Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

53

Chapter 69

Chapter 69

As the day he lost me...

Right. He did lost me.

My mistake is pausing as I stare at him. Just for a second. Just enough to catch my breath, to feel the warmth of his hands on me before I remember exactly where I am. Who I am.

Shit.

The music stops.

Silence.

For a fleeting moment, I wasn't a nobody. I was the woman wrapped in the King's arms, with every eye in the room pinned on us like we were a goddamn fairy tale.

I need to leave. Now,

A thick, pressing quiet, shattered only by the rapid clicks of cameras and the murmurs slithering between the guests. A scandal is unraveling in real-time, and I'm standing right in the center of it.

My heartbeat pounds in my ears. I can't afford another trouble. I'm on strike two on Liam's list, I'll be fired for another one.

I try to step back. His grip tightens.

I swallow hard, my throat burning like I just downed a shot of acid. "Enoch."

His name feels foreign on my tongue, forbidden after years of avoiding it. Like saying it too many times might make it real.

His jaw clenches, the muscle twitching like he's at war with himself. "Stay."

The word punches straight through me, through the layers of this gorgeous dress.

And I almost do.

But the spell breaks when a reporter shouts, "Who is she?!"

That brief hesitation-the scrape of his thumb over my wrist, the unspoken resistance-uncoils something deep in my gut. But I rip myself away, breath hitching, forcing myself to move.

Now. Now, Now.

Run.

"Taryn-"

I don't look back. I can't.

I look back, I'll hesitate. If I hesitate, I'll

I can't stay.

dance ended, silence swallowed the room, only for it to be devoured by a frenzy of whispers, the murmurs slithering through the air, tightening around

1/4

☐ 182

Chapter 69

Who is she?

the King

the fuck

is to be cornered by the hungry, sharp-toothed press ready to rip me apart for breathing the same air as their untouchable King. My lungs protest as I reach the grand staircase, a monstrosity of white marble and

to keep from tripping and

a glance

shadow and steel, unmoving

curl into fists at his sides, and for a split second, something flickers

Mine.

at me right now, idiot! Then he smirks. The bastard smirks, playing with me. Goddess, the media will

in haywire as crimson tints my

eyes-

tight in my stomach, and I push harder, descending the staircase as fast as I can without breaking my goddamn neck. The second I make it outside, the cool night air rushes to meet me, a cold slap of reality against my flushed

I don't slow down.

know where I'm running, only that I need

"Taryn."

Oh, for fuck's sake.

leaning against a carriage like he had nowhere better to be than waiting outside the grandest ball of the year.

Why are you

have time for

look like you've been

snap. "Change me back.

He blinks. "Excuse me?"

seethe. "Make me unnoticeable. Before someone comes out here looking

the carriage and tossing me a bundle

2/4

0382%

+53)

Chapter 69

The same stained, wrinkled thing I arrived in,

screams I don't belong

stare at him. "Are

back." He shrugs, entirely too pleased with himself. "No

the gown over my head, my movements frantic. The silky midnight fabric of my disguise crumples at my feet, forgotten. The second I'm back in my own clothes, I feel the weight

then nods.

"Thanks, asshole."

Anytime."

don't bother with a reply. The last thing I need is for someone to realize the King's mystery woman just made a fucking Cinderella exit. I take off, slipping into the growing crowd of guests leaving the ball. No one spares me a second glance.

desperate attempts to find the mystery of the woman who stole the King's attention. The thought makes