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.

voice tightens. "You should be careful... with the

I freeze.

the fuck is that supposed

pulse kicks up, drumming hard against my wrists. Every hair on the back of

what do you

That's what

96%

(+45)

phone-slow and measured, like he's debating whether to feed me half-truths

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

Now he's calling me out of nowhere... right when rumors about the Lycan King start swirling through the Free City like smoke before a wildfire. My

necklace around my throat-the tiny wolf pendant still warm against my skin. Enoch's necklace.

He's coming here.

They're all coming here.

gotta go." My

"Taryn-"

finish whatever

on me.

phone like it's going to start hissing secrets through the speaker. What

the time I drag myself in-phones ringing, coffee machines hissing, the smell of burnt caffeine and

bouncing in her chair like a puppy someone accidentally slipped an espresso

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

blink at her, still trying to scrape the

2/5

King" dur

drops through ite Forking

voice losers like des

city soon.

for."

made of rory rag is

Alpha King

Enoch

name. He's just the King new the twot when

how

His voice never broadcastrd. just whispers in

Jun

in

forgotten what is like to be

To be mine

coiling hot and

nidges

hard, forcing my expression into

"Just nerves."

whare how w

Lie.

I can't fucking breathe.

apart. Not now. Not with Liam

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

toward his office like

wide open behind

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

barely glances up when I walk

"Close the door."

I do.

"Sit"

I don't

mouth twitches-half amused, half annoyed-but his

Calculating.

He sees me.

3/5

+45)

everyone at Riverstone used to

to keep her head down and

A threat.

my arms,

to see

dead-on.