Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 79

Chapter 79

"I'm coming back."

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Kallias goes silent. I hear a sharp inhale, followed by a static crackle like he's covering the receiver. Then his voice comes back, tight with disbelief. "Taryn, what the fuck are you talking about?"

I don't answer. I don't have to.

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"You fought like hell to get out of this pack," he presses, his tone edging toward desperation. "You worked your ass off for this job, for your future-"

"I don't have a future here anymore." My own voice doesn't even sound like mine. It's flat. Distant. Like I've already left.

"The hell you don't," Kallias snaps. "You think quitting is gonna fix anything? You think crawling back here is the answer? If you-"

"I'm fired."

The silence this time is heavier.

Then, slower. "What?"

I drag a shaky breath in, gripping Zoe's phone tighter. "They're going to fire me, Kal. I just lost everything."

"Shut up

and turn on the TV," I cut him off, voice flat.

A pause.

Then the sound of rustling, a remote clicking. Silence.

It stretches long enough that I almost think he hung up. But then Kallias exhales sharply. "Shit."

Yeah. No kidding.

"This is bad," he mutters, his voice lower now, serious. "Like, really fucking bad." No shit, Sherlock.

open my mouth to respond, but before I can, Zoe practically yanks me off balance. "Taryn," she hisses, her grip tight around my wrist. "Liam's calling."

I shake her off. "I'm on the phone-"

"Liam. Is. Calling."

The words sink in like a cold slap.

Fuck.

I tighten my grip on Zoe's phone and exhale through my nose, steadying myself. "I gotta go," I say quickly into the receiver.

He exhales hard. "Taryn, you-"

I hang up.

Zoe shoves the phone at me like it's about to explode. "Answer it." Chapter 79

I do.

Zoe is vibrating with barely contained curiosity as she watches me swipe to answer. "Holy fuck, what is happening?" she whisper-screams.

I ignore her.

Press the phone to my ear.

Silence.

For a long, suffocating moment, neither of us speaks.

The tension stretches, thick and suffocating, wrapping around my throat like a noose.

The line is silent for a solid thirty seconds. I can feel Zoe's' stare boring into me, her mouth half-open like she's trying to eavesdrop through sheer willpower.

Then, finally-

deep and even. "This is your

leaves

tightens

My breath sucks in.

the archives, to your parents' records?" A pause. "Find

tightens around the phone.

it big." His tone leaves no room

something I can use, and

to ruin his reputation..."

is the media, Taryn. Get used to

to

The call clicks off.

frozen. My heartbeat is a deafening thud

hand in front

I don't move.

I just lost everything.`

Or-

have one last

Fuck.

wall. But I'm just...

2/5

Chapter 79

buffering, stuck in a loop of what the

job, my shot at the truth, my

stomach twists, bile rising

my arm, snapping me out of it.

response. Lying isn't my strong

is too controlled. Not a lie, but definitely

knit together. "What?

push, the air shifts. A weight settles in the room, thick and suffocating.

Then I smell him.

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His scent-dark woods and power-wraps around me before his arms do. His

I freeze.

dig into my back, his breath fanning against

the only fucking thing

uncomfortably beside me.

her sentence. Just awkwardly inches toward the

acknowledge her. He's too busy branding me

again," he breathes against my skin, his voice low

sheer weight of his authority pressing against me like a second skin. "Enoch," I murmur, pulling back enough to

are dark-too dark. No hint of gold, just obsessive, all-consuming

did you

my shoulders. "Should we

Leave? As in-fuck off into the

Like he's already decided.

And that's dangerous.

up to cup his face, forcing his eyes to stay on mine. He stiffens under my touch, muscles taut

his eyes. Guilt. Blame.

think I give a fuck about that?" His voice is a

this fucking

I swallow hard. "Enoch-"

Chapter 79

53

me tightens, like he's trying to keep

voice

I wasn't-" His breath shudders. "I would burn this whole fucking world down if it meant keeping

Fuck.

This man-this wolf-would rip

a safe fucking

we don't set the world on fire and take a vacation

his shoulders eases just a fraction, his eyes narrowing like he's trying to figure out if I'm fucking with

"A vacation?"

expression as

playing Russian Roulette with a loaded gun. "You're

unemployed. Why not?"

A long, heavy silence.

Then-