Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 91

I pull back.

Fast

Like I just touched a damn stove. The heat of Liam's breath is still lingering near my lips, but I shove him off so hard he actually stumbles back.

I don't even process it-my hands just react before my brain extches up

“Fuck.” I breathe, stumbling a step back, like the distance will undo the last five seconds of whatever the hell that was "Shit."

Liam's brows draw together, confused, maybe hurt-but i don't care. I don't fucking care. My fingers shake as I wipe my mouth, even though nothing really happened, and 1 pace like I'm about to be sick.

"What the fuck was I thinking?" I mutter to myself, gripping my scalp. "What the actual fuck, Taryns

Because it was so close. My eyes were closed. My lips were parted. I was ready to move on.

Except-no.

Because his voice slams back into me like a freight train.

Mates don't do that shit to each other.

My knees nearly buckle.

I stare at the floor, but all I see is Enoch's face. The way he looked when he screamed at me.

When I left him in that hallway, bleeding with more than just his wounds.

And now I almost kissed someone else.

"Why would you-why would you even try that? You knew-"

"Because he's not here," Liam cuts in, his tone might be flat but eyes are sharp. "And he won't be. Not after what you did."

I flinch.

Like a slap across the face. Open-palmed. Brutal. Because it's true, isn't it? \\

That damn article. That stupid, twisted article with my name on it. I didn't write it, but it has my fucking name. And maybe it doesn't matter what the truth is anymore because he's gone, and now I'm here-dripping in regrets and desperation.

"Don't," I manage. "Don't use that against me."

He steps forward. "I'm not. I'm just telling you the truth."

"You don't get to decide that," I snap.

"Are you seriously still hung up on him?" Liam asks, voice lower now. Less

heated, more... fucking patronizing. "He's gone, Taryn. He left you. After everything. And you think he'd still want you after what you did?"

I blink up at him. "Get out."

He takes a step forward instead. Wrong move.

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Chapter 91

"He's the King now," Liam says, like it's a fact that should end the whole damn conversation. "And you're now the girl who aired his secrets like dirty laundry. He's not coming back for you."

"I said get the fuck out, Liam."

He doesn't.

His hand shoots out, gripping my arm. Tight. Too tight.

"Just listen to me for once-"

"No!" I try yanking back, but he's stronger. Bigger. Angrier. His voice rises as though he's trying to knock sense into me with brute force, but I don't hear it anymore. My skin's crawling. My heart's in my throat.

"Liam," I warn, voice dropping. "Let me go."

And still-still-I can't shift.

"Eris," I whisper inside my head. Begging. Pleading. Do something. Please. Snap

his wrist. Bite his throat. Anything.

Nothing.

Dead silence.

My own fucking wolf has gone mute.

"Liam-" My voice cracks. I try to say more, but my throat burns. "You're hurting me."

That's all it takes.

That small, broken sound. The kind that escapes before pride can choke it back. Liam jerks his hand off me as though I'm made of acid. His eyes go wide, like maybe he just realized he was gripping too tight.

Or maybe he just saw me for what I am now-powerless.

I step back. He steps back further.

"Taryn, I-"

"Get. Out." My voice is steadier now, but my eyes sting. "Before I start screaming."

He looks at me for a second longer. His lips twitch like he's gonna say something

else. Apologize, maybe. Justify himself. But he doesn't.

He just turns and walks out the door.

He doesn't even close it properly.

I don't move until I hear the elevator doors slam shut.

And then I sink.

to the

rough against my knees, and my breathing comes out in these ugly, uneven bursts. I dig

it doesn't.

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Chapter 91

fuck am

kissed

who isn't

My mate.

God.

hell is wrong

was enough. That was already too

hold my ankle when I got hurt like I was made of porcelain. His voice when he said "I'd never leave you

Liar.

love him. God help

onto the couch, legs folding under me like a

of liquor from earlier sits on the coffee table, mocking me. The

celebrate my "promotion"

being a total fuck-up for

It's half-full.

depending on how pathetic you

grab it. Screw the

死

and drink straight from the mouth

down my throat, hot and merciless, but

yet.

the bottle next to me and let my head fall back against the

stares at me. Cold

tingle. But not from Liam.

I close my eyes.

Maldives comes

sea salt in his hair. My toes in the sand while he

voice whispering "I feel safest with

He lied.

I lied.

fucking lie,

mouth with

him-like a phantom limb I can't

my eyes

I can't do this.

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Chapter 91

I drink again.

And again.

My phone rings.

I ignore it.

It rings again.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

out, ready to throw it across the

But my hand freezes.

Caller ID: Gamma Abel.

only man who's ever given a damn

return.

stare at the screen, chest

I swipe to

His voice is low and

that.

article. The article is still

still says my

throat is raw. My heart's already roadkill. I open my laptop, still on the floor as I ransack

into something

I scroll down.

there. Paragraphs of poison. Speculation. Accusations.

almost

moment of desperation-when I thought I could find closure by writing everything

And the worst part?

goddamn word in a

fucking praises too.

I didn't

blur. My fingers tremble as I scroll further,

woman with cold, sea-glass

His grandmother?

grandmother? Whoever revised

him.

Shit.

did they get their hands on my

W-who...

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Chapter 91

the laptop shut, turning to my

running,

voice is steady, a lifeline. "But does Enoch

that?"

+58)

of the goddamn palace gates like I was-like... I was nothing." There's a pause, and I can hear him sigh on the

in the pack," Gamma Abel says, quieter now,

looked at you when you

my life. Like a starving wolf with a single

palm to my chest to keep it

to tell him, Taryn. Make

doesn't want to?"

him remember why he

the phone after the call ends, breathing like I just ran

stomach flips.

It's not courage.

It's clarity.

and I hear

Eris.

wolf, slinking back to the surface as though she's been waiting for me

a fucking spine.

get our mate back,

grin, tears still fresh