Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 95

Chapter 95

There's a second bouquet waiting for me this morning.

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Dead. Again. Like someone plucked the petals straight out of a graveyard and thought, You know what? This'll brighten her day.

I squint at the shriveled mess dumped right outside my door. The flowers are even worse than the last ones-crunchy, blackened, curling like they're trying to retreat into themselves. There's a note tucked inside this time.

"Matches your loyalty."

My laugh comes out flat. No humor. No real breath. Just air scraping past my teeth like it wants to be something louder,

messier.

I bend down, pick it up, and stare at the rotting stems for a few seconds longer than I should. I pocket the note before I can think too hard about how it actually fucking hurts.

Because it does.

Which pisses me off more than the bouquet.

Phone's already in my hand before I'm back inside. I call Zoe.

She answers after one ring. "You still alive, corpse bride?"

"I think Enoch's trying to hex me. Second bouquet. This one's got a fucking note."

"Jesus Christ," she wheezes through the speaker. "Does it at least smell nice?"

"It smells like pissed ex-boyfriend who can't say what he actually means."

"Ugh. I swear, that man needs therapy. Like, several sessions a day. Electroshock, if possible."

I flop onto the edge of my bed, flinging the curtains shut because I feel like I'm

being watched. Probably am.

“Tell me something distracting,” I say, rubbing my temples.

"Oh, you're gonna love this. I overheard two guards talking about some underground werewolf fight club-"

"...What?"

"Alpha Combat Training," she says, full gossip-mode. "Top-secret, no staff allowed, not even the guards can get close unless they're part of it. Guess who's gonna be there?"

My heart slams once. Then twice.

I don't answer.

"Your growly murder crush," Zoe adds like she's narrating a daytime soap. "Apparently, no one at the palace can keep up with him, so they've started flying in actual Alphas just to keep him from breaking all the training bots. Sounds like the world's horniest deathmatch."

"You think they're really fighting?"

"You think they're braiding friendship bracelets in there?"

I'm already up, grabbing a jacket, not bothering with makeup or an actual plan.

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Chapter 95

Zoe's voice trails behind me. "You're insane. Fully unwell, I love it. Please don't die."

The combat field is deep within the royal perimeter. Forest on all sides. Mist lingers low, thick enough to blur outlines but not thick enough to hide the heat.

It smells like blood and dirt and sweat.

Also power.

The kind that buzzes along the back of your neck and makes your lungs feel too small. Every inch of my skin is prickling by the time I crawl under the old warding fence behind the clearing. I duck low, keeping to the trees. My breath fogs the air in front of me.

Then I see it.

Chaos.

Dozens of wolves-some mid-shift, some shifting back-are beating the shit out of each other. Limbs snap. Regrow. Snarls rip through the clearing, teeth flashing in the sun as jaws clamp down on flesh. It's... beautiful in the most unhinged, primal way. Like watching war ballet.

And in the middle of it all?

Him.

Enoch.

Blood on his chest. Hands. His throat. Some of it his, most of it not. His hair's slicked back with sweat, his chest heaving as he throws some massive Alpha clean across the field like he weighs nothing.

He's not even trying.

I know his face well enough by now. This isn't him fighting hard.

This is him... burning time..

Holy fuck.

I blink-and get yanked backwards by the collar of my jacket.

elbow whoever's behind

The Dowager Queen.

caught me sneaking cookies, not breaking palace

as subtle as your grandfather was during his courting

from the shadows and right into the open, where the air still smells

the urge to sink

Dowager calls, sharp and amused. "I think she should observe how kings

into some

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11:15 Sat, 12 Apr

Chapter 95

eyes lock

how to

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all the way. His claws are still halfway there, teeth sharp, skin streaked with blood and

He doesn't flinch.

a show," he growls, loud enough for the trees to shake, "give her

training ground freezes. Half of them turn to

faint, wheezy cough that probably saves

Stark naked.

Fuming.

beautiful it makes

he's this angry, he shouldn't be

I swallow.

clap. Once. Twice.

out of ten," I say, voice flat, fingers still

again."

He doesn't smile.

something flickers across his

know this

Not even close.

***

to say. The door slams behind him,

down the stone

I just stand

open. Bag slung off one shoulder. Heart somewhere

ankles.

be fucking

the universe will take it back if I just move at the speed of

But no.

Right across from mine. Massive

it's laughing at me. Like it knows exactly

about to

The Lycan King's room.

His. Enoch's.

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Chapter 95

all the goddamn rooms in this maze of a palace, they decide to put me

I'm trying to forget. Or stab. Or kiss. Probably all three, depending

room change. I

+83)

doorknob of my room, press my forehead against the

"Fucking amazing.

I turn it.

Bigger than my

crackling like it knows I'm about to spiral, and a bed that looks like it could fit six Lycans

Walk straight to the window. Press

the glass.

The kind

when you know you're

am

turn around, and there

the doorway to his

Enoch.

those damn sweatpants that hang dangerously low on his hips, like gravity has a personal vendetta. His hair is still

figure out whether I'm real or

I say, crossing my arms and hating how my

head slightly. His eyes drag over me like they're searching for

or maybe my

"You're loud."

drops.

laughing. It echoed.

will to live," I shoot back.

his face. Not a smile, exactly, but close. The ghost

one.

Just a single step into

to the doorway of my room without thinking. My

Fight or

hell are you doing?" I ask, because

"I live here."

"Not what I meant."

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My blood is

the