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.

His voice tightens. "You should be

I freeze.

the fuck is that supposed to

kicks up, drumming hard against my wrists. Every hair

what do

That's what

96%

(+45)

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

mind spins back to the last time I saw him. The fight. The fucking mess

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

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 voice

"Taryn-"

he can finish whatever cryptic warning he was

on me.

phone like it's going to start hissing secrets

ringing, coffee machines hissing, the smell of burnt

in her chair like a puppy someone accidentally slipped

she stage-whispers, eyes wide with

at her, still trying to scrape the sleep and lingering anxiety from

2/5

King" dur

through ite Forking

des

city soon.

for."

he made

Alpha King

Enoch

ever sage his name. He's just the King new

how

never broadcastrd. just whispers in the shawderaws

Jun

how he wants in tf he

forgotten what is like to be

To be mine

panic coiling hot and fast

nidges me. "You

swallow hard, forcing my expression into something

"Just nerves."

whare how w

Lie.

I can't fucking breathe.

to fall apart. Not now. Not

me to crack so he can ship my ass

my shoulders and march toward his office like I don't feel

wide open behind

glass-walled fishbowl at the far end of the floor-overlooking the whole newsroom like some smug little king

barely glances up when I walk

"Close the door."

I do.

"Sit"

I don't

twitches-half amused, half annoyed-but his eyes stay

Calculating.

He sees me.

3/5

+45)

Omega everyone at Riverstone used to kick

intern trying to keep

A threat.

fold my

to

dead-on.