Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 74

Don't fucking breathe.

Dust coats my throat, clogging my lungs as I press my lips together, trying not to cough. I'm crammed under the antique desk like a damn contortionist, my body wedged into a position that's making my muscles scream. But I don't move. Can't.

Footsteps. Slow. Calculated.

They know this room.

The door creaks as it swings open, a low groan slicing through the suffocating silence. My pulse pounds against my eardrums, each beat louder than the last. My eyes sting from holding back the tears that threaten to spill, and my chest heaves with the effort of staying fucking silent.

I peek through the tiny gap between the desk and the floor. Just enough to see.

Boots. Polished to a fucking shine. Black. Expensive.

Not a servant. Definitely not.

The figure moves deeper into the room, their presence dominating the space. Whoever the fuck this is, they're dangerous. I don't need to see their face to know

that.

Shit.

My body's frozen, but my mind's racing a mile a minute. Did I leave the damn drawer slightly open? I swear I shoved the file back in before hiding, but fuck... I was panicking. My hands were shaking.

What if they see it?

A bead of sweat rolls down the side of my temple, trailing along my cheek. I ignore the prickle of discomfort as the figure lingers by the desk-right fucking above me.

My eyes track every movement. A hand. Large. Calloused. Familiar. It brushes against the edge of the drawer I just pried open, and my stomach clenches so hard I might puke.

Fuck. Did I close it all the way?

Seconds drag into eternity.

One.

Two.

Three.

My body is on high alert, heart slamming against my ribcage. My knees ache from pressing into the marble, and my fingers dig into the cold floor to keep me grounded.

The hand pauses. Hovers. Then...

It retreats.

Oh, thank fuck.

I don't breathe. Not yet.

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Chapter 74

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Then, just when I think I'm about to be yanked out from under this goddamn desk and dragged into a nightmare I am not prepared for-

He moves away.

Not fast. Not urgent. Just a slow, almost calculated retreat toward the far side of the room.

The moment his back is turned, I act.

I inch forward, my body screaming at me to run, but I can't afford to be sloppy. One wrong move, one stupidly loud breath, and this all goes to shit.

My fingers brush against the smooth wood of the desk as I push myself out from under it, my movements painstakingly careful. My feet find the floor. I straighten, pivoting toward the door.

Almost there.

Three steps. Two. One-

The door slams shut,

I fucking jump.

The sound echoes like a gunshot, rattling the walls, reverberating through my goddamn soul. My breath catches, my body locking up as an icy wave of dread slams into me.

No. No, no, no, no-

A voice, low and dangerous, slithers through the silence.

"I was hoping I was wrong."

A chill spreads down my spine. I don't turn immediately. I can't. My fingers twitch

at my sides, nails biting into my palms, and I focus on the sting, on the way it grounds me.

Then, finally, I turn.

And there he is.

My blood runs cold.

No.

No.

No.

That voice.

Commanding. Dark

Enoch.

locking up

shelves now, his broad frame cloaked in

I've seen them haunt my

The Lycan King.

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Powerful. And pissed the fuck

expression is unreadable. But his eyes... they

drawer.

Shit.

whisper, barely able to get the word

doesn't move. Doesn't

the fuck you're doing

is so dry I can

Think, Taryn. Think.

the words lodge in my throat when

voice drops lower.

say

cooperate.

between

Fuck. He knows.

you care?"

fucking defiance into my voice. But it's weak. Even I

81%

into shit that's going to

hangs heavy in the air. His body is close now-too close-and the heat radiating off

can't

My throat tightens.

"Why?" I whisper.

at me. His chest rises and falls, the tension between

fucking said

slam into me, but not for the reasons

he says it.

Like it's a plea.

can't let myself fall for that shit

another girl,

down the chaos swirling in my

not a fucking answer,

Silence.

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his eyes... they

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Taryn." His voice

used to know. The one

I was his whole fucking

But that man's gone.

light from the hallway casts sharp shadows across his face, carving his features into something almost inhuman. His jaw is clenched, the

hate him for

up, fighting against the weight pressing down on

to the broken lock, then back

audacity of the question almost

chest.

my arms, mirroring his stance, even though my insides are tangled up in

I needed permission to

muscle in his jaw jumps.

don't owe

in that

way it's thrumming, erratic

uneven.

him and his stupid fucking Lycan

slow and measured, and instinctively,

back.

it's not a smile. It's something darker. Something that sends

he murmurs, voice deceptively smooth. "You weren't

were

My blood turns molten.

"Oh, fuck you."

head. "You

swear to everything-I almost throw something at

reach except a stack of books, and

myself by missing.

I

no right," I grit out, voice shaking despite

after what you did."

flicker. "What I

Oh, he's serious.

Something inside me snaps.

left me, you arrogant son of a bitch," I spit. "You walked away as if I

saved you-in that stupuid forest and you lied. You

you have any right to

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Chapter 74

respond.

me want to fucking

burn in my throat. "Why are

here, Enoch?"

of silence.

you the same