Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

King Novel 35

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

The moment the pack warriors grab me, I know this isn't going to end well.

Their grips are unforgiving, their fingers digging into my arms as they drag me across the dirt floor like I'm nothing more than a ragdoll. My feet barely keep up, stumbling against the uneven ground as they haul me toward the raised platform.

I catch myself, barely.

The stench of sweat, blood, and something more acrid clogs my nose-adrenaline,

fear.

Then I see him.

My hands brace against the rough wooden flooring, splinters biting into my palms as I lift my head.

The Alpha of the Riverstone Pack sits above the chaos like a king surveying his pitiful subjects. Old but not frail, his presence alone makes the air feel disastrous. He's old, his hair grayed at the temples, his face lined with age and something cruel. But it's his smile that unsettles me the most-thin and creepy, as though he already knows how this night will end, and I'm the last one to catch up.

"Bring her here."

The warriors throw me forward without a sliver of care. My knees hit the ground hard, a jolt of pain traveling up my legs, but I barely have time to register it before I'm being yanked up again, shoved closer to the Alpha's side. My skin prickles, every nerve on high alert.

One of the pack warriors who was stationed outside Kallias' door-aka, my glorified prison-steps forward, as stiff as a board. "Alpha, Kallias himself ordered us to keep her locked inside his room-"

For a second, I think the Alpha might consider his words. Then, without so much as a shift in expression, he simply looks at the man. One look.

The warrior immediately shuts up, his mouth snapping closed like it's been wired shut. He bows his head and backs away without another word.

The Alpha pats the seat beside him. "Sit, girl."

I don't move.

He lifts a brow.

One of the pack warriors forces me down before I can think about resisting.

'The Alpha hums in approval, clasping his hands together as he leans forward. "Sacrifice," he says, drawing out the word as a teacher introducing a new lesson. "It's the foundation of every pack, every kingdom, every great power that has ever risen and ruled. Without it, there is no order. No strength. No future."

I don't say a word.

My stomach coils tight, my senses screaming at me that this isn't just an old man giving a philosophical speech. He's leading to something-something I'm not going to like.

"You see, child," he continues, "truth and sacrifice go hand in hand. One always demands the other. And tonight... one truth has made itself known."

He turns his head toward me, expression unreadable. "Tell me, girl, what have you lost?"

My throat tightens. Too much. But I know better than to answer him honestly. "That's none of your business."

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Chapter 35

He chuckles. “Oh, but it is. You see, truth has a funny way of revealing itself, whether we want it to or not. And the truth, my dear, is that you are not as insignificant as you pretend to be."

Before I can process that, a roar erupts from the fighting ring below. My head snaps toward the sound just in time to see a body collapse.

The champion.

Blood pools beneath him, a dark stain spreading across the dirt. And standing over him, chest rising and falling with steady, unbothered breaths, is him.

Enoch.

Shock. Fear. Uncertainty. They're all thick in the air, pressing down on every soul

in the audience as they try to make sense of what the fuck just happened.

A sick, dangerous thrill sparks in my chest. He did it. He won.

Who is he?

How did he kill the champion that easily?

Where did he come from?

I already know the answers to all three.

And so does someone else.

A ragged, breathless sound pulls my attention toward the entrance of the dome.

Kallias.

have a second to register it before he steps forward, his face pale, his blue

He knows.

being beside his father means nothing

He doesn't waste time, grabbing my wrist with enough force to make me wince. "What is she

that he's gripping me like he has a fucking right to, like I belong to him, but I still start to move. I'd rather let him haul me across the arena than stay here with his cryptic, unsettling

the Alpha's voice cuts through the

"Wait."

mutters, already pulling

As much as I

take a step, the Alpha's voice cuts through the

"Not so fast."

freezes. I

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leans forward, his stare pinning his son in place. "Tell

like

My stomach drops.

What?

stiffens beside me.

自

shock, his voice cis calm. "You can forcefully mark her. Make her yours. That way, no other pack will take her in if she runs. She will be bound to you, to

arena seems to inhale

and I turn to him, half

say no.

dismiss the

he turns his

And he smiles,

"Yes."

My heart stops.

tightens them. My bones protest, skin pinching under his bruising hold “Let me go.” I spit, panic clawing up

at the pack warriors flanking us. Before I can thrash away, they seize my arms, restraining me. Fucking

runs down

flinch. He simplyu stands there like a dutiful little pawn as his father turns to the bloodstained ring below

Please no...

the Alpha says smoothly, gesturing at Enoch. "Do that,

good on my promise."

slam into me as

stomach turns violently, bile

He means it.

actually going to make

pray-stupidly-that Kallias will snap out

realize how fucking insane this is, and

But then he smiles.

wide and manic, a twisted mockery of the boy

father, like son. Batshit

arena and shifts midair, bones snapping, fur

and then he lands in the dome below with a thud that rattles my goddamn ribs. The crowd roars, and the noise

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Chapter 35

gasp, struggling against the warriors' grips.

at their iron holds.

Run

Enoch doesn't move

chest rising and falling in

doesn't wait.

It's a massacre.

fur blur together in a brutal ballet of claws and fangs. Kallias is

a tornado of

He's taking it.

every wound, every

crack echoes through the air, his body colliding against the ring's

he gets up and

Kallias to

of iron

screaming, cheering, celebrating a

be happening.

My throat is raw, the sound barely human.

watches it all with

he's waiting for

blow, claws tearing

his body swaying. He looks

Eyes locking onto mine.

shake my head frantically, silent,

back. Please,

hair, wrenching me backward. I barely

I'm being