Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 96

Chapter 96

The silence is the first thing that pisses me off.

No scratchy paper petals crumbling under my shoes. No sickly-sweet rot clinging to the base of my door. No reminder that someone out there has a death wish and thinks I'm dumb enough to play scared little Omega about it.

Huh.

I stare at the floor outside my quarters. Just polished marble. No bouquet of shriveled-up flowers this time.

Guess whoever's been leaving them finally got bored. Or they're cooking up something worse. Because that's what silence is here-it's not peace. It's the inhale before the scream.

I rub my eyes and glance across the hallway. His doors are still closed, like the pompous Alpha King is too fucking royal to wake up before noon. Must be nice. I mutter, "Still sleeping off that bitchy little tantrum, huh?"

No response. Of course.

I drag myself into the bathroom, splash water on my face, stare into the mirror like I'm waiting for her-the version of me that's supposed to be over this. Over him. Over the way his voice still cracks like thunder in my bones.

Yeah, she's not showing up today either.

Whatever. I've got shit to do and coffee to drink.

The dining hall is halfway across the palace, but I've walked longer stretches with

a twisted ankle and a leaking heart, so I put one foot in front of the other and try not to think about anything except how empty my stomach feels.

I'm almost at the hall when I hear them.

Maids. Whispering. Like they always do. But this time...

"Poor Lady Camille, I remember her." one says, voice low but clear enough to knife through the air. "I really thought she'd be Queen by now."

My body freezes mid-step.

Another maid scoffs, her tone heavy with regret. "They found her body in the-"

Footsteps. Heavy ones. Clean. Confident.

They all shut the fuck up at once.

I already know who it is.

Enoch enters from the far end of the dining hall, and it's like every breath in the room gets sucked out of the ceiling.

The maids practically break their spines bowing, and one of them drops a tray. Clatter. Awkward laughter. Silence again.

I step forward like nothing's wrong, even though my brain's glitching. Camille. Her name's not a ghost anymore. It's a

corpse.

And apparently... she's a real one.

Enoch doesn't look at me when I sit. He just stabs his eggs like they insulted his bloodline and chews like he's punishing

1/6

L10

Chapter 96

them for it.

Typical.

+50

I pick at my toast, but it's like chewing ash. My mouth's dry. My fingers won't stop twitching. And the words are clawing their way up my throat before I can even stop them.

"What happened to Camille?"

I say it quietly. Too quietly.

His fork halts mid-air. His jaw ticks once.

"Eat your food."

The way he says it-it's not a suggestion. It's an order.

I don't move. "Last time I saw her was before the Maldives. I just thought... she was still... around."

He slams his fork and knife down so hard the porcelain cracks.

"She's dead."

His voice is flat. Like he's reading it off a fucking script. Like it doesn't matter. "Her body was found in this palace after we got back from that fucking island." Everything inside me goes cold.

I don't even blink.

lie to me, fuck with me, and then act like I'm the problem.

a sound that makes my ears want to

me like I'm

And maybe I did.

my life like I was your next fucking exposé, I could've stopped

Then he's gone.

Just like that.

out and leaves me at the table with nothing but cold toast, broken silence, and the worst fucking ache I've ever

Thinking of her. Camille. The maybe- fiancée I never asked about. The girl I didn't hate,

and head to the Dowager's wing before I can talk myself

like lavender oil and lemon balm. I grab a

healer told me last week. "She just likes

2/6

450

leverage."

I believe it.

ass," I mutter as I wring the

one eye open. "My grandson thinks he's clever.

breath escapes me-part laugh, part disbelief.

make me laugh, girl. That's rare in this cursed house." She eyes

"No shit."

push. Just reaches out and squeezes my hand like she knows it's the only thing holding me together right now. Then the air shifts. I feel it before I

in

In the doorway. Silent. Arms

anger this time. No cruel smirk. Just that unreadable, unreadable face of

something he doesn't even believe he

the bed

"You. Come here."

in. Doesn't

and stares up

idiot.

the back of

glares at her like he's five years old and just got scolded in front of the

fucking court.

she's

eyes snap to

be scary. It's meant to

work this

cloth into the bowl, and sit back like

he left behind in

as hell won't be the one he

I hover in the hallway, debating whether I should wait or just disappear into the nearest broom closet and hope

phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and sigh as I see Zoe's name. Zoe: "LET ME CRASH

3/6

Chapter 96

the girl he told me not to worry

my head against the

it's not a sleepover. It's

and brooding Lycans. You'll get us

than attending his wedding

her

No drama. No chaos.

promises. Be there in

don't even get a chance to argue

already babysitting one emotionally stunted

goblin to the

pocket and turn-straight into a wall of

cuts through the hallway. He doesn't move. Just raises a brow

a bell?" I mutter, stepping back and

coming, with me," he says

"Where?"

can't make it. You're

at him. “I'm

a journalist, right? Take notes. Smile. Don't

people here who'd gladly do it. Like, say, Brooke. I'm sure she'd love to be seen as the King's representative." Jacob smirks, deadpan. "Exactly. You're the only woman in this place who hasn't

Compliment of the year. Put that

Majesty's journalist. You've got

into the back of a sleek

mess, my boots don't match, and

worse? Enoch slides into the seat beside me without a word.

suit, cufflinks glinting like secrets, jaw tight like

glass.

doesn't look at me.

of broody rage beside me. "Why

Wouldn't that be faster?"

answers instead. "It's in the