The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 156

Chapter 156 – Divided Lines

Nevara

I felt it before he said a word.

That shift.

That decision.

Thoren didn’t speak immediately after Brent finished. He didn’t argue. Didn’t threaten. Didn’t move.

He just… looked at me.

And I knew.

My stomach dropped before the words even came.,

“Oh, hell no,” I said, stepping back from him like I needed distance just to breathe. “Don’t you dare look at

me like that.”

His gaze didn’t waver.

“Like what?”

“Like that’s the answer,” I snapped. “Like you’ve already decided.”

His jaw tightened, but he didn’t deny it.

“It’s the only conclusion that guarantees they both live.”

The words hit harder than Brent’s threat ever had.

For a second, I just stared at him.

Then I laughed–sharp, disbelieving.

“Both?” I repeated. “You call that both?”

“They would both be alive,” he said, voice steady, like that was the only metric that mattered.

“And Noah?” I shot back. “What do you call that? Because I call that losing him.”

“He would still be alive.”

The calm in his tone snapped something in me.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, that’s not the same thing and you know it.”

Thoren took a step closer, lowering his voice, like he was trying to keep this contained between us.

“It’s the only outcome where we don’t walk out of here with blood on our hands.”

“And it’s the outcome he wants,” I fired back. “You’re just handing it to him.”

< Chapter 156 – Divided Lines

+75 Pranos.

Behind us, Brent let out a quiet breath, like he’d been watching a play unfold exactly the way he expected.

“I can see this is going to take some time,” he said, almost pleasantly. “So I’ll do you a favor.”

Neither of us looked at him.

“Take the night,” he continued. “Talk it out. Fight it out. Come to whatever decision you need to make.”

That pulled my attention back to him, sharp and immediate.

“You’re just going to give us time?” I asked. “Why?”

He spread his hands slightly.

“Because I’m reasonable.”

I almost laughed again.

“I’ll have you placed in accommodations,” he went on. “Comfortable ones. Albeit locked, of course–but comfortable nonetheless. You are royalty.”

My eyes narrowed.

“So you can just disappear with Noah while we sit in a room and argue?”

Brent shook his head slowly.

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t do that.”

Something in his tone made my skin prickle.

“He’ll stay with you.”

Silence.

Thoren’s eyes flicked toward him.

“And we’re supposed to just believe that?” he asked.

Brent’s expression didn’t shift.

“Of course,” he said. “Because if he’s with you, you won’t try anything reckless.”

His gaze lingered just long enough to make the implication clear.

“You won’t risk his life.”

Damn him.

Damn him because he was right.

And he knew it.

The room they put us in was nothing like I expected.

It wasn’t a cell.

< Chapter 156 – Divided Lines

It wasn’t bare or cold or threatening.

It was… lived–in.

Large. Clean. Thoughtfully arranged.

A king–sized bed sat against one wall, partially shielded by a standing divider that gave the illusion of privacy. On the other side of the room, a set of bunk beds lined the wall. A worn but sturdy couch faced a low table scattered with a few books. Lanterns cast a warm, steady glow instead of the harsh flicker 1

would have expected from a place like this.

There was even a bathroom.

Functional. Modern.

Normal.

The normalcy of it made my skin crawl more than anything else had.

Kael stepped in behind us, looking around with a slow sweep of his gaze before letting out a quiet huff.

“Well,” he muttered, “at least they’ve discovered indoor plumbing. Didn’t expect that from a group so

committed to their… simplicity.”

I didn’t respond.

Because the second the door shut behind us, the tension snapped right back into place.

I turned on Thoren immediately.

“I can’t believe you.”

He didn’t pretend not to understand.

“I’m trying to keep them alive.”

“You’re trying to make the decision easy,” I shot back. “For him.”

“I’m trying to make the decision survivable,” he corrected.

“By leaving my nephew here?”

“And what would you have me do?” His voice rose, not in volume, but in intensity. “Fight them? Risk him?

Risk Jonas?”

“I didn’t say that,” I snapped. “I said don’t jump straight to the one option he wants.”

His eyes flashed.

“It’s not about what he wants.”

“It absolutely is,” I fired back. “He set the board, Thoren. He stacked the pieces. And you’re playing exactly how he needs you to.”

Chapter 155 – Divided Lines

His hands flexed at his sides, tension bleeding through the control he’d been holding onto.

“And what’s your alternative?” he demanded. “Because I don’t see one that doesn’t end with one of them

dead.”

“Then look harder,” I said, stepping closer. “Because I am not walking out of here without Noah,”

“And I am not walking out of here knowing I let my brother die.”

The words collided between us, sharp and immovable.

For a second, neither of us spoke.

The truth sat there, heavy and unavoidable.

Noah.

Jonas.

One choice.

Two consequences.

And no clean way out.

“I didn’t say we sacrifice Jonas,” I said finally, quieter now but no less firm. “I’m saying we don’t accept this

as the only option.”

Thoren’s gaze searched mine, something conflicted breaking through the certainty he’d been clinging to.

“And if it is?” he asked. “If this is the only way?”

“Then we find another one anyway.”

A beat passed.

His expression shifted–not agreement, not yet–but something less rigid than before.

Something thinking.

Good.

Because that was all I needed.

Time.

An opening.

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