The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 53

CHAPTER 53 – Fated Heat

Nevara

I couldn’t stop touching him.

Not in some clingy, needy way–but in that holy shit, this is real kind of way.

My fingers were still tangled in his hair, my body still humming like a live wire where we lay tangled together beneath the sheets. Every inch of me felt… awakened.

No–that wasn’t the right word.

Claimed.

Even without a mark, without him saying it outright, I felt it deep in my bones.

The mate bond was buzzing.

So this is what I’ve been missing out on, I thought, tracing lazy circles along his shoulder.

“Mm,” I murmured aloud, shifting against his chest. “So this is what I’ve been missing.”

His voice rumbled low beside me, warm against my ear. “You’re only feeling that way because it’s with

”

+25

I tilted my head to glance at him, brow lifting. “A little cocky, aren’t you?”

He gave me that half–smile. The dangerous one. The one that said I’m not wrong and we both know it.

“Not cocky. Just facts,” he said. “That pathetic excuse of a man you once called your husband? He

could’ve never made you feel this.”

My cheeks flared hot, not from embarrassment–but from the truth of it.

“Harsh,” I muttered, hiding a smile.

He shrugged. “Mate bonds work differently. They make you feel whole. Fulfilled, Alive. And it’s exponentially stronger when it’s fated instead of chosen.”

I arched a brow, rolling slightly to face him fully. “You’re saying this bond we have–it’s still there?”

“It’s not just there,” he said, brushing a strand of damp hair from my cheek. “It’s getting stronger every day‘

I blew out a breath, shivering slightly despite the heat between us. “Yeah, no kidding. I can’t even stand too close to you without my insides going haywire.”

He smirked. “It’ll get more tolerable once we… solidify it.”

“Solidify?” I echoed, even though I already knew what he meant.

“Through marking,” he said simply. “If… that’s what you choose to do eventually.”

< CHAPTER 53 – Fated Heat

He didn’t push. Didn’t ask for more. Just left the possibility hanging in the air like smoke.

“And if I did?”

“Then the bond settles. Deepens. Becomes permanent. From what I’ve heard, it’s still intense–but this. Not the constant pull. The craving. That’s built in by the gods to make you want to choose you

I stared at him, amazed by how calm he sounded. How sure.

“You’re pretty knowledgeable about all this,” I said, eyeing him.

He smirked again. “I mean, I may or may not have done a little research.”

I laughed–real, light, stunned by the sound of my own joy. “Gods, this is dangerous.”

“What is?”

“You. This.” I waved a hand vaguely at the bed. “You’re distracting.”

He laughed too, reaching over to drag a fingertip down the center of my chest, all the way to the dip

navel. “So much for not fucking the king, huh?”

I smacked his chest playfully. “Ugh. Shut up.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who moaned my name like a damn hymn-”

Another smack. “I swear to the moon, Thoren-”

He caught my wrist, grinning, and kissed the inside of it gently. “No one’s gonna find out.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Promise?”

He nodded. “Cross my heart. This stays between you, me, and these sheets.”

“And the gods who definitely just watched all that,” I muttered under my breath.

He just chuckled and pulled me in closer, arm draped around my waist like he wasn’t planning to let go

anytime soon.

And I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted him to.

I let myself rest against him for another long, delicious moment, but then my stomach gave an

embarrassingly loud growl.

He snorted

I groaned “Ugh. I’m starving”

He brushed his lips against my temple. “That’s what I like to hear after sex”

I swatted his chest again “Shut up I haven’t eaten dinner”

“You haven’t eaten at all?”

“I had cupcakes with Michelle earlier when we went to run errands

< CHAPTER 53 – Fated Heat

He pulled back slightly, brows lifting. “You went on errands… with Michelle?”

I nodded, propping myself up on one elbow. “Mm–hmm. And you’ll never guess what those errands

actually were.”

“Was one of them… getting cupcakes?” he asked with a slow grin.

I gave him a deadpan look. “Actually? Yes.”

+25 Pow

He laughed, full and low in his chest. “Yeah, that checks out. Very on–brand for her. Cupcakes probably

show up on her to–do lists.”

“They definitely do,” I muttered, sitting up and swinging my legs off the side of the bed to look for where my towel had disappeared to. “But that wasn’t all. After the bakery, she dragged me into a stationery sho

”

Thoren blinked. “Stationery?”

“Yep. She’s apparently obsessed. Notebooks, pens, wax seals, calligraphy–you name it.”

He sat up behind me, running a hand down my spine. “Hey, people need hobbies.”

“I guess,” I said, wrapping the towel around myself again. “It just felt… a little intense. Like she’s really into

it.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify