Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 15

I was going to throw up.

The second the mistress called my name, something inside me curled into itself, clawing at my chest like a trapped animal. I stood there frozen, blood draining from my face as every girl turned to look at me.

Her smile was thin. Too polite. Too practiced.

“Emilia, His Majesty has requested for you.”

The entire room went still.

I knew what that meant.

He had asked for me.

Again.

I swallowed, but it was like trying to breathe through gravel. My legs refused to move until two guards stepped forward and gripped my arms. Not hard, but firm enough to let me know I had no choice.

No say.

No power.

Not here.

As they led me through the corridor, I tried not to breathe too deeply. I knew this path. I recognized the dark marbled tiles, the silence that seemed to twist my guts.

I tried not to remember the way he’d looked at me last night. The way his lips had felt, soft but dangerous. That moment he’d kissed me-possessed me-right before his eyes turned black and something monstrous had risen behind them.

He wasn’t just a king.

He was a beast.

Each footstep echoed through the hallway, rhythmic like a countdown. I expected to stop at that same door again-the one with the golden handles and scent of fear-but we didn’t.

Instead, they turned a different corner. One I didn’t recognize.

And that terrified me even more.

We came to a tall set of double doors. Dark oak, engraved with gold filigree. Royal. Regal. Dangerous.

The guards stopped. I did too.

One of them reached forward and pulled the door open.

The other gave me a small shove.

I didn’t move.

My feet refused to cross the threshold.

“I said I’m not going in there,” I snapped, panic clawing at my throat.

They didn’t answer.

Instead, the shove came harder this time, and I stumbled inside. Before I could spin around and curse them both, the doors slammed shut behind me with a heavy thud.

“No-no, open the door!” I yelled, banging on it with both fists. “Let me out! You can’t just throw me in here!”

No answer.

Just silence.

I turned, heart hammering, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe.

The room was breathtaking-if you were into that whole “rich and powerful enough to kill you” thing.

Tall ceilings with silver chandeliers, walls made of black marble streaked with gold. A massive bed fit for a king, and a

fireplace crackling low in the distance. Everything was dark, masculine, heavy with the scent of pine, leather… and something darker.

Power.

This wasn’t just any room.

It was his room.

I wrapped my arms around myself and stepped back slowly, spine pressing against the door.

What the hell was I doing here?

Why did he ask for me again?

Why me?

And then-

The door creaked.

Not the one behind me.

The one ahead.

Across the room.

It opened.

And in stepped the Devil himself.

Only this time, he was covered in blood.

My heart lurched in my chest.

“Goddess,” I whispered. “Are you okay?”

But then I realized.

It wasn’t his blood.

He wasn’t limping.

Wasn’t bruised.

His expression was blank, eyes sharp and unbothered. Like he hadn’t just bathed in someone’s blood.

I took a step back.

He took a step forward.

My voice wavered. “S-stay back.”

He paused. Blue eyes boring into me. Cold. Sharp. But there was something unreadable beneath them-something twisted and deep.

And then he spoke, voice like ice slicing down my spine. “Are you forgetting I’m the King?” he said, low and dangerous. “I don’t take orders from anyone.”

I blinked.

Then scoffed, folding my arms even as my pulse thundered in my ears. “Has no one told you? You stink. Like really bad. You need a shower.”

Something flashed in his eyes-surprise? amusement?—but it was gone before I could name it.

Without another word, he turned and walked toward the back of the room.

Seconds later, I heard the water running.

The shower.

What the actual hell was happening?

I stood in the middle of the room like a lost child, unsure whether to sit, scream, or bolt through the window. My mind was racing in a thousand directions, trying to find logic in the madness.

He came out a few minutes later.

Dripping.

Steam rolled out behind him, clinging to his skin like a second coat.

And my soul left my body.

His wet hair dripped down his temples, sticking to his sharp jaw and curling over his forehead. His skin was bronzed, glistening from the water, his chest sculpted like a god’s-with ridges and curves that would make any woman go insane.

But it was the V-line that did it.

That perfect trail of muscle that dipped beneath the towel hanging dangerously low on his hips.

And the veins. Goddess, the veins.

Thick and bulging, running down his arms and disappearing into his forearms as he raked a hand through his wet hair. Don’t look at the towel.

Don’t look at the towel.

I looked.

My stomach did a slow, traitorous flip.

This man had tried to kill me last night. He was cold. Dangerous. Probably insane.

But damn if he wasn’t the sexiest creature I’d ever seen.

“You’re staring,” he said, voice still deep, still cold.

I snapped out of it immediately, yanking my gaze back to his face.

“No, I’m not.” I crossed my arms. “I was staring in disgust.”

“You were staring like you wanted to drop to your knees.”

My cheeks burned.

“You’re disgusting.”

“And yet your eyes tell a different story.”

I wanted to hit him.

He walked past me, his scent trailing behind him. Clean and woodsy now, mixed with something darker. Something that made my legs a little unsteady.

He stopped by the bed, picked up a black shirt and slowly pulled it over his head, his abs disappearing beneath the fabric. Damn it.

Focus, Emilia.

“Why am I here?” I asked, needing to ground myself in something that wasn’t the fact that this man looked like every forbidden fantasy I’d ever had.

He didn’t answer immediately.

He turned to me, face unreadable. “I have an offer for you.”

The air left my lungs.

An offer?

I blinked, unsure I heard him right.

“…What offer?”