Page 60 of BounBound By Scars

Leora smiled, her eyes glistening, like she knew where this was going.

“You became my heart before I even admitted it to myself. Before the obsession started. Before I knew how far I’d fall just to keep you breathing.”

His thumb brushed over the back of her hand, and he let out a low, shaking exhale.

“It wasn’t the day I carried you out of the fire, or the night I held you. It was the dayyousavedme, Leora. Looked me right in the eye and called me a damsel.”

He chuckled, as did the others. “That’s the day I met my warrior goddess. The one who would destroy me in the best way. That’s the day you became mine. And I became utterly, hopelessly yours.”

A hush fell over the room. Not even the wind dared move.

Sebastian, calm and collected as ever, gave them both a warm nod. “Let’s exchange rings.”

Leora’s hand trembled as she slid the band onto Zarek’s finger, whispering something only for him. And Zarek—his entire body stilled as he gently placed the ring on her hand like he was crowning her queen.

The applause was immediate. Loud, celebratory.

And I tried to lose myself in it.

But then my gaze slid—unbidden—to Kabir.

He was smiling.

Not big, not loud. Just a soft, crooked, quietly happy smile. The kind he probably didn’t know was on his face.

Zane whispered something beside him, and Kabir chuckled under his breath. The two exchanged a quick grin like they were sharing some inside joke at the end of the world.

And damn me, but it made my chest ache.

My eyes didn’t abandon Kabir. Not when Zarek and Leora stepped out to sign the marriage certificate.

Not when they came back.

He didn’t look at me once.

I lifted my champagne glass to my lips—anything to quiet the thoughts clawing at my ribcage. The bubbly was too dry,too sharp. Or maybe that was just the bitterness settling in my throat.

He looked so… comfortable.

Comfortable with the distance between us.

Comfortable with the fact that we didn’t orbit each other anymore.

That if this were before that kiss, we’d be glued together at the hip. Always were. Until we weren’t.

When Zarek and Leora took the center of the room for their first dance, I finally tore my gaze away. I needed a moment of joy that didn’t scrape down my spine.

“You look murderous,” came a familiar murmur, just behind my ear. I jumped slightly before my training kicked in, and I exhaled sharply.

“I’m just wondering why he didn’t ask Kabir to stand with the groomsmen,” I said.

Sebastian shifted to stand right beside me, following my line of sight—thankfully, now on Zarek and Leora. “You seem awfully irritated by that.”

My head whipped toward him. “Of course I am! I was too stupid to see it before—that Zarek, Logan, and Dylan have their own little brotherhood. It’s been years. And I wouldn’t have even noticed if…”

I trailed off.

Seb’s lips curled into a slow, knowing smirk. “If you hadn’t become the outsider too?”