Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 126

Emilia’s POV

The dungeon was cold. Colder than any place holding a living soul should ever be.

The air felt damp and heavy with grief, like the stones themselves carried memories of screams and sorrow. Maximus walked beside me in silence, his steps slow, deliberate, each one echoing off the narrow passageway.

wrapped my arms around myself, but the chill came from inside, not the cold.

We finally reached the last cell.

The one where Raina was held.

She sat at the far end, knees drawn to her chest, her back facing us, her hair tangled and covering most of her face. She didn’t move when we stopped. Didn’t acknowledge us. Didn’t tense or turn or lift her head.

It was like she had been waiting for us.

Or like she already knew we were here.

I knelt in front of the bars, my fingers curling around the cold metal.

Raina didn’t look up.

But she laughed.

Softly at first-barely a breath. Then deeper, darker, dripping with bitterness.

“I’m guessing you two finally got your happy ending,” she said, her voice rough and cold. “Good for you.”

Maximus tensed beside me. I felt it ripple through the bond-guilt, anger, pain all tangled inside him.

But I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes on Raina’s hunched form.

“Nobody wanted any of this, Raina,” I said quietly. “None of us wanted to hurt each other. We were all played.”

Silence stretched for a long time.

Then Raina turned.

Slowly.

Her green eyes met mine, and the depth of emptiness in them knocked the breath from my lungs. They weren’t angry. Not even hateful.

Just…hollow.

“You still don’t get it,” she whispered. “Do you?”

She leaned forward slightly, her tangled hair falling over her shoulders, her lips trembling.

“I have nothing left.”

Her voice cracked.

Maximus stepped closer, resting his hand on the bars. “Raina… you can rebuild again.”

Her head snapped toward him, and a cold, sharp hatred flashed across her eyes.

“Rebuild?” she repeated, voice rising. “Rebuild after you destroyed my entire family?”

Maximus swallowed. I heard the quiet, broken sound in his chest-the sound of someone who regretted something with every bone in his body.

He didn’t defend himself.

He didn’t deny it.

He just sighed.

A sound too heavy for this small room.

I took a slow breath. “Raina…everyone will have to start fresh. Not just you. All of us. We were all victims. All of us.”

She blinked, her face twisting in confusion. Almost disbelief.

I continued, my voice soft but steady.

“We didn’t lose our pack because of Maximus. It wasn’t intentional.”

Raina frowned.

It was Soraya, the witch.” I whispered.

Her entire body stiffened.

I kept going.

“She manipulated everything. Every attack. Every curse. Every lie. She controlled the palace, the entire kingdom…even the beast inside Maximus. She created false bonds. She broke them. She fed him herbs to make him dangerous. She wanted chaos. She wanted war.”

Raina stared at me.

No expression.

No breath.

Nothing.

“And she’s the reason the Crescent Pack was destroyed,” I finished.

“She did it. Not Maximus. Soraya controlled everything.”

The dungeon fell silent.

A silence so deep it vibrated in my bones.

Then-

Raina laughed. A broken laugh.

A laugh that trembled and cracked and turned into sobs before she could stop it.

Her tears hit the stone floor one by one, dripping from her chin like tiny drops of agony.

“You’re… you’re making this up,” she whispered, shaking her head.

. “You

think I’m stupid?”

“I’m not lying,” I said firmly. “It’s the truth. All of us were pawns in /someone else’s plan.”

Raina looked away.

Her shoulders trembled as she pulled herself backward across the cell floor, her arms wrapping around her legs until she looked like a child trying to disappear into nothing.

We walked until the cell bars disappeared behind a curve in the corridor. Only then did Maximus exhale, his breath unsteady.

“It’s so complicated,” he murmured.

“It is,” I whispered.

“As much as I want to punish her for what she did…” He dragged a hand over his face.’

“I feel like if I punish her, I’d be punishing myself too.”

I reached for his arm. “It’ll be alright.”

He nodded, but the pain lingered in his eyes.

We rounded the next corner, heading toward the stairs to check-on everyone. The tension hung between us-thick and heavy; like the dungeon air still clung to our clothes, our skin, our thoughts.

I was just stepping onto the first stair when a voice floated down the hallway.

Soft. Sweet. Familiar.

Fake.

“Emilia, my sweet daughter.”

I froze.

Maximus felt the shift in me immediately. His grip tightened around my hand, his body going still, protective.

Then another voice-lighter and dripping with false affection-

“Our daughter… we’re so proud of you.”

My stomach twisted violently.

Slowly, I turned.

Standing at the foot of the stairs…

Smiling as though they had never wished me dead…

Were my mother, my father, and my sister.

The same people who wanted me buried six feet under.

The same people who tried to erase my existence.

All three of them stood there.

Smiling. Waiting.

As if they had every right to speak to me.

My heart stopped.

Maximus stepped closer, a low growl rumbling from deep in his chest.

But all I could do was stare.

Because right now or any other day…they were the last people I wanted to see.