Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 66

Chapter 66

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Love isn't gentle. It isn't soft whispers or lingering glances across a crowded room. It isn't candlelit dinners or hands brushing accidentally, setting off sparks. That's infatuation, the pretty version of love they sell in movies to make people feel hopeful.

Love is fucking desperate.

It's standing in the cold, screaming your lungs out for someone who won't even look at you. It's clawing at locked doors and throwing punches at anyone who tries to drag you away. It's ugly crying, snot running down your face, and not giving a damn who sees.

Love is the kind of insanity that makes you abandon logic just for the chance to hear their voice one more time.

And right now, I'm fucking drowning in it.

The honk blares so loud my eardrums vibrate.

I snap my head up, blinking against the glare of headlights burning into my face.

The sleek black car doesn't stop. It doesn't slow. It just keeps coming, the engine revving like it actually intends to mow me down.

Oh, fuck no.

I plant my feet, refusing to move, heart hammering with defiance as the tires screech at the last second.

The car stops inches away, heat rolling off the hood, the scent of burnt rubber filling the air. A moment later, the tinted window rolls down, revealing a woman whose presence is as suffocating as the perfume she wears.

Lady Celeste Vaelor.

Royal. Untouchable. Old fucking money.

And judging by the way her eyes sweep over me, entirely unimpressed.

"What in the goddess's name is this?" she drawls, lips curling in distaste.

I don't answer. I just breathe heavily, nostrils flaring as I force myself to unclench my fists. If I so much as look at her the wrong way, these guards will break my ribs without hesitation.

Celeste tilts her head, studying me like I'm some stray mutt blocking her path. "A desperate little thing, aren't you?" She doesn't wait for an answer, doesn't even care. Her fingers drum against the leather interior as she exhales sharply. "Move."

A laugh bursts out of me, sharp and humorless. "No."

Her brows lift slightly, like she wasn't expecting that. I can feel the guards shifting behind me, ready to yank me away, but I don't budge.

"I need to see him," I say, voice hoarse. "Tell him I'm here. Tell him it's Taryn."

She leans forward slightly, her expression turning from bored to intrigued. "And why, exactly, would I do that?"

Because I need to know if he still cares. Because I need to hear him say it-to my face, not through cryptic messages or half-assed rumors. Because I can't keep living like this, waiting for a ghost,

But I don't say any of that. Instead, I tilt my chin up, meeting her gaze with every ounce of defiance I have left. "Because if you don't, I'll make a fucking scene."

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A slow, calculating smile spreads across her lips. "Oh, darling," she purrs. "You already have."

And just like that, the doors of the palace swing open

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The guards shift, ready to shove me aside. The car inches forward, tires rolling smoothly over the marble driveway, and I swear I see Celeste's smirk widen as she watches me get left in the dust.

Fuck that.

My gaze darts around, desperate for something, anything to throw. My fingers close around a flimsy paper cup, and before I even register whose hand I just snatched it from, I'm already winding my arm back.

And then-

I launch it.

The iced coffee arcs through the air in a perfect, messy spiral before splattering across the glossy black paint of her car. The satisfying thwack of liquid meeting expensive metal rings out, and for a split second, all I hear is the horrified gasp of whoever I just robbed.

The paparazzi eat it up. Cameras click furiously, and voices rise in a chaotic crescendo. Someone shouts, "Holy shit, she just

Celeste's car slams to a stop.

She doesn't move immediately, but I see her silhouette in the back seat, rigid. A flicker of anticipation skitters down my spine. Maybe she'll get out. Maybe she'll throw a fit, ruin that composed little mask of hers.

the doors stay

stiff-suited man with dead eyes, slowly turns his head

smile sweetly. "Tell your boss she should invest in better paint

ticks. The window rolls up. And the car, dripping with

to bask in my victory before the guards snap out of

"Grab her."

Oh, shit.

kicking blindly at anything in my path. "Let me go!" The reporters are yelling, flashes going off like fireworks, and I know-I fucking know-this

going to

into the palace. The desperate ex who

somewhere

tug jerks me back. I expect a punch, a hard shove into the ground-hell, maybe even an arrest. Instead, the grip on

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Chapter 66

Not by a guard.

by one of

But by him.

The Beta.

same one from last night-the one who had stared at me like he recognized me but

The noise outside dims, muffled by the massive entrance hall. I barely register

at his grip. "Who

see you as

but because I finally get a proper

huge. Towering. His suit clings to broad shoulders, and his presence is

as it was last night. But it's his eyes that stop

Dark. Intense.

And familiar.

My stomach drops.

No.

Chapter 66

Chapter 66

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lingering glances across a crowded room. It isn't candlelit dinners or hands brushing accidentally, setting off sparks. That's infatuation, the pretty version of love they sell in movies

Love is fucking desperate.

at locked doors and throwing punches at anyone who tries to drag you away. It's ugly crying, snot running down your face, and not giving

the kind of insanity that makes you abandon logic just for the chance to hear their voice one

I'm

honk blares so loud my

up, blinking against the glare of headlights burning into my

car doesn't stop. It doesn't slow. It just keeps coming, the engine revving like it actually intends

Oh, fuck no.

heart hammering with defiance as the tires screech

heat rolling off the hood, the scent of burnt rubber filling the air. A moment later, the tinted window rolls down, revealing a woman whose presence is as suffocating as the perfume

Lady Celeste Vaelor.

Old

way her eyes

is this?"

breathe heavily, nostrils

the

you?" She doesn't wait for an

bursts out of me, sharp

like she wasn't expecting

ready to yank me

say, voice hoarse. "Tell him I'm here. Tell him it's

expression turning from bored to intrigued. "And why, exactly, would I

face, not

her gaze with every ounce of defiance I have left. "Because if you don't, I'll make a

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Chapter 66

smile spreads across her

already have."

just like that, the doors of the palace swing

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ready to shove me aside. The

I swear I

me get left in the

Fuck that.

throw. My fingers close around a flimsy paper cup, and before I even register whose hand

And then-

I launch it.

air in a

satisfying thwack of liquid meeting expensive metal rings out, and for a split second, all I hear is the