Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 44

I leaned against the king’s door, trying to catch my breath.

My hand clutched at my chest as though it could calm the storm inside me, but it was no use. My heart was beating so violently against my chest like it wanted to break free.

I had run all the way here, but not even the sprint through the corridors could explain why I still shook, why my knees threatened to buckle beneath me.

Because I had followed him.

I hadn’t meant to. When he tore himself away from me, the look in his eyes had carved through me like a blade-raw, violent, something I couldn’t name but couldn’t walk away from. I had told myself to stay put, to let him go. But my feet had betrayed me, carrying me silently after him, each step too fast, too reckless, like I was chasing a truth I wasn’t ready for.

And now I coyldn’t breathe.

The King had walked into that black iron door, and-Lucien

—his Beta-was waiting for him inside. I hadn’t been close enough to catch every word, but what I heard had chilled me to the bone.

‘Chain me.’

Two words. Two impossible words.

The words replayed in my mind like a brand burned intomy skull. The King, shoulders heaving, voice breaking with something that sounded like pain—or rage-or both. His Beta hadn’t argued. He had moved like he’d done this before. Like this was routine.

What kind of man demanded to be chained?

What kind of King?

I pushed off the door, my chest aching, and began pacing the length of his chamber. The silence around me pressed down heavy, like the walls themselves knew secrets they refused to share. My thoughts tumbled over each other, frantic, impossible to untangle.

Everyone knew the King was a beast. The stories whispefed in the packs, they painted him as a monster who had no mercy, who thrived on blood and fear.

But this?

This was different.

This was desperation.

I dragged my fingers through my hair, tugging at the roots, trying to force sense into the chaos spinning inside me. He hadn’t just wanted to be chained. He had needed it. There had been no hesitation in his voice, only a brutal command, as though he feared what would happen if his Beta disobeyed.

My skin prickled.

What could possibly be so dangerous, so uncontrollable, that even he-the King who ruled with terror-couldn’t hold it back?

The thought lodged in my throat, thick and choking.

And then, unbidden, another memory surfaced.

That night.

The night I had tried to run.

I had stumbled into a room I hadn’t recognized, and something had been there. A monstrous creature, savage and wild, with claws and teeth that could have torn me apart in seconds.

He should have.

But he hadn’t.

I could still remember the way the creature had stilled beneath my touch. The way my trembling hand had pressed against its fur and the rage in its eyes had dimmed, replaced by something softer, almost… human.

I hadn’t seen its face when it shifted back that morning. had run away as soon as I could, terrified and shaken, certain I had brushed against death itself.

But now-

I closed my eyes, my breath shuddering.

Everyone said the King was a monster. But what if his worst monster lived inside him?

My hand curled into a fist against the glass.

There was only one way to know.

One way to prove whether the beast and the King were one and the same.

And it was madness. Absolute madness.

But I was going to do it.

I would go back to that room tonight.

No matter the risk.

No matter what I found.

Because if I didn’t, the questions would consume me whole.

1 pulled away from the window, my heart hammering as though it already knew the danger I was walking into. Myhands trembled, but my resolve hardened with each passing second

This was the only way.

The truth waited behind those iron doors.

And tonight, 1 will face it.