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.

Dark

Enoch.

slowly, my body locking up as

the shelves now, his broad

that face. Those fucking eyes. I've seen them haunt my dreams and

The Lycan King.

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Chapter 74

Powerful. And pissed the

expression is unreadable. But his eyes... they

drawer.

Shit.

whisper, barely able

move. Doesn't

fuck you're doing

so dry

Think, Taryn. Think.

lodge in my

drops lower. Dangerous. "Lie to

me to say

cooperate.

between my face

Fuck. He knows.

care?"

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

81%

"Because you're walking into shit that's going to get

words hangs heavy in the air. His body is close now-too close-and the

I can't

My throat tightens.

"Why?" I whisper.

ticking as he stares at me. His chest rises and falls, the tension between

fucking

into me, but not for the reasons

the way he says it. It's not

Like it's a plea.

that shit again. Not now.

another

teeth, shoving down the chaos swirling

a fucking

Silence.

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eyes...

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be here, Taryn." His

a second-just one-l see the man I used to know. The one who looked

I was his whole fucking

But that man's gone.

his face, carving his features into something almost inhuman.

hate him for

my chin up, fighting against the weight pressing

flick to the broken

the question almost makes me

chest.

mirroring his stance, even

nerves and resentment. "Didn't realize I needed permission to breathe in your

in his jaw jumps. "That's not

I don't owe

slightly, and it's in that moment I realize-he can

way it's thrumming, erratic

uneven.

his

a step forward, slow and

back.

curl, just slightly, but it's not a smile. It's something darker. Something that sends

murmurs, voice deceptively smooth. "You weren't

we were this

My blood turns molten.

"Oh, fuck you."

tilts his head.

everything-I almost throw something at him. But there's

a stack of books, and knowing my luck, I'd

myself by missing.

instead, I

have, no right," I grit out, voice shaking despite

after what you did."

flicker.

Oh, he's serious.

Something inside me snaps.

you arrogant son of a bitch," I spit. "You

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

here like you have

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Chapter 74

doesn't respond.

me want to fucking

shake my head, forcing down the burn in

here, Enoch?"

of silence.

could ask you the