The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 132

s Chapter 132 – The Lastern Bidge

Chapter 132 – The Eastern Ridge

Nevara

The eastern ridge had always felt different from the rest of the territory.

The trees grew tighter there, their roots gripping uneven ground that sloped gradually toward a shallow ravine. As children, we had been told not to run full speed through that section unless we wanted to break an ankle or split skin on hidden stone. It was not the kind of place where wolves trained. It was the kind of place they watched.

The joint patrol assembled without ceremony.

Three wolves from the pack.

Two Lycans from Thoren’s guard.

Thoren himself.

The acting alpha.

And me.

The boys had not been allowed to join us on the ridge, though Noah had argued quietly that he knew the land better than most of the council. It had taken only a look from Thoren to end that debate, but the pride in Noah’s posture afterward had not dimmed.

“They stay with Harlan,” Thoren had said calmly. “Within sight of the pack house.”

The acting alpha had not objected.

Now, as we moved through the trees, the shift in dynamic was unmistakable. The wolves kept slightly ahead, navigating terrain that came naturally to them. The Lycans followed with measured precision, their

movements more structured but no less capable.

No one spoke at first.

That silence was not hostility. It was instinct.

The acting alpha moved beside me rather than beside Thoren. I noted that choice carefully. He was not attempting to posture against the king. He was positioning himself as equal in his own domain.

“You remember this ridge,” he said quietly.

“I do.”

“Then you know it hasn’t been crossed in years.”

“I know.”

We stepped over a fallen trunk, bark damp and slick beneath our boots. The scent was stronger here. Not recent enough to raise immediate alarm, but present enough to confirm we were not chasing shadows.

Chapter 132 – The Easter Ridge

Thoren slowed slightly as we reached the incline.

“Show me,” he said.

+25 Points

The acting alpha did not ask what he meant. He angled toward a narrow path that wound along the ridge’s side. The underbrush there had been disturbed more noticeably. Broken stems. Compressed soil. A

branch snapped higher than a wolf would typically reach without rearing.

“They were standing upright,” Thoren observed.

“Yes,” the acting alpha replied.

Lycans and wolves both knew what that meant. Whoever had come here had not been cautious about

remaining in quadruped form.

“They wanted visibility,” I said.

“They wanted us to see them if we were looking,” the acting alpha corrected.

The distinction mattered.

One of Thoren’s guards knelt near a scuffed patch of earth and examined it with gloved fingers. “Four individuals,” he said. “Heavy stride. Coordinated spacing.”

Not a wandering scout.

A team.

Thoren’s gaze lifted toward the treeline beyond the ravine. “How far does this ridge extend before it

touches the neighboring territory?”

“Two miles,” the acting alpha answered. “Then the land dips into neutral forest.”

Neutral forests were rarely neutral for long.

“We should have detected this earlier,” Harlan muttered behind us.

The acting alpha did not rebuke him, but his shoulders stiffened.

Nevara, I told myself. Move forward.

1 crouched near the snapped branch and inhaled carefully. The scent thread was faint but layered. Not

from our pack. Not from Lycans.

Not from the immediate neighboring wolves either.

“Do you recognize it?” Thoren asked quietly.

“No,” I said. “But it’s not the eastern pack.”

The acting alpha’s eyes flicked toward me sharply. “You’re cortain?”

“Yes.”

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* Chapter 132 – The Eastem Ridge

+25 Points

The eastern pack carried a distinct resin note from the cedar groves on their land. This scent lacked that

sharpness. It was colder. Leaner.

Which meant-

“They’re coming from farther north,” I said.

The acting alpha absorbed that. “There is no established pack north of neutral forest.”

“There is now,” Thoren said evenly.

The implication settled among us.

A new pack forming.

Or an old one expanding.

Either meant instability.

“We haven’t had pressure from that direction in decades,” Harlan said.

“Decades breed complacency,” Thoren replied.

We moved farther along the ridge, following the faint line of disturbed ground. The ravine below narrowed to a choke point that funneled movement into a single crossing area. It was an ideal place to observe

without being easily seen.

“They chose this spot intentionally,” the acting alpha said.

“Yes,” I agreed. “They were evaluating terrain.”

“For invasion?” Harlan asked.

“For leverage,” Thoren corrected.

That word shifted the energy again.

This was not necessarily a declaration of war.

It was positioning.

We reached the crossing point.

The earth here had been more heavily disturbed. Not chaotic, but deliberate. Boot impressions were

clearer in the softer soil near the ravine’s edge. One of the wolves crouched and traced the outline

carefully.

“They stood here for some time,” he said. “Long enough to confer.”

“And then?” the acting alpha asked.

“They withdrew north.”

No sign of haste.

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<Chapter 132 – The Eastern Ridge

No broken pattern suggesting retreat.

They had not been interrupted.

They had completed their observation.

I straightened slowly.

“They knew leadership was unstable,” I said quietly.

The acting alpha’s jaw tightened.

+25 Points

“And they moved the boundary marker to test internal response,” Thoren added. “Then came to confirm it.”

“That implies surveillance over time,” the acting alpha said.

“Yes,” Thoren replied.

Silence fell again, heavier now.

If an external group had been watching long enough to recognize leadership gaps, then the vulnerability

was not new.

The acting alpha turned toward Thoren fully for the first time since we began the patrol.

“You see why I reduced visible territory,” he said. “If they believed we were already contracting, they might

hesitate to provoke.”

“They might,” Thoren agreed. “Or they might see weakness.”

“And you?” the acting alpha asked.

“I see opportunity,” Thoren answered calmly.

Harlan frowned. “Opportunity?”

“For alignment,” Thoren clarified. “A fragmented wolf territory is attractive prey. A unified wolf–Lycan front

is not.”

The acting alpha studied him carefully.

“You intend to make an example,” he said.

“I intend to remove ambiguity,” Thoren replied.

I stepped forward before the conversation hardened.

“If we respond aggressively now,” I said, “we confirm their suspicion that we are unstable and reactive. If we respond with structure, patrols, and visible cooperation, we remove their incentive.”

The acting alpha considered that.

“You suggest visibility,” he said.

“Yes.”

4/6

Chapter 132 – The Easter Ridge

Not military display.

Presence.

Joint patrols at consistent intervals.

Training resumed publicly.

Boundary markers restored outward, not inward.

“We expand back to original line,” Thoren said.

“Yes,” I replied. “Immediately.”

The acting alpha hesitated.

“That could provoke them.”

“It will clarify,” Thoren corrected.