She nods faintly.No triumph.No relief parade.Just acknowledgment of reality.
I glance at her.Moonlight catches her profile, sharp lines, steady gaze, the same woman who walked back into my world like a goddamn detonation I didn’t see coming.
Everything changed after that.Mostly me.
“Raven.”She looks at me immediately.
“Yeah.”
There’s no good way to say this.No strategic framing.No leadership tone.Which means there’s only honesty.
“I need to tell you something.”
Her brow lifts slightly.“That sounds ominous.”
“It is.”
That gets a faint smile.Then she studies my face more carefully.Because Raven always knows when something matters.I turn fully toward her, no distance, and no avoidance.
“I love you.”
Raven doesn’t move.Doesn’t flinch.Doesn’t soften.She just watches me like she’s measuring whether the words carry any real weight.
“I didn’t plan to,” I continue quietly.“Didn’t want to.Didn’t think it was something I could afford.”Her breathing shifts slightly.“But somewhere between war, blood, chaos, and you being the most impossible woman I’ve ever known...”
I shake my head faintly.“It stopped being optional.”
The desert wind moves cool between us.Raven’s gaze doesn’t waver.
“That,” she says softly, “is a terrifying sentence coming from you.”
I laugh quietly.“You’re not helping.”
“I’m not supposed to.”
“I’m not saying this to claim you,” I say.“Or cage you.Or turn you into something that revolves around me.”
“Good,” she replies.
“I’m saying it because it’s true.”
“I know,” she says.
I stare at her.“You know?”
“Yes.”
“How.”
“You’re not subtle, Savage.You never were.”
I huff quietly.“Debatable.”
She turns slightly toward me, eyes sharp but softer than they have any right to be.“I love you too.”
Everything inside my chest locks.Not explodes, just locks into place.Because Raven Blackwood does not say things she doesn’t mean.
“That,” I mutter, “is an even more terrifying sentence.”
