Babysitting The Amnesiac Lycan King novel Chapter 114

CHAPTER 114

The walls of Enoch tilt, the ceiling stretches out like it’s trying to crush me, and my hands… fuck, I can’t even feel my hands anymore.

I can’t hear anything.

Not Enoch shouting, not the pounding of my own goddamn heart. Nothing but this high–pitched ringing that scrapes the inside of my skull raw.

My wolf slams her walls up so fast it sucker punches me in the ribs. Cuts me off. Leaves me choking on this panic with no way to shift, no way to fight, no way to scream. Just frozen. Burning from the inside out.

Across the room, Enoch’s chest heaves like he’s about to break something–me, the walls, himself, maybe all of it–but he doesn’t move toward me. Maybe he knows if he does, I’ll shatter. Maybe he doesn’t give a shit.

I can’t fucking tell anymore.

Then-

Bang.

The door swings so hard it bounces off the wall.

Zoe barrels through first, hair a wild mess, cheeks flushed like she sprinted up five flights of stairs just to get here. Jacob’s right behind her, way calmer, but the tension snapping off him could slice a damn jugular.

“Taryn!” Zoe shrieks, her voice slicing through the fog clouding my brain.

I blink. Once. Twice.

I must look bad because Zoe’s whole face crumples as she runs to me, grabbing my hands–to which I immediately hisses to as she looks down on it. It’s burnt crisp. “Holy

shit, how did this happen?”

1 flinch. My fingers twitch. That’s about all I can manage. “H–how…” She turns to Enoch. “She must have touched something far too hot.” Jacob answers in his stead. We can’t afford Zoe knowing about our species.

“Hey. Hey. Look at me,” she says, voice low and sharp enough to slice me out of the freeze. Her brown eyes are wild, scared, furious. “It’s okay to be mad. It’s okay to be messy. Just say it. Say what’s choking you.”

I try.

I swear, I fucking try.

But my throat closes up. I can’t even make a sound. My lip trembles instead–pathetic and furious all at once. Who did Brooke put to ruin us again? Why is she so adamant? Just why can’t we live peacefully?

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CHAPTER 114

Zoe’s grip tightens. She leans in until I can smell her goddamn perfume, cheap vanilla. and panic. “He can take it, T. Say it.”

Zoe’s grip tightens. She leans in, voice dropping low and fierce. “He can take it. You hear me? That big scary asshole can fucking take it. Say it.”

Jacob hovers at the edge of the chaos, eyes locked on Enoch as if he’s daring him to make one wrong move. His hand brushes Zoe’s shoulder lightly. A warning.

“Come on, Zo,” Jacob mutters. “Let her breathe.”

Reluctantly, Zoe lets go, brushing a trembling thumb over the back of my hand before. backing away.

But not before she leans in one last time, her whisper punching straight through my cracked chest. “Rip his heart out if you have to. Just don’t stay silent.” The door shuts behind them with a soft click.

And just like that, it’s me and him again. Enoch. The man who could kill armies without blinking. The man who can’t touch me now without shattering both of us.

He’s breathing like he just got out of a fight–and in a way, maybe he has. With himself.

His fists curl. Uncurl. Curl again. Then he does something I’m not ready for.

He drops to his knees.

The impact shakes the floorboards, rattles something loose inside my ribs.

Slowly, he leans forward, his forehead presses against my thigh, and his whole body shudders as though he’s fighting not to fall apart right there at my feet.

I suck in a shaky breath. His scent slams into me–pine needles, smoke, home–and it physically hurts how much I miss it.

“You wanna know my fucking weakness?” Enoch rasps against my skin, voice raw and broken.

I don’t move. I barely breathe.

“You wanna know my weakness?” His voice is hoarse. Raw enough to sandpaper my skin. He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “It’s you. It’s always been you. It’s this fucking bond.”

He lifts his head enough to look at me–and fuck, his eyes are wrecked. Bloodshot, glassy, like he’s bleeding on the inside where no one can see.

“It wavers when you pull away,” he says, voice breaking down word by word. “It fucking dies when you shut me out.”

A tremor goes through his chest and slowly, I feel Eris dropping her walls inside of me. She’s slowly calming down from the angry bust out I just did.

“I would die, Taryn.” His voice finally snaps apart, shattering like a brittle bone. “I would really fucking die.”

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CHAPTER 114

He leans back on his heels, palms up as if he’s baring himself for an execution, as though I’m the one holding the goddamn sword.

And the worst part is I believe him. I believe every fucking word.

“I’m not scared of losing a goddamn crown.” His voice cracks, and for once, he doesn’t try to hide it. “I’m scared of losing you. So please–please, baby. Don’t lose yourself too.”

He leans back on his heels, hands falling to his sides, palms up, wide open. Vulnerable in a way that’s so unlike him it makes my throat ache.

He’s not the King right now. He’s not the warrior or the weapon or the boy I nursed back to health in the forest.

He’s just… him. Stripped raw and laid out for me to either save or destroy.

The pressure in my chest builds and builds until it cracks something deep inside me.

Silence buzzes between us. Ugly, living silence that feels heavier than anything Brooke or the goddamn world could throw at me.

I suck in a breath so shaky it rattles my lungs.

And then, finally–finally–my voice claws its way out.

“I’m scared too.” it comes out small. Broken.

Enoch goes completely still. His whole body locks up like a loaded gun waiting for my

next word.

“I’m scared she will wreck us again,” I whisper. “I’m scared of trusting this bond… and it not being enough.”

Enoch stares at me, “I’m scared that no matter how much we fight… it won’t be enough.” The tears come fast and hot, slipping down my cheeks, tasting bitter as they hit my lips.

My fists clench at my sides, nails digging into my palm’s until it hurts.

“I can’t survive losing you twice, Enoch,” I choke out. “I can’t..”