Kara I used to believe that time softened all wounds. That the ache in my chest when I saw Jaxon with her would dull into something manageable. Something bearable. But time lies. Because it still stabs into me, every look he gives Elvira, every soft word, every touch. He was mine before all of this. Before her. Before the war. Before the prophecy. And now, he’s not. The first time I heard their bond was cursed, my heart had stuttered with hope. Not because I wanted them to suffer, well, maybe part of me did, but because it meant what they had wasn’t real. That maybe, just maybe, Jaxon would finally open his eyes and see me. Not the healer, not the loyal childhood friend. Me…Kara. The woman who has loved him in silence for years. The woman who held him through every storm Lila brough

