Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 77

Chapter 77

I can't fucking breathe.

The ink is bold, deep, and permanent-carved into his skin as a fucking brand.

Taryn.

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It runs across his ribs, curling toward his back, though it belongs there. Like it's always belonged there. No, I belong there.

No. No, that's not-That's not how this is supposed to go.

I turn to Jacob, my voice barely making it past the dryness in my throat. "When-" My lips part, then press together, because what the hell do I even say? Why the fuck is my name on his body? Did he lose a bet? A dare? A goddamn brain cell? Jacob just smirks, tilting his head toward the ring. "Watch the fight."

I want to grab him by the collar and shake the answer out of him, but my hands are frozen at my sides, my mind a screaming whirlwind of no no no no. Because I do want to know. I want to demand it. But I also don't want to hear whatever the hell is about to come out of his mouth.

Because what if it's something I can't handle?

The roar of the underground crowd swells like a heartbeat around me. Enoch steps into the ring, and the air shifts. It's not just because he's massive, or because he carries himself like the goddamn king he is-it's because he's dangerous. And everyone in this building can feel it.

I watch as he rolls his shoulders, stretching out the sheer size of him, muscles shifting under skin as a coiled predator ready to spring. He barely acknowledges the guy he's about to fight-some thick-necked bastard already bouncing on the balls of his feet, cracking his knuckles thinking he has a fucking chance.

The ref barely gets a word in before the guy lunges.

Big mistake.

Enoch doesn't just dodge–he moves quick, shifting his weight so fluidly it's almost lazy. Almost like he's bored. Then he strikes. A punch so fast it barely registers before the guy's head snaps back, blood spraying from his nose as he stumbles. The crowd loses their minds.

But Enoch doesn't stop.

He closes in, planting his feet, throwing another hit, and another. His opponent tries to swing back, but it's a goddamn joke -Enoch catches his fist mid-air, twisting it in a way that makes something crack. The guy screams.

I flinch.

Holy fuck.

Enoch doesn't.

He releases him just to grab him again-fist in his shoulder, dragging him forward, knee slamming up into his ribs hard enough that he folds like a paper doll. The ref is yelling something, but Enoch isn't listening. He's gone, lost in that wild, violent part of him, and his opponent is just trying to fucking survive.

And then-then he really loses it.

A savage punch to the face. Another. Another. His opponent is no longer a fighter; he's a fucking punching bag. The crowd is screaming, but I can't hear shit over the sickening sound of knuckles on flesh. The ref lunges in-grabbing Enoch's

arm,

10:16 Wed, 26 Mar

Chapter 77

shouting at him to stop. For a second, I think he won't.

But then he does.

Barely.

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He jerks back, chest heaving, looking down at the crumpled, bloodied body at his feet. And then he just turns, walking, wwwz like he didn't just beat a man to near unconsciousness in under two minutes.

The ref stumbles forward, throwing his arm up toward Enoch.

"Winner by knockout-"

The rest is drowned out by the explosion of voices, cheers, groans, curses as people either celebrate their winnings or mourn their lost bets. The energy in the room is electric, but I'm still frozen in place, staring at the Enoch I'm seeing him for the first time. Thid version.

His back is to me. Broad, powerful, damp with sweat. My name still inked across his side, his skin will vibrating from the fight, from whatever darkness he let consume him in that ring.

I don't realize I'm shaking until Jacob nudges me.

wanted to

myself to look at Jacob instead. My voice comes out hoarse. "When did

too closely.

shouldn't mean anything

It shouldn't.

around my ribs, cutting off

shit, Sinclair. He murmurs. "Like a man who left his

My stomach twists.

you had he not taken care of him." Jacob turns back to the

fight, no choice. Because if he hadn't, I'd be dead. His uncle would've made sure of

later, with everything that's happened-he's here.

blurring my vision before I can even think about stopping it. I swallow hard, blinking rapidly, forcing the tears back as I turn to look for him again. But he's already

The ring is

I feel fucking sick.

already shoving

after me, still rambling about her latest obsession.

about that Italian fighter? Holy

could wreck me, and I would thank

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Chapter 77

it into the bathroom

cuts

clutch the edge of the counter, inhaling shakily.

not fine." She looks around wildly, as if the answer to

doesn't know what I just learned. She didn't

expression back into something neutral.

blinks.

I nod.

furrow, lips pressing into a

not walking out of here

no human would ever be a

or not, I don't really

with his name still pressed

with my name still burned into his

get out through the back door and the night

still roaring from the fight, but out here, in the dimly lit parking lot, it's

A second later, her phone pings,

pulse is still erratic, my thoughts spinning in circles. I need to get home.

on my nape stands

presence. Familiar. Too

fingers curl into fists before I even look. But I

he

Enoch Blackwell.

in gray sweatpants, a fitted black shirt clinging to every sculpted muscle, looking effortlessly powerful and maddeningly unaffected. But his eyes-God, his eyes. That dark forest greens locks onto mine

see me in

itself into my throat, punching its way out of my

He didn't abandon me.

He's right here.

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Chapter 77

Now what?

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head, forcing oxygen into my lungs.

I have a job. A goddamn career. A purpose. Enoch is engaged. He has

the little menace, is already staring between us as if she's watching her favorite soap opera. Jacob's car screeches into the parking lot, and he practically flies out of the driver's seat. His gaze flicks to me, then

go." His voice

Zoe frowns. "But-"

her

"I was just-"

her mouth mid-babble, and he starts dragging her toward

give

nothing but squeaks as

be hilarious if I

Then it's just us.