The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 55

CHAPTER 55 – Whispers and Walnuts

Nevara

+25 Points

I excused myself from the dining hall the moment my appetite died–somewhere between the muffin and

the rising tide of confusion.

Thoren hadn’t said much after the incident. Just tightened his jaw and laid down the law about food

screenings. Michelle kept apologizing, eyes wide with guilt. And I–well, I’d nodded and smiled, like my

chest wasn’t twisting into knots trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

The moment I closed my bedroom door behind me, there was a knock.

I blinked, still mid–exhale.

“Sabrina?” I called, already knowing it was her.

The door creaked open, and she slipped in, face pale and drawn.

“Oh my gods,” she said immediately, “I am so sorry.”

I pulled the door fully open and waved her inside. “It’s okay.”

“No–it’s not.” She pushed her fingers into her hair, pacing a few steps like she couldn’t stay still. “I had no

idea those muffins were for you. And I definitely didn’t know you were allergic to nuts. If I had–gods,

Nevara, I would’ve never-”

I held up a hand. “Sabrina. Breathe.”

She froze.

“It’s okay,” I said again, gentler this time. “You didn’t know. It was an accident. And fortunately, we avoided anything serious.”

Her expression twisted with guilt. “But what if we hadn’t? What if I hadn’t grabbed the right jar or if she

hadn’t bitten into hers first? You could’ve-” Her voice caught.

“I didn’t eat it,” I said quietly. “So it’s fine.”

She dropped onto the edge of my reading chair with a huff, eyes wide and still reeling. “Do you think Michelle set me up?”

I blinked. “What?”

“I mean it.” She leaned forward, voice hushed even though the door was closed. “She’s the one who gave me the recipe. She’s the one who asked me to help when she ‘suddenly‘ had to step away. And don’t you think it’s weird that if she knew the muffins were for you, she wouldn’t have warned me not to add the

nuts?”

I didn’t answer right away, I was still trying to untangle that part myself.

CHAPTER 55 – Whispers and Walnuts

“I don’t know,” I said eventually. “I keep replaying everything. Going through what was said, what wasn’t

Whether this means something or if it really was just a mistake.”

Sabrina shook her head. “But how did you know not to eat it? Did you see the nuts or smell something off?

”

“No,” I said slowly. “Michelle took a bite of hers first. She froze, and then she told me to drop mine. Said

there were nuts in it.”

Sabrina’s frown deepened. “See, that’s the part that makes no damn sense. She was the one who left me

with the recipe. Her recipe. And it clearly had nuts listed. So unless she assumed I’d just skip anything not

laid out on the counter, how could she not have known I’d grab them from the pantry?”

She had a point.

Anyone who’d ever baked anything knew–you always ended up going back to grab something you forgot

to set out. No one ever pulled every ingredient perfectly every time.

“She didn’t say a word to you about the nuts?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Sabrina said. “She asked me to just finish up the mix and throw it in the tins. That was it.”

I sank onto the edge of the bed as I stared into space. “It’s almost like… she wanted it to look like an

accident.”

Sabrina stilled.

“Think about it,” I continued, voice barely above a whisper. “If she’d made them entirely on her own and

included nuts? It’d be obvious. She knows I’m allergic. I told her. But if you made them…” I met her eyes. “It

gives her plausible deniability.”

Sabrina’s jaw tightened. “And then she bites into one herself and warns you not to eat it?”

“That’s the part I can’t get around,” I admitted. “Why warn me? Why stop it if she went through the trouble

of setting it up?”

“Unless…” Sabrina hesitated. “Unless it wasn’t supposed to be that batch.”

I blinked. “What?”

“What if she made two?” she whispered. “One for herself. One for you. And they got mixed up in the kitchen. Or a servant grabbed the wrong tray. Or–gods, I don’t know, Nevara. I’m spinning now.”

“No,” I said slowly, “it’s not impossible. But it’s also just as possible that she really didn’t think the recipe would be followed to the letter. Maybe she assumed you’d skip the nuts because she didn’t leave them

out.”

Sabrina shook her head. “That’s such a stupid gamble.”

“She’s not stupid,” I said. “If she did plan this, it was careful. Not perfect. But careful.”

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CHAPTER 55–Whispers and Walnuts

The silence stretched between us.

“So… what do we do?” Sabrina asked, voice quiet.

“We watch,” I said. “We don’t accuse. Not yet. But I want you and your girlfriend both keeping tabs. Conversations, glances, anything. No matter how small.”

“You got it,” she said. “And Nevara?”

I looked up.

“I’m really glad you didn’t eat that muffin.”

I gave her a small smile. “Yeah. Me too.”

Sabrina gave me one last glance before rising. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

I nodded. “Thanks. And Sabrina–seriously. Don’t beat yourself up. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

She gave me a tight smile. “Yeah. But I still feel like a pawn on someone else’s board.”

Then she slipped out the door, leaving silence in her wake.

I sat there for a moment, my muscles tight, my pulse refusing to settle.

A knock pulled me out of the spiral.

“Come in,” I said warily.

The door opened slowly. Thoren stepped inside, his presence instantly shifting the air.

He didn’t speak right away. Just closed the door behind him and leaned back against it, arms crossed, jav

tense.

“You okay?” he asked finally.

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