Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 108

EMILIA’S POV

The night air elt heavier than usual-thick, cold, and humming with something I couldn’t name. Damien walked beside me, our steps echoing softly against the stone path leading to the palace. For a long stretch, neither of us said a word. It wasn’t silence born from comfort; it was the kind that made your skin prickle, like the world was holding its breath.

Every few minutes, Damien slowed… then stopped completely.

Again.

I sighed and stopped with him. “Damien-”

“I just…” He dragged a hand through his hair, eyes darting everywhere except mine. “Emilia, this is not a good idea. My brother hates me. He always has. He won’t want anything to do with me.”

“You don’t know that,” I said softly. “Not until you try.”

His jaw tightened, his shoulders tense under the moonlight. He took two reluctant steps forward-then stopped again.

I groaned. “Damien.”

He looked at me, pleading. “Can’t we just… go tomorrow? It’s late.”

“No.” I shook my head and grabbed his hand firmly. “I don’t want you changing your mind or running off to that human town you love so much.”

He let himself be dragged but kept complaining under his breath.

“Seriously, Emilia… you’re supposed to hate me. I made you believe we were mates. I fed into it because of what I felt.” His head lowered. “You should hate me.”

I stopped walking and looked at him fully. “I’ve learned that in life… things happen for a reason.” My chest tightened painfully. “And hating you? What difference would it make? Maximus still had a mate. It wouldn’t change anything.”

The words tasted bitter, and something inside me squeezed so sharply I had to look away for a second.

We started walking again, side by side.

Until Damien stopped.

Again.

threw my head back with an exhausted groan. “Damien, I swear if you stop one more ti-”

But then I saw his face.

He wasn’t stalling.

His eyes weren’t even focused on me. They were distant-glassy-like he was listening to something far away. Like someone was speaking in his mind.

“Damien?” I stepped closer. “What is it? Who are you linking?”

He didn’t blink.

“Damien.” My voice sharpened. “What happened?”

He blinked once. Slowly. And then he looked at me… really looked. His eyes were wide, the color drained from his face.

“Maximus,” he whispered.

My stomach dropped. “What about Maximus? Damien, tell me!”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “His beast… it’s taken complete control of him.”

My heart plummeted.

For a second, couldn’t move-I couldn’t breathe. My vision trembled at the edges.

No.

No.

Without thinking, I turned and ran.

“EMILIA!” Damien shouted behind me. “STOP! STOP-IT’S TOO DANGEROUS!”

But his voice was nothing but wind in my ears.

My feet flew across the ground so fast the cold air clawed at my lungs.

Panic clawed through me-sharp, suffocating.

What if it was my fault?

What if he thought I didn’t want him anymore?

What if his heart broke and he just… stopped fighting?

Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t slow. I couldn’t. My entire body shook with every worst-case scenario ripping through my mind.

When the palace rose into view, my lungs almost gave out.

Screams echoed through the courtyard.

“Maximus,” he whispered.

My stomach dropped. “What about Maximus? Damien, tell me!”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “His beast… it’s taken complete control of him.

My heart plummeted.

For a second, couldn’t move-l couldn’t breathe. My vision trembled at the edges.

No.

People ran in every direction-wolves, guards, servants-shoving, scrambling, desperate to escape. Some fell. Some cried. Some shouted warnings I could barely process.

And then I saw him.

His beast.

Maximus’s beast towered over everything-massive, dark, terrifying.

Rage rippled off him so violently the air vibrated. He wasn’t fighting the curse.

He was the curse.

He tore through anything in his path-pillars cracking, tiles shattering under his claws. His snarl thundered across the courtyard, primal and broken.

I had seen him shift before.

I had never seen him like this.

This Maximus wasn’t angry.

He was destroyed.

A woman cowered behind a pillar, hands over her ears, sobbing.

The beast’s head snapped toward her.

And he charged.

“No!” I screamed. “MAXIMUS-NO!”

The sound tore out of me so loudly it ripped my throat raw.

The beast halted mid-stride.

Slowly… almost painfully slow… he turned his massive head toward me.

His black eyes locked on mine.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

“This isn’t you!” yelled, forcing my legs to move as I stepped forward.

“You don’t want your peaple to fear you!”

His snarl vibrated through the ground.

Then-he ran.

Straight at me.

The earth trembled under his claws. Dust exploded around him. The wind roared as his massive form closed in.

Damien’s voice echoed weakly behind me, still distant. “EMILIA-MOVE!”

But I didn’t.

I didn’t step back.

1 didn’t flinch.

This was Maximus.

He would never hurt me.

1 planted my feet firmly on the ground.

And then-

Something burned in my chest.

So hot, so sudden, I gasped. A sharp, electric sting shot through my fingertips, racing up my arms.

“What-” I whispered, but the words died.

A violent surge of power tore out of me, bursting through my chest in blinding blue light.

The world exploded.

A shockwave

blasted outward-cracking the ground, shattering

windows, ripping through the air like a storm unleashed. The force sent everything flying-

Stones. Dust.

And Maximus.

I swallowed hard, but my throat felt tight, like I’d forgotten how to speak. I dragged in another breath-just one-and it hit me again.

Her scent.

Her warmth.

Her hands on me.

Something deep inside me-something primal and violent and terrified rose up with a force that almost knocked the air from my chest.

My wolf.

He wasn’t whispering.

He wasn’t nudging.

He was roaring.

MATE.

The word hit me like thunder.

I froze.

No.

No, that wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. Emilia wasn’t-she couldn’t-

Mate. Mate. Mate.

My wolf kept repeating it, louder every time, like each syllable etched itself into my skin.

My pulse hammered in my neck. My chest burned. My entire body trembled with something too big, too wild, too impossible to contain.

I forced my gaze away from her eyes.

Down.

To her neck.

My breath stopped mid-air.

There was no mark.

Just bare skin.

But my wolf kept screaming, kept clawing at the inside of my mind like he wanted to tear his way out and get to her.

I stared-longer than I should have, harder than I meant to-trying to make sense of what I was seeing. What I was feeling. What was happening to me.

She didn’t move.

She didn’t speak.

She just held me, watching me with those terrified, hopeful eyes.

And I… I felt like the ground had just disappeared beneath me.

My lungs forgot how to work. My fingers twitched against the stone.

My heart-

Goddess, my heart felt like it was going to break out of my chest.

I lifted my gaze back to her face slowly, like ! was afraid she might vanish if I moved too fast.

Her lips parted slightly.

Her hands tightened on me.

Her eyes searched mine.

And something inside me cracked open so fast it almost stole my breath.

Emilia.

My Emilia.

My mate.

My voice didn’t come. Not a single word.

I couldn’t speak.

I couldn’t think.

I couldn’t do anything but stare at her in stunned, shaking disbelief as my wolf echoed the truth over and over, relentless and absolut-

Mate. Mate. MATE.

Emilia was my mate.

How the hell was that even possible?