The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31 – Gone Without a Trace

Tobias

The road wound tighter the higher we climbed, all cracked pavement and blind turns, hemmed in by pines

that clawed at the sky like angry fingers. Four hours. That’s how long I’d been driving. Four hours of

silence, rage, and the suffocating weight of what–ifs.

I gripped the wheel tighter.

By the time the trees thinned and the gravel crunched beneath the tires, the sun was starting to dip low

behind the mountain ridge. And there it was.

The cabin.

Her parents‘ old place.

I parked, killed the engine. Brent slid out on the passenger side, sniffing the air like the trained scout he was. I didn’t wait for a report. I was already moving, boots crunching through brittle leaves toward the

porch.

The door was half open.

“Fuck,” I muttered, shoving it all the way open.

Inside was… chaos.

A shattered lamp. The couch overturned. Claw marks raked through one of the walls–deep, angry gashes.

Blood on the floor, old and faded but unmistakable. My wolf snarled inside me, nose twitching, rage.

curling hot and fast.

She was here.

And she was not alone.

Brent moved behind me, crouching near a corner of the room. “There was a fight. Maybe a rogue attack.

Hard to say for sure–it’s old. Few weeks, at least.”

I ran my fingers along the edge of a broken chair leg. “She fought back.”

“Yeah. And someone helped her.” Brent stood and sniffed again. “Her scent’s here, but there’s another. Male. Familiar, but not pack. And faint. Whoever it was, they got her out.”

I turned to him. “Rogues?”

He hesitated. “Some rogue scent, yeah. But not strong. Almost… misleading. Like they wanted to cover

their tracks.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You think it was staged?”

“I think whoever took her knew what they were doing. And they weren’t in a hurry.” He pointed to a stack of

<CHAPTER 31–Gone Without a Trace

wood by the hearth. “Someone still made a fire before leaving. Burned papers too–look.”

He brushed aside some ash and soot to reveal charred scraps–too far gone to read, but deliberate.

“Whoever took her wanted to buy time,” Brent muttered. “Long enough for the trail to fade.”

I growled low in my throat.

They’d planned this. Waited for the right moment. Took her while I was busy playing house with a murderer. And she’d been here. So close. Just out of reach.

25 Powit

I stalked down the narrow hallway to the bedroom. The bed was stripped bare. The window open. Wind whispered through the torn screen like a ghost.

I could still smell her.

Faint.

Sweet.

Devastating.

“Why wouldn’t she have reached out?” I muttered.

Brent stood in the doorway. “Maybe she couldn’t.”

Or maybe she didn’t want to.

The thought sliced deeper than I cared to admit.

I turned to him. “Any chance the trail’s still warm?”

He shook his head. “Cold as death. But… I can try to pick something up. Give me time. There’s another

scent–one I can’t place. It’s… strong. Not pack. Not rogue either. But it’s woven through the whole place like it belongs.”

I met his gaze. “You think she went willingly?”

Brent’s jaw flexed. “If she didn’t, there’d be more blood.”

I swallowed the curse that rose in my throat.

Thoren.

It had to be. Who else would get that close without setting off alarms? Who else could move like a ghost through these woods and steal my wife without anyone seeing?

I clenched my fists. My wolf itched under my skin.

“She’s not gone,” I said, voice low and lethal. “She’s just been moved.”

Brent nodded slowly. “We’ll find her. One way or another.”

I stepped outside, staring down the mountain slope as the sun bled red into the trees.

< CHAPTER 31 – Gone Without a Trace

*25 Points

“Get on the phone,” I told him. “Anyone who’s ever dealt with Thoren–the northern Lycan kingdom, any

guard that ever defected–I want names. Locations. Weaknesses.”

“And if it wasn’t Thoren?”

“It was.”

There’s no other explanation. The Lycan kingdom is not far from here, a couple hours maybe. He was her

fated mate before.

“You think he kept watch of this place in case she ever returned?”

“Well.” I paused then continued, “given that everything in my life has been not what it seems lately, I’d say

that we can’t rule anything out.”

I walked to the fridge and read the note on it from Nevara’s mom.

“This note says there’s a town just up the road so we need to check there before we head to the Lycan

Kingdom.”

“Boss, might I suggest that we sends some scouts first to see if she’s even there, we need a plan before just storming the castle looking for her.”

I hummed in agreement. I definitely needed a plan. Should I have a letter delivered? Should I find out a phone number and call?

Brent tilted his head. “If we try to go through the front gate, they’ll see it as a threat. And if she did go willingly, we risk turning her against us by coming in too hot.”

I nodded slowly, jaw tight. “You’re right. She’s not some stolen object I can just snatch back. I need to be

smart about this.”

“And subtle,” Brent added. “That’s not exactly your specialty.”

I shot him a warning glare, but the bastard just grinned and shrugged.

My gaze dropped to the note on the fridge again, and a new idea sparked.

“Let’s hit that town. If she passed through, someone will have seen her–or the one who took her. We get a face. A name. Anything.”

Brent nodded. “And if not?”

Then we go to the castle.”

He raised a brow. “With what? Flowers and an apology?”

“No.” My voice came out rough. “With leverage. With proof that I’m not giving up.”

He studied me for a beat, then nodded once. “I’ll start making calls. Quiet ones. No big alarms yet.”

I walked back toward the porch and stepped out into the fading light. The trees swayed, wind whispering through the needles like a warning. My wolf paced under my skin, unsettled.

< CHAPTER 31 – Gone Without a Trace

She was out there. Not broken. Not lost. Just… unreachable. And maybe that was worse.

I leaned against the porch railing, staring into the woods, letting the cold air bite at my

“I’m coming for you,” I murmured. “Even if it takes everything I have.”

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face.

475 Pet

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