The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 149

149–Five Minutes

Chapter 149 – Five Minutes

Nevara

“We might as well do it somewhere more comfortable than a hallway.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Are you suggesting we abandon the command center during a crisis?”

“Not abandon,” he corrected calmly.

“Temporarily relocate.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Maybe.”

His hand slid into mine.

“But I’m also right.”

I squeezed his fingers lightly.

“Five minutes.”

His eyebrow lifted.

“That’s all you get.”

He grinned faintly.

“Five minutes is a start.”

The walk to our room should have felt strange.

$26 Pointe-

The palace halls were still alive with quiet urgency–guards moving between wings, aides whispering

updates to one another, the distant murmur of radios somewhere farther down the corridors.

Normally we would have been in the middle of it.

Instead, Thoren kept his hand wrapped around mine as if the world outside the hallway no longer existed.

A few of the guards glanced up as we passed.

None of them said anything.

As we passed Kael, he tried stopping us and started to speak but Thoren cut him off.

“Save it,” Thoren said, holding his hand up.

Kael immediately shut his mouth, though the confusion on his face made it clear he had a dozen

25 Points

< Chapter 149 – Five Minutes questions.

“We’re going to bed. We’ll be available later.” Thoren continued. “I suggest you do the same, I imagine your man is patiently waiting on you to learn what has kept you.”

Kael just nodded without a word and turned toward his room.

When we reached the door to our private suite, Thoren pushed it open and guided me inside before closing it firmly behind us.

The quiet inside the room felt completely different from the silence in the corridor–warmer, softer, sealed

away from the urgency outside.

For the first time since the gunshot shattered the wedding, the tension in my chest eased just slightly.

Thoren didn’t move away immediately.

He stood there watching me for a moment.

Then his gaze dropped again to the dress.

Thoren stepped closer.

Slowly.

His fingers brushed the edge of the fabric near my waist before sliding upward along the seam.

“Do

you

know how long I waited to see you in this?” he murmured.

I glanced up.

“You saw me in it.”

“Not properly.”

His hands moved gently to the small row of fastenings along the back of the bodice.

“And I didn’t get nearly enough time.”

My breath caught slightly as his fingers began working the first clasp loose.

The movement was unhurried. Almost deliberate.

“You realize,” I said softly, “for someone who only has five minutes…”

Another clasp slipped open.

“…you’re not really utilizing that time.”

His hands paused.

Then he looked up at me.

There was a quiet gleam in his eyes.

Chapter 149 – Five Minutes

+25 Points

Without saying a word, he reached over to the nightstand beside the bed and grabbed the small digital clock sitting on it.

Before I could even ask what he was doing, he tossed it across the room.

The clock hit the far wall with a soft thud and landed somewhere on the carpet.

I stared at him.

“You just threw the clock.”

He shrugged slightly.

“The clock is broken.”

His fingers returned to the dress.

“Five minutes will have passed when I say so.”

I laughed under my breath.

“That seems like cheating.”

“I prefer to think of it as leadership.”

Another clasp loosened.

The bodice shifted slightly as the tension of the fabric eased.

His hands slid slowly along my shoulders, easing the dress downward just enough that the top of the gown slipped lower.

His gaze followed the movement.

Careful.

Intent.

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