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.

the

and my breathing comes out in these ugly, uneven bursts. I dig my palms into my thighs like the

it doesn't.

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Chapter 91

fuck

kissed someone

isn't

My mate.

God.

the hell is wrong with

enough. That

The way he used to hold my ankle when I got hurt like I was made of

Liar.

I still love him. God help me, I still

onto the couch, legs folding under me

sits on the coffee table, mocking me. The

opened to celebrate

congrats on not being a total

It's half-full.

on how pathetic you

Screw

死

drink straight from the mouth like

throat, hot and merciless, but it's still not enough

yet.

me and let

stares at me.

lips still tingle. But not from Liam. From

I close my eyes.

comes rushing

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

dumbass. His voice

He lied.

I lied.

all fucking

another swig. Wipe my mouth with

way I still feel him-like a phantom limb

my

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.

dig it out, ready to throw it

But my hand freezes.

Caller ID: Gamma Abel.

given a damn about me without asking

return.

at the screen,

then I

voice is low

that.

The article

still says

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

wrote into something

I scroll down.

all there. Paragraphs of poison. Speculation. Accusations.

one who almost got fucking murdered by

a moment of desperation-when I thought I could find

And the worst part?

writing every goddamn word in a good light. It was

fucking praises too.

I didn't publish

fingers tremble as I scroll

cold, sea-glass eyes and

His grandmother?

grandmother? Whoever

him.

Shit.

their

W-who...

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Chapter 91

the laptop shut, turning to my phone

it," I croak, nose running, voice shaking. "I swear, I didn't

didn't, kid." His voice is

that?"

+58)

tastes like regret. "He won't even look at me. He threw me out of the goddamn palace gates like I was-like... I was nothing." There's

two were still in the pack," Gamma Abel says,

he looked at you when

obsessed in my life. Like a starving wolf with a

my palm to my chest to keep it from caving

tell him, Taryn. Make

doesn't

remember why

phone after the call ends, breathing

My lungs burn. My stomach flips.

It's not courage.

It's clarity.

and I

Eris.

wolf, slinking back to the surface as though she's

a fucking spine.

get our mate back, bitch." she

tears still fresh on my