Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

King Novel 56

Chapter 56

Chapter 56

The name flashing on my phone screen is a punch straight to the gut.

Kallias Morrigan.

I stare at it like the damn thing is going to explode.

I haven't heard from him since I left Riverstone.

Well, we did got off the wrong footing and I don't remember giving him my phone number when I left.

Not a single call. Not a single text. Not even a half-assed apology buried under some pathetic excuse like "I was just giving you space"-because we both know he's not that considerate.

Should I answer it? We were good when I left.

Buut he helped Enoch leave. No, he made him leave..

I still holda huge grudge for him doing that even if I was all smiles when he helped me move back then.

The smart thing would be to ignore him. Block the number. Toss the phone out the fucking window.

But some sick, masochistic part of me still hits Answer.

I press the phone to my ear, forcing my voice into something steady and

indifferent. Like his name popping up doesn't have my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Kallias?"

A beat of silence. Long enough to make me wonder if this is a mistake- some

Then his voice spills through the line, low and rough.

"Hey, Taryn."

pocket dial or cruel cosmic glitch.

I close my eyes, biting down hard on the inside of my cheek. Fuck him for still sounding the same-like cigarette smoke clinging to leather jackets and bad decisions. Like the boy who used to press his lips to mine under moonlit treelines before he ripped my heart out of my chest and tossed it to the wolves.

My fingers tighten around the phone.

"Why are you calling me?"

More silence. Then...

"I wanted to check in."

A laugh punches out of me before I can stop it-sharp and bitter.

"Bullshit."

Kallias has never checked in on anyone but himself in his entire damn life.

I hear him exhale through the receiver, like he's already regretting dialing my number. Good. Join the club, asshole.

"You're in the Free City now," he mutters, like that explains anything.

1/5

Chapter 56

"No shit."

"Alone."

I blink, caught off guard by the way his voice drops-low, cautious.

"I can handle myself," I snap.

He knows that better than anyone. He's the one who made sure I learned how to fight when the other Omegas used to corner me in the packhouse hallways-long before he decided I wasn't worth fighting for anymore.

tightens. "You should be careful... with

I freeze.

is that supposed

drumming hard against my wrists.

what do you

what he

96%

(+45)

through the phone-slow and measured, like he's debating whether to feed me half-truths or just leave me starving-tells

to the last time I saw him. The fight. The fucking mess he made out of my life.

he's calling me out of nowhere... right when rumors about the Lycan King start swirling through

clutch the necklace around my throat-the tiny wolf pendant still warm against my skin. Enoch's necklace. The only piece of

He's coming here.

They're all coming here.

go." My

"Taryn-"

before he can finish whatever

on me.

start hissing secrets through the speaker. What the hell

myself in-phones ringing, coffee machines hissing, the smell of burnt

waves me over, bouncing in her chair like a puppy

you hear?" she stage-whispers, eyes wide with barely

to scrape the sleep and lingering anxiety

2/5

Alpha King" dur

through

like des duwww me

de city soon. Riuri

for."

made

Alpha King

Enoch

just the King new the twot when heasanteway fragmas he

how

in the shawderaws and swoman he

Jun

that's how he wants in tf he likes hiding behired

forgotten what is like

To be mine

coiling hot and fast

nidges me.

forcing my expression

"Just nerves."

whare how w

Lie.

I can't fucking breathe.

fall apart. Not now. Not with

the bullpen, probably just waiting for me to crack so he can ship

and march toward his

open behind

of the floor-overlooking the whole newsroom like some smug little

up when I

"Close the door."

I do.

"Sit"

I don't

twitches-half amused, half annoyed-but

Calculating.

He sees me.

3/5

+45)

Omega everyone at Riverstone used to kick around.

keep her head

A threat.

fold my arms, meeting

wanted to

dead-on.