Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King

Chapter 126

Chapter 126

"Two blocks," Ser whispers, and then yanks me by the wrist so fast my shoulder cracks.

"Closet. Now," she hisses, and before I can blink, she's dragging me backwards and slamming us into a fucking broom closet as if we're in a badly written porn

scene.

The smell of lemon-scented bleach and industrial-grade desperation punches me in the face. It's dark. Claustrophobic. A mop tips over and smacks the side and onto Ser's leg..

I suck in a breath as she curses. "Fuck-watch it!" I'm losing my breath. I can't think of anything worse right now than Enoch dragging me back to the palace with his heir inside of me. I know he's not gang to take this well.

He hates me.

He's gonna hate the baby. Hell, I wouldn't be too shocked if he tells me to abort the baby.

"You said two blocks away," I rasp, heart jackhammering against my ribs. "You said-"

"He blew every red light. Military escort. I didn't expect him to fucking teleport."

I blink against the stinging sweat dripping into my contacts. The dark lenses itch like hell. My fake-blonde wig is glued to my scalp, soaked and slipping. My ID badge is still clipped crooked to my blazer-one nervous tug away from falling off.

"If he finds me-if he sees me-Ser... he'll know."

Ser doesn't blink. She doesn't breathe. She simply opens her bag and pulls out a spare guest pass like she's been waiting for this moment. Like she's been expecting this shitshow from the second I walked into the office. Maybe she did.

She holds it out to me. "Then don't let him see you."

I stare at it. New name. New department. New identity.

It's laminated, creased at the corners, still warm from her body heat. She shoves

it into my hand like it's a fucking life raft. "Your name is Teresa Calla. You're a translator intern from Geneva. Smile nice and don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you first."

The plastic digs into my fingers. I stare at the stupid mugshot on it-blurry brunette chick with a crooked smile. Definitely

not me.

"Service elevator. Take it all the way down to the archives. Wait there. Don't breathe. Don't blink. Don't fucking exist."

My fingers are shaking as I clip the badge on. "How long do I have?"

She tilts her head. "Until the elevator dings. You know how tall this building is?"

I do.

Too fucking tall.

The muffled ding outside the closet hits like a warning bell. Then the shift-

murmurs, gasps, that pin-drop silence that only happens when royalty steps into

a room full of mortals who just pissed themselves.

He's here.

And my knees nearly give out.

Ser's already cracking the door open, peeking through like a goddamn spy. "Now. Go. Don't talk. Don't think. Don't get

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Chapter 126

caught."

I slip out behind her, keeping low. My heels are too loud. I should've worn flats. But I thought I'd be writing news briefs today, not playing hide-and-seek with the King of Lycans.

My breath is shallow, barely there. Every step down that hallway feels like a countdown to death.

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The hallway's tight. Cream-colored walls. Recessed lights. No windows. No escape routes. Just the hum of the building's AC and the metallic groan of a floor that's holding its breath. The service elevator is where Ser said it would be. Metal doors, dented buttons. I jam my thumb on the call button so hard it turns white.

Shit, shit, shit.

Come on.

Come on.

Ding.

The doors open like they know they're part of a thriller. I step in, punch the button for -2. As the doors close, I catch a glimpse through the sliver-someone tall stepping off the executive elevator at the far end of the floor. Forest green eyes would be easy to spot even from here.

I step in.

The doors shut.

And I finally breathe.

My legs feel like noodles. Cold sweat slides down my spine. My hand covers my belly out of instinct more than sense.

God, I hope he doesn't hear it.

***

The basement archives are... fucking terrifying.

Cold, concrete floors and low-hanging fluorescent lights make the space feel like a morgue for forgotten corporate bullshit. Rows of metal shelves stretch forever, filled with file boxes, rolled-up blueprints, tech prototypes wrapped in plastic, and a couple of suspicious tarps I'm not touching.

It's dead quiet except for the hum of machines. Somewhere above, I hear the elevator groan up again.

I step carefully, wincing at the echo of my heels. Every click is a gunshot in this tomb of records.

"Just a little longer," I whisper under my breath, my palm pressed over the small swell beneath my shirt. The tiniest bump. Barely a curve. But real. Alive. Inside me is a piece of him.

Of course the irony isn't lost on me. Hiding from the father of my unborn child in the underground lair of his enemy's media empire. Classic Omega bullshit.

I round a corner and pause, flattening myself against a shelf. There's a flickering light overhead. I want to scream at it to shut the fuck up. It's pulsing like a beacon saying she's here, come get her, come destroy her again.

Then I hear

Not footsteps.

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Chapter 126

A voice.

Overhead. Faint and warped through the

the ceilings.

records. All of

floods

connects her to this place. I

I freeze.

stomach drops through the

He knows.

No. He suspects.

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wolf knows. Maybe that primal, fucked-up tether between us is tugging on him like a

My throat locks up.

It shouldn't still hurt. But it does.

He's here.

behind a filing cabinet and try to disappear. Like if I press my body hard

dig into the ID badge clipped to my

Teresa-

clanks in the distance. A

footsteps. Heavy,

Shit. Shitshitshit.

I scramble

up

low and fast, cutting corners. I

maker, a pile

I turn-and stop.

An intern.

We both

he asks, his voice cracking like

human before.

me down. Got turned around. Italian's not my first language. Please don't tell anyone. I'll lose

mouth opens. Then closes. He looks back

Then shrugs. "Yeah, okay."

I could kiss him.

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Fri, 16 May

Chapter 126

0

because I hear the sound that means

Footsteps. Slow. Calculated.

Boots.

And the faintest growl.

Beta always

flatten behind a rolling shelf,

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first. That metallic, rain-on-asphalt musk

than Enoch's all-consuming

know you're here," he mutters. "You're fucking here...

row. Doesn't stop. Doesn't

+15

my eyes shut. My hand is over my mouth.

squeaks under pressure. I swear I can hear my pulse in my ears. My belly's tight. The baby's pressing weird against my stomach like even it knows we're not supposed to

Jacob stops.

Sniffs again.

He turns his head.

I don't move.

Not a breath.

Ring ring.

phone lights up

I don't breathe.

He answers.

the top floor for a private

a noise

Footsteps retreat.

I stay frozen.

He walks off.

Bootsteps fading.

finally

phone vibrates a panic attack in my bra. I

gripping the stairwell door I just

Seraphina:

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Chapter 126

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11

through archive

don't waste a

my hand, my feet

slams shut behind me, muffled in the pitch-black corridor of old archive files. The hallway is narrow, dusty, and lined with forgotten steel cabinets and broken printers. My chest heaves. The air tastes like mold, ink, and stale coffee. My blood is in my throat,

I'm pregnant.

running from the fucking Lycan

fake even in my

across concrete as I shove through the steel

the face, and I almost choke from the sudden drop in temperature. Underground

wet cork and oak barrels

a debit card in

dim, flickering in places. Somewhere above, I

and chattering voices. The luxury division is hosting another one of its over-the-top client events, apparently. Thank

oak barrels stacked like

fingers are shaking open a dusty storage cabinet and thank the Moon when I find a

Still has a company logo

the tasting racks. It's got the logo of the luxury branch stitched over the left breast. Close enough. My skirt's long and black already, passable. I rip out my contacts next-eyes burning-and blink until the room doubles before refocusing. Tug my hair out of its neat bun and rake my fingers through it until I look like

hasn't slept in three days and sells overpriced

the energy I need right

breath. Then another. Tell myself I'm not about to throw up

or baby nausea or

slide my phone into the wine crate hidden

me to leave it-my last

climb the back stairwell to the