Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 89

Chapter 89

I wake up on the goddamn floor

Shit, I fell asleep in here? Did someone find out I broke in?

Not my bed. Not my couch. Not even a fucking chair. No, my ass is spread-eagle

on the cold-ass, dusty floor of Liam's office, check stuck to a file folder, spine screaming in protest, and there's a pair of black dress shoes in my face.

Then there's a voice.

"Holy shit, Sinclair. You actually did it."

The words are muffled through my groggy haze, but I recognize that smug, too- pleased tone anywhere. Liam Calloway. My boss. My personal tyrant. The man I thought would fire me any day now for breathing wrong.

I blink, and he's crouching next to me, that rare smile of his stretching ear to ear like it's physically painful. Behind him, F see blurry shapes-people crowding into the room, some I recognize from the office, some I don't. All of them are fucking beaming at me like I just discovered the goddamn cure to death.

What the hell is going on?

"Get up, superstar," Liam says, grabbing my arm and hauling me upright before I can even say anything. "You're trending. Like, everywhere. The company's crashing from traffic. You blew the lid off the whole fucking thing."

"What-?"

But I can't even finish the question before someone pats me on the back. Then another. Then I'm getting a weird little applause circle. Laughter. Shouts. Somebody yells, "That's our girl!" and I blink again, heart rate still catching up to reality.

And then I see her.

Zoe.

She's not clapping. She's not laughing. She's just standing near the doorway, arms folded across her chest, her face unreadable except for one thing: disappointment.

A pit opens in my stomach.

"Wait, what did I-" I start, still half-asleep, panic starting to crawl in. "What happened? What blew up?"

Liam's already gone, barking something to an assistant. Everyone's celebrating like we just won the goddamn World Cup. I barely register any of it because-

Fuck.

Last night.

The file.

The truth.

My legs are moving before my brain catches up. I shove through the crowd of bodies like a lunatic, searching the desk, the floor, the scattered papers. Where the fuck is it? The file from last night-my mother's name, my father's face, the match...the match to Enoch's story.

I'm the girl.

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Chapter 89

The one he's been looking for. The one he forgot. The one he loved.

1 grab the folder off the floor where I collapsed with it and clutch it to my chest like

it's the only thing anchoring me to the damn planet. My heart is jackhammering now, and it has nothing to do with whatever viral shitstorm I apparently started. Zoe steps forward.

"Tarya” she says, soft, but not friendly. "You didn't tell me you were gonna run that piece."

1-what piece?" 1 croak. "Zoe, 1-1 don't have time-"

"Yeah, you never do, right?" she bites back, stepping aside as I sprint out.

I don't have the mental capacity to deal with that right now.

I need to see him.

I have to see him.

+50

I'm already out the door, ignoring the shouted questions, the people trying to grab

my sleeve, my name echoing behind me. 1 don't answer. I don't stop.

I've got tunnel vision.

Because if what I read is true-if I'm her-then he has to know. Maybe it changes everything. Maybe he remembers. Maybe...

God, maybe he already knows.

My stomach turns.

The air is cold when I reach the Imperial Pack gates. My lungs burn as I double over, wheezing. Jason's standing there, like some kind of decorative, suit-wearing bouncer from hell. He doesn't look surprised to see me.

"You can't go in," he says.

"Bullshit," I growl, shoving past him. He doesn't budge.

"Taryn-"

“He's in there, right?" I shout, pointing toward the building like a maniac. "You just said he's here! Let me the fuck in, Jason!"

He moves to block me again, and I lose it. My hand connects with his arm, then

his chest, then I'm thrashing like a rabid animal. My voice cracks from screaming, my throat raw as I yell his name.

"ENOCH!"

"You

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!"

Bite. I actually bite him. Like a

and I sprint toward

each step. I crash through the office hallway, slamming into furniture, slipping on the polished tile, not even giving a

I throw it open.

5 Apr Chapter

And there he is.

Enoch Blackwell.

The Lycan King.

My mate.

goddamn suit like a marble

desk, hands clasped behind him, the light pouring over his

I freeze.

Just for a second.

Like if I breathe too loud,

trying to say all at once. I

"I finally... it's me.

He turns.

His eyes are empty.

they're worse.

He doesn't speak.

tosses something to the

with a flutter and lands at my feet. A folded

down at it, confused, then slowly crouch to pick it up.

the front

My article.

In big, bold letters.

it... the

By Taryn Sinclair.

My chest squeezes.

me as I look up at him. "You read

His eyes meet mine.

"You wrote it."

is flat. It's not angry.

It's just...empty.

would. I could handle yelling. I could handle

and shattered glass and

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12:51 Sat, 5 Apr

Chapter 89

things.

But not this.

already decided

made up his mind and now I'm

through his bloody wound.

I'm doing

+50

throat burning. "No-yes-I mean, I wrote the original but this-this isn't what I submitted, hell I dind't even submit it... it's-someone changed it,

so hard it makes me jump. The entire mahogany slab trembles under the weight of it, a pen rolls off the

feels a fucking bomb going off

this. I don't like

voice rips through the room, raw

hurt and God, I caused that. "I

teeth.

"Let me explain-"

That you sat there every night in Maldives writing about me like I was some fucking freak in a zoo? While I- while I

I've

seen him

even when we were escaping the Imperial border. Not even

died.

This?

is heartbreak breaking a man.

take a shaky step forward, and

Like I'm dirty. "You think I'd betray you

he says, voice low, "that I told you things no one

that don't even have

fucking part of myself."

to the paper in my hand like it's a

to read it in 12-point

like

No. Worse.

held underwater by his

didn't know they'd publish it under

had

laugh. Cold. Ugly. His jaw clenches so tight

please listen to

"You're a journalist,

thing? To

He's right...

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50

Chapter 89

nothing comes out. My body's too busy shaking. My

made of

and fast like he can't stay still or else he'll combust. "I gave you my heart. In Maldives. Remember that? When I told you shit I've never said out loud to anyone?

sweeps across the desk, everything crashing to

figurine I gave him once when I thought he'd lost his

Gone,

all smashes to

million

of my throat as my eyes begin

tear up.