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.

Faint and warped through the intercom

the ceilings.

records. All

voice floods through the

her to this place. I

I freeze.

stomach drops

He knows.

No. He suspects.

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

My throat locks up.

still do this to me. It shouldn't still hurt. But it

He's here.

if I press my body hard enough against the wall, the universe will forget

clipped to

Teresa-

the

Heavy,

Shit. Shitshitshit.

I scramble

up

start moving again, this time keeping low and fast, cutting corners.

a broken coffee maker, a

I turn-and stop.

An intern.

We both

you lost?" he asks, his voice cracking like

human before.

around. Italian's not my first language. Please

opens. Then closes. He looks back toward

Then shrugs. "Yeah, okay."

I could kiss him.

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16 May

Chapter 126

0

I don't, because I hear the

Footsteps. Slow. Calculated.

Boots.

And the faintest growl.

That stupid Beta always ruins

a rolling shelf, breath locked in

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hits first. That metallic, rain-on-asphalt musk

Enoch's all-consuming

here," he mutters. "You're fucking

my row. Doesn't

+15

hand is over my mouth. My

swear I can hear my pulse in my ears. My belly's tight. The baby's pressing weird

Jacob stops.

Sniffs again.

He turns his head.

I don't move.

Not a breath.

Ring ring.

phone lights up in the

I don't breathe.

He answers.

is heading to the top floor for

a noise

Footsteps retreat.

I stay frozen.

He walks off.

Bootsteps fading.

I finally

a panic attack in my

still gripping the stairwell

Seraphina:

Fr, 16 May

Chapter 126

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11

door through archive

don't waste a fucking

feet bare

the women's lounge. It 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,

I'm pregnant.

running from

this sounds fake even in my

slam across concrete as I shove through

Cold air sucker punches me in the face, and I almost choke from the sudden drop in temperature. Underground wine cellar.

and oak barrels and

touched a debit card in

are dim, flickering in places. Somewhere above,

chattering voices. The luxury division is hosting

one of the massive oak

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

Still has

with a burgundy rep jacket hanging on a hook by 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

three days and sells overpriced

That's exactly the energy I need right

a breath. Then another. Tell myself I'm not

baby nausea

crate hidden behind a half-stack of

can't risk GPS tracking, not now. It kills me to leave it-my last link to the world-but if Enoch finds me

then I climb the back stairwell to the next floor. Right into a