Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 55

I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, the events of the funeral still heavy in my mind. Doctor Raina’s strange smile haunted me like a ghost.

‘A rose with thorns.’

‘Setting things right.’

Her words had carved themselves into my thoughts, looping again and again until I felt sick.

But then I heard it.

A scream.

At first, I thought it was in my head-my imagination replaying the day.

But no. It came again, louder, rawer, ripping through the silence of the night. My body jolted upright, my pulse hammering. That sound wasn’t griet. It wasn’t fear. It was terror.

I pushed myself off the bed and stumbled toward the window. My fingers trembled as I shoved the curtains aside. The courtyard below was chaos-guards running, shadows darting like frightened birds. And then I heard it.

A growl.

Feral. Low. Angry.

The sound rumbled through the stone walls, vibrating in my chest until I thought my ribs might crack. My breath caught. My blood went cold.

It was him.

The King.

And if he was free…

“Oh God,” I whispered, my knees weakening. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

I spun toward the door, panic clawing at my throat. I had to get to him.

I had to know what was happening. I grabbed the handle and twisted hard.

Locked.

My stomach dropped.

“Open!” I shouted, yanking the handle again and again. “Open the fucking door!” I slammed my fists against the wood until they stung, until my voice cracked with the force of my screams. But nothing. No one came.

Another roar ripped through the castle. This one was louder, closer. My heart nearly stopped. He was free. The chains hadn’t held him. And if Maximus was loose…

He’d kill.

He wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

‘No,”I gasped, desperation flooding me. “No, no, no.”

1 beat harder against the door, my throat raw from shouting.

“Somebody open this fucking door!”

And then-finally-the lock clicked.

The door swung open, and Lucien stood there.

I froze.

Never in my life had I seen the King’s Beta look afraid. But his face was pale, his jaw tight, and his eyes-those sharp, disciplined eyes-were wide with panic.

“Emilia.” His voice was harsh, urgent. “We have to move. Now.”

“What-”

“No time.” He grabbed my wrist, his grip iron. “I have to get you to safety. If his beast is looking for you, he might kill you. Do you understand me? He’s not in his right mind. He’ll regret it, but that won’t stop him. You have to hide.”

His words landed like stones in my chest. Kill me. The thought lodged in my brain, but instead of fear, something hotter rose-anger.

I yanked my hand free. “No. We can’t just run and hide! We have to stop him. If he kills people, if he does something he can’t take back-”

“There’s nothing we can do!” Lucien snapped, his impatience slicing through my protest. His chest heaved as though he was holding back more words.

“You don’t understand. It’s the red moon. He’s lost himself. He doesn’t recognize anyone. Not even me.”

“But-”

Lucien’s eyes blazed with desperation. “If he sees you, Emilia, he’ll kill, you. Do you hear me? He’s not himself!”

Another roar shook the air, rattling the walls. The sound made my heart clench painfully. It wasn’t just rage I heard in it-it was agony.

Maximus.

He was suffering.

Something inside me twisted, something that refused to accept what Lucien was saying. My mind screamed at me to listen, to let him drag me away to safety, but my heart-my heart was already running toward the danger.

“No,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. “I can’t.”

“Emilia-”

But I was already moving.

But something deeper pushed me forward.

The need to protect him.

The need to save him from himself.

“Maximus!” My voice cracked, but I kept screaming. “Please!”

My chest burned, my lungs begged for air. Tears blurred my vision. He was too fast. I couldn’t reach him.

And then-

It happened.

A burst of energy ripped through me, hot and wild, exptoding from my chest like a star being born. It shot outward in every direction, invisible and yet blinding, a pulse that shook the trees and made the very air shudder.

The forest glowed faintly, like light beneath water, and then stilled.

I froze, gasping, clutching my chest.

What… what was that?

I stumbled forward, staring in disbelief as the trees around us shimmered faintly with something I couldn’t name. A barrier. A shield.

The forest had closed itself, trapping him inside.

My breath came hard and shallow as turned-and found him.

He was there.

The beast.

Maximus stood at the edge of the trees, massive and terrible, his chest heaving, his claws flexing against the earth. His eyes-those burning, feral eyes-locked onto mine.

And in that instant, the world stopped.

The shield pulsed between us, humming with the same strange energy that had burst from me.

I stared at him. He stared at me.

My heart slammed so hard I thought it might break.

And one question rang in my head, sharp and terrified and impossible.

What the fuck?