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

these ugly, uneven bursts. I dig my palms

it doesn't.

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Chapter 91

fuck am I

almost kissed someone

who isn't my

My mate.

God.

hell is

him once. That was enough. That was already too much. But now

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

Liar.

I still love him. God help me, I still fucking love

folding under me like

bottle of liquor from earlier sits

celebrate my "promotion"

not being a total

It's half-full.

half-empty, depending on how pathetic you

it. Screw the cap.

死

and drink straight from the mouth like the fucking mess I

but

yet.

next to me and let my head fall back

stares at me.

still tingle. But not from Liam. From

I close my eyes.

Maldives comes

salt in his hair. My toes in the sand

like a dumbass. His voice whispering "I

He lied.

I lied.

fucking lie, don't

swig. Wipe my mouth with the back of

way I still feel him-like a phantom limb

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.

dig it out, ready to throw

But my hand freezes.

Caller ID: Gamma Abel.

a damn

return.

stare at the

then I swipe to

voice is low and I already knew what he

that.

The article

still says my

on a laugh that dies as quickly as it comes. My throat is raw. My heart's already roadkill. I open my

wrote into something so

I scroll down.

there. Paragraphs of poison. Speculation.

who almost got fucking murdered

a moment of desperation-when I thought I could find closure by writing everything down-are all twisted into the

And the worst part?

word in a good light. It was all

fucking praises too.

I didn't publish

as I

woman with cold, sea-glass eyes

His grandmother?

still has his grandmother? Whoever revised and

him.

Shit.

did they get their hands on

W-who...

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Chapter 91

the laptop shut, turning to my phone

publish it," I croak, nose running, voice

His voice is steady, a lifeline.

that?"

+58)

laugh that 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 a pause,

were still in the pack,"

you when you weren't looking. Hell, I've

life. Like a starving wolf with a single fucking lamb in the

my palm to my

tell him, Taryn. Make

he doesn't want to?"

make him remember

the call ends, breathing like I just

burn. My stomach flips. Something inside me twists, then

It's not courage.

It's clarity.

and

Eris.

back to the surface as though

a fucking spine.

our mate back, bitch." she

grin, tears still fresh on my