Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 72

Chapter 72

The car is too damn quiet.

It's been two weeks since the masquerade ball and I'm fucking impressed Liam has gotten us a way to not only enter the palace, but to move in there in that short amount of time.

The palace. It all seems like a dream.

I sit in the backseat, my folder clenched between my fingers so tightly that the edges bend under my grip. It has all the information I might need about the Alpha King, about Enoch.

Find me..."

I rub my face as I remember the words I told him that night. I asked him to find me and yet here I am, walking exactly where he is.

The city disappears behind us, swallowed by the stretch of forest leading to the Imperial Palace. The road is too smooth, the ride too effortless, like even the goddamn ground bows beneath the feet of the Lycan King.

Enoch.

I force my gaze out the window, but the palace looms in the distance, a shadowy beast carved out of stone and gold, waiting to swallow me whole.

"This is your last chance to change your mind," Liam drawls from the driver's seat, eyes flicking to me through the rearview mirror. "I can still turn the car around."

I shoot him a glare. This, what I'm doing right here isn't for Enoch, it's not even for me but for my parents and for my brother, Jesse. This is to know who exactly took them away from me, and I've seen how the Imperial Pack is connected with their deaths and I'll stop at nothing to know everything.

"I'm not backing out." I hiss.

"Didn't think so," he mutters, gripping the wheel a little too tightly. "Just figured I'd remind you that you're walking into a lion's den wearing a steak necklace."

Zoe hums from the passenger seat, twisting to look at me with a little too much enthusiasm for my liking. "More like walking into your ex's house uninvited. The royal, powerful, might-murder-you-in-your-sleep kind of ex." She taps her chin. "Have you considered bringing a weapon? Something small, discreet. A dagger, maybe?"

"Sure," I deadpan. "I'll just tape it to my thigh and hope no one notices when I go through security."

She shrugs. "Or, hear me out-flash them some leg and maybe they'll let it slide." "Fucking hell," Liam mutters.

"Have you heard?"

The tension is broken as we both turn to Zoe who's deep on her phone.

“What?” Liam and I both say in unison. Zoe lifts her phone to show us a picture and my heart drops. It's in a balcony. The same one Enoch and I kissed. It was that fucking paparazzi. I knew they're not going to let it slide.

In the picture is Enoch, although his face isn't visible as well, yet it's clear he's the Lycan King. I'd know that even with the picture a mile away from me.

But,

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Do they know who the woman is?

That I was the woman?

How much do they know?

Is my face seen?

"I think it's Lady Celeste though." My thoughts were stopped as I turn to Zoe, "What?" I mutter. She shrugs. "It's just the dress, she's wearing a red one, remember?" Liam nods at her.

Right. The dress.

It's red because of the wine that woman poured on me. i guess it was a blessing in disguise, that way, they wouldn't know it's

1. me.

about her." Liam turns

girl." She sighs, going back to her phone. Blush creeps into my

thoughts are cut as we turn to a

sharpening. Massive iron gates rise like a ribcage protecting a beast, the metal intricately carved with depictions of battles older than any living werewolf. The towering walls of black stone seem to swallow the light, swallowing me

weight of it pressing down. The history. The blood. The sheer

"You good?" Zoe asks.

No. I'm not good.

But I say, "Peachy."

upon the car. Their uniforms are pristine, their weapons polished, their expressions unreadable. One

says, voice clipped.

onto mine like he's trying

I stare back. Unflinching.

Then, finally, he nods to the others. The gates groan

forward, taking me deeper into the

I exhale slowly.

Welcome to the palace.

as suffocating as it

grand hall is a cathedral of shadows and gold, with towering pillars stretching toward the vaulted ceiling. Chandeliers drip with

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whispering, "So, uh, have you ever even saw

☐☐☐,82%ÛÛÛ

a few night ago, Z oe. But you don't have to know that. "Before he left." Before he

he became

a low whistle. "Damn. So this is going to

don't have to. The air is thick enough with unspoken words

reach the central wing, where an official is waiting for us. She's tall, regal, and terrifying in that

role is as a royal historian and media consultant. You are here to document the reign of the Lycan King, not to

I nod.

is good at making excuses. We're just here to

seek out the King. You do not ask

get it," I interrupt. "Stay in my lane.

something resembling amusement

you to your

deeper into the palace. As we walk, I swear I feel something slithering beneath

if I'm

acknowledge me, but it's there, thick in the air-the

unseen force pressing

my shoulders. Let them watch. Let

I'm here now.

not leaving without answers to

problem with settling into luxury is that it makes you realize how fucking poor

onto the massive bed-scratch that, this isn't a bed, it's a fucking cloud. A silk-draped, goddess-tier mattress that makes my old cot at the pack house look like a dog bed. The entire suite is bigger than my entire floor back home, decked out in dark wood, velvet

Not that I'm impressed.

mattress, bouncing once. The soft, expensive sheets smell faintly of something dark and woody- like old books and rain-drenched

Enoch.

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Chapter 72

into a

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in this place feel like him? The walls, the air, the way every damn person looks at me like I

bad. I'm

out of my thoughts.

Vaelor strides in like she owns