The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 118

Thoren

Kael laughed so hard he nearly dropped the sword he was inspecting.

+25 Points

I grinned, rolling my shoulder. “I told you. She put the fork down and said, ‘I don’t know what the hell that was, but it made my toes curl.”

Kael wheezed. “Michelle said that?”

“She did. Right in front of the baker.”

“I swear, you’re going to have to muzzle her.”

“I’ll try.” I sheathed the blade and handed it back. “But she’ll just chew through it.”

Kael was about to fire off a response when the door slammed open behind us.

Nevara.

Storm–eyed. Dead silent. A manila envelope clutched in one hand like a weapon.

Kael’s smirk faded. “Well. That can’t be good.”

I stepped toward her, pulse kicking up. “What is it?”

She didn’t look at Kael. Didn’t smile. Just marched straight up and slapped the envelope into my chest.

I caught it. No markings. No seal. “Where did this come from?”

“Delivered to the front gates. Courier. Clara answered. She brought it straight to me.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, flipping it over. “So what is it?”

Her arms crossed. “Open it.”

I did.

And the second I saw the letterhead, the words Paternity Test Results – Confirmed, and the names written beneath it, something in my chest went white–hot.

Subject A: Thoren Cassious Veyr

Subject B: Jonas Harthorn

Relationship: Biological Father

My vision darkened at the edges.

No.

No fucking way.

Chapter 318–Tampered

I looked up, heat lashing under my skin. “I see why you’re so pissed.”

25 Pos

“I believed you,” she snapped. “I still do. But now I’m holding a goddamn report that says otherwise. Make

it make sense!”

I crumpled the paper in my hand. “Then let’s go rattle some people.”

“Thoren-”

“No.” I was already moving, teeth clenched. “I told you. I never touched that woman. I don’t care if I have to stand there and piss in a cup in front of the entire damn lab. Someone is tampering with things. And we’re going to the bottom of it. Right now.”

She followed without a word.

The moment we stormed into the genetics lab, the technician–Nora, small, sharp, and skittish–looked up from her station and immediately paled.

“Your Majesty! I-” She stood so fast she nearly knocked over a tray of vials. “I just sent your results over to the castle not long ago. Did you… receive them?”

“Oh, we received them all right.” I dropped the crumpled page on the counter. “You’ve got some fucking explaining to do.”

Her face blanched. “I–I thought you’d be happy.”

My brows drew in hard. “Happy?”

“Yes! I thought you were claiming you weren’t the child’s father-”

“Because I’m not. Not just claiming it–it’s the damn truth.”

She blinked. “Then… why are you upset?”

“What’s there not to get?” I snapped. “This says I am the father. And I know damn well I’m not.”

“Wait–what?” Her eyes dropped to the paper and then widened. “No. No, no, no. That’s not what I sent.”

I stepped closer. “Then what the hell did you send?”

She grabbed the page, smoothing it out and scanning it fast. Her face went from confused to horrified in two seconds flat.

“This isn’t right,” she whispered. “This isn’t the result I submitted.”

“You’re the one who ran the test.”

“Yes, but I… I had to finish up another batch. I passed it off to my assistant to seal and send. He always does it. Same process. He doesn’t touch the data.”

I stepped into her space. “Well, he touched something. So get him out here.”

She scrambled for the comm and pressed a button. “David? David, I need you out here. Right now.”

© Chapter 118 – Tampered

I turned back to Nevara. Her arms were still folded, but her jaw was tight.

Someone was playing a dangerous game.

And I was about to burn the board.

David arrived two minutes later.

$25 Points

He was younger than I expected–mid–twenties, lab coat slightly too big for his narrow frame, dark hair mussed like he’d been running his hands through it. The moment he saw me, Kael, and Nevara standing in the middle of the lab, the color drained from his face.

“Yes?” he asked carefully. “Dr. Halvorsen said you needed me?”

Nora rounded on him. “David, what results did I give you to send to the castle?”

He swallowed. “The paternity report. The one you finalized. I sealed it and sent it with the courier like always.”

My jaw clenched. “And what did that report say?”

He hesitated for half a second too long. “That… you were the father.”

Nora stared at him like he’d just slapped her. “That is not what I gave you.”

David’s eyes flicked to her, then back to me. “That’s what you handed me. I remember it clearly.”

“No, you don’t,” Nora said sharply. “Because I have the actual results archived in my system. Time–stamped. Signed. Logged. Don’t stand there and insult everyone’s intelligence by trying to hold onto

a story that can be disproven with three keystrokes.”

She turned to her terminal and pulled the file up, spinning the screen toward me and Nevara.

The room went dead quiet.

Nevara sucked in a breath. I felt it through the bond–shock, relief, and fury tangling together.

“That,” Nora said, voice shaking with controlled anger, “is what I gave you. So either you swapped the

report… or someone made you.”

David’s mouth opened, then closed again. His eyes darted toward the exit like he was calculating the distance.

Kael shifted slightly, blocking the doorway without even trying to look threatening. It just came naturally to him.

I stepped closer to David, keeping my voice level. Too level.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify