Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 144

ADELE’S POV

I pulled away from him so fast it felt like my skin burned where he’d touched me.

My hands flew up, clutching the thin nightgown to my chest like it could shield me from the world. The fabric suddenly felt too light, too revealing, clinging to every curve like it wanted to betray me. Cold air kissed my bare legs, and I became painfully aware of how exposed I was standing there in the bright corridor.

Alpha Derek stiffened instantly.

He cleared his throat and looked away, sharp and deliberate, like a man reminding himself where to put his eyes.

“Sorry,” he sald, voice low. “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine,” I rushed out, even though it wasn’t. My heart was still slamming against my ribs, my pulse loud in my ears. “‘-I’m fine.”

A lie. Another one.

He shrugged out of his suit jacket before I could protest, the expensive fabric sliding off his shoulders. He stepped closer again, slower this time, and gently wrapped it around me, draping it over my shoulders like it was themost natural thing in the world.

The warmth hit me instantly. His warmth. Something sharp and clean that tugged at old memories I’d buried deep.

“I’m okay,” I said again, trying to hand it back.

– He pushed my hands down lightly. Not forceful.

“It’s fine,” he said. “Really.”

I swallowed and let it stay.

My injured foot throbbed, the pain sharper now that the adrenaline had started to fade. I shifted my weight awkwardly, rubbing one leg against the other like a child who didn’t know what to do with herself.

Derek’s eyes dropped despite himself.

He noticed.

“Adele,” he said quietly. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” I replied too quickly.

His gaze lifted back to my face, steady and unreadable.”

That’s blood.”

I followed his eyes down. Red smeared faintly along my toes, dried in some places, fresh in others.

“It’s not a big deal,” I said. “I stepped on something.””Adele.”

That one word held a warning. Not angry. Not harsh. Just … disappointed.

I sighed and looked away. “I’m fine. Really.”

He studied me for another second, then shook his head once. “Come on. Let’s get that fixed.”

“No,” I said immediately. “Seriously, I’m okay.”

He raised a brow.

“You’re bleeding in a hallway.”

“I heal fast.”

“And I’d be a bad Alpha if I let you walk around like this,” he replied calmly. “So humor me.”

I hesitated.

Everything in me wanted to refuse. To keep moving. To put distance between myself and anyone who might ask questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

But my foot screamed the moment I took a step.

Derek noticed the wince.

He stepped in without waiting for permission, slipping an arm under my elbow and another lightly around my back.

He didn’t pull me close-just enough to steady me.

“Careful,” he murmured.I nodded stiffly and let him guide me toward the stairs.

Each step sent a dull ache through my leg, but I kept my face blank. I’d cried enough today. I wasn’t giving anyone else the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart.

He helped me sit on the edge of the stairs, cool stone beneath my thighs. The jacket pooled around me, heavy” and grounding.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

I nodded.

He disappeared down the corridor, his footsteps fading.

For a moment, it was just me and the echo of my own breathing.

I stared down at my hands, pale against the dark fabric of his jacket. They were shaking. I curled them into fists and pressed them against my thighs until the tremor eased.

What was he doing here?

Of all people. Of all days.

The sound of footsteps returned, steady and purposeful.

Derek came back carrying a small first aid box, his expression focused.

He knelt in front of me without ceremony.

The sight of it made my chest tighten unexpectedly.An Alpha-kneeling for me.

“Okay,” he said gently. “Let me see.”

I hesitated, then lifted my foot.

He took it carefully, like it was something fragile. His hands were warm, rougher than Lucien’s. Familiar in a way that tugged at something old and unresolved.

– He examined the cut, then reached into the kit and pulled out tweezers.

“Glass,” he muttered. “Hold still.”

My throat tightened. “We’re… taking things slow.”

His eyes flicked back to my neck, then to my face. He hummed softly, noncommittal.

“I see.

But he didn’t look convinced.

Alpha Derek had been part of my life for as long as I could remember. Nightfall Pack had been my home. He’d been older, stronger, already an Alpha when I was still trying to figure out who I was.

I’d had a crush on him once.

A foolish, quiet thing I’d never acted on.

Everyone had noticed anyway.They’d whispered. Smiled knowingly. Assumed.

Until Lucien.

Until everything changed.

Derek had found his mate early. Loved her deeply. And then she’d be taken from him-piosoned by a jealous she» wolf who couldn’t stand to see him choose another.

Something in him had closed off after that. He ruled well.

He protected his pack fiercely.

He’d never looked at anyone the same way again.

Until now.

The realization settled uncomfortably in my chest.

The silence between us was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps.

Heavy. Familiar.

A presence I felt before I heard.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Lucien’s voice cut through the corridor like a blade.

I stiffened.

Derek rose to his feet slowly, his expression unreadable as he turned toward the sound.Lucien stood a few steps away, his eyes blazing as they took in the scene-the jacket around my shoulders, Derek standing too close, me sitting on the stairs with blood still faintly visibte on the stone.

The air shifted.

Charged. Dangerous.

My heart dropped straight into my stomach.

And the world held its breath.