed. “You say that like it’s obvious.”
“It is,” he replied, calm. “You talk about her like she’s a knife you keep forgetting is in your pocket.”
Selene let out a breathy laugh that didn’t sound happy. “That’s… an image.”
Ryzen’s eyes softened. “Selene.”
It wasn’t the way he said her name that unsettled her.
It was the fact that her body didn’t tense when he did.
She realized—slowly, reluctantly—that she felt safe here.
Not because Lunaria was sacred.
Because Ryzen was sitting in front of her like he wasn’t waiting to hurt her.
And she didn’t understand why.
Selene looked away first, annoyed at herself. “I don’t know why,” she said quietly. “But this place… and you… it’s like my chest stops fighting.”
Ryzen blinked once, as if he hadn’t expected that kind of honesty.
Then he smiled, but it was smaller than his usual grin. “Maybe because I’m not asking you to be anything.”
Selene glanced back at him. “You’re saying you don’t want anything?”
Ryzen’s eyes flicked briefly to her, then away, like the sunlight suddenly got too bright. “I want peace,” he said. “And for some reason, this tree has it.”
“And I don’t?”
Ryzen looked at her again, direct. “You have storms.”
Selene’s lips parted, then closed again. She didn’t know how to respond to that without revealing too much. So she did what she always did when she felt cornered.
She joked.
“Wow,” she said dryly. “Poetic. Are you going to start writing next?”
Ryzen laughed, the tension easing. “I’d write about you.”
Selene’s cheeks warmed instantly. “Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she said quickly, “I’d sue you for emotional damage.”
Ryzen’s grin widened. “Noted.”
A quiet pause settled between them again, this one softer.
Then Ryzen cleared his throat, like he was about to say something he didn’t usually say.
“Can I ask you something?” he said.
Selene lifted an eyebrow. “You’re already asking.”
Ryzen rolled his eyes. “Can we… be friends?”
Selene blinked.
The word felt strange in her mouth. Friend. Like something from a life where betrayal wasn’t normal. Like something that belonged to people who didn’t have wolves whispering warnings in their bones.
Selene studied him for a long moment, then leaned back and pretended she was thinking hard.
“It depends,” she said finally, voice light.
Ryzen’s brows lifted. “On what?”
Selene smiled sweetly. Too sweet. “On whether you’re the type who likes… switching sides when it benefits you.”
Ryzen’s gaze held hers, steady. He didn’t laugh this time.
“I don’t betray people I choose,” he said.
Selene’s smile softened, almost involuntary. “Good answer.”
Ryzen’s mouth tilted. “So?”
Selene sighed dramatically. “Fine. We can be friends.”
Ryzen looked like he’d just won something. “Good.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Selene warned.
“I will,” he said easily. “That’s what friends do.”
Selene scoffed, but the warmth lingered anyway, and soon they were looking at each other and laughing.