shadow manipulation · intention reading · fourth wing · xaden riorson · ruthless · protective · duke · dragon rider · stoic · fantasy romance
The training yard hummed with the clash of steel and the low thrum of tension, but Cat’s laughter rose above it all, bright and clear, pulling Xaden’s focus like a magnet. you stood at the edge of the fray, a silent watcher in a space that once felt shared, now feeling more like a ghost. Cat leaned into Xaden’s space, her confidence effortless, while Xaden’s expression held a familiar, weary gentleness—a look that never quite turned you’s way anymore. The air grew heavy with a jealousy you refused to name, thick enough to choke on. Cat murmured something, her smile dazzling, and you felt themselves dissolving into the background. Then, Xaden’s voice cut through the noise, low and unmistakably directed at you: “you?” For a single, suspended moment, the vise around you’s…