Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 56

The forest hummed. That strange, unearthly barrier I’d somehow created vibrated like a living thing, the air thick with energy and the copper tang of something I didn’t understand. Every breath tasted like lightning, sharp and dangerous, as if the night itself held its breath along with me.

And him.

The beast.

Maximus.

He stood at the edge of the trees, massive and terrifying, black fur slick with moonlight, claws digging deep trenches into the wet earth.

His eyes burned into mine, unblinking, feral.

A single step forward, and the sound of it shattered the silence. His growl followed, low and thunderous, vibrating through my bones until my knees threatened to buckle.

My heart leapt into my throat.

But I didn’t back away.

I couldn’t.

Slowly, I lowered my trembling hands, palms down, the universal gesture of surrender. “Easy,” I whispered, my voice shaking but steady enough to cut through the pounding of my pulse. “It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you.”

The beast’s ears flicked back. His claws flexed. The growl deepened, a warning that rumbled like distant thunder.

“You don’t want to do this,” I said, forcing calm into every syllable even as my chest tightened. “You don’t want to kill. Maximus, I know you’re in there. Somewhere beneath all of this rage-” I swallowed hard, praying he could hear me, praying he was still listening. “-you have to fight. You have to learn to control your beast, or it will always control you.”

A harsh breath ripped from him, almost a snarl, almost a sigh.

My pulse pounded so loudly i barely heard myself speak. “Please,” I begged, taking the tiniest step closer, “listen to me. Fight. Be one with your beast, or you’ll always be at war with yourself. You’re stronger than this.”

The forest trembled as he shifted his weight, his massive shoulders rippling like dark waves beneath the blood-red moon.

Then-he turned.

No.

He pivoted sharply, muscles coiling, claws digging deep as if to launch himself away. A frantic escape.

“Wait!” I shouted, my voice breaking.

But the barrier I’d summoned shimmered and pulsed like a living wall.

The air itself hardened with invisible force, and when the beast lunged, the shield answered.

The impact cracked like a thunderclap.

Energy flashed, blinding and blue-white. The ground quaked beneath my feet.

Maximus staggered back with a roar of pure fury. His claws scraped against nothing, sparks of power dancing in the air as he swiped at the unseen wall again and again, desperate, enraged.

My heart clenched

He wasn’t just angry-he was trapped.

And I had done this.

“Maximus,” I called, my voice rising above the storm brewing inside the trees. “Please! I’m not here to cage you. I’m trying to save you.”

The beast whitled, snapping his head toward me with a snarl so sharp it felt like a blade against my skin. My heart skipped, stuttered, then pounded harder, but I held my ground.

“You don’t have to run,” I said softly, each word a trembling lifeline. “I know you’ve been suffering. I know you hate this-hate what you think you are. But have you ever tried…” My throat tightened. “Have you ever tried accepting yourself instead of running from it?”

The beast froze.

His breathing hitched-a small, almost imperceptible pause that made my heart leap.

I seized it. “Stop seeing yourself as a monster. Stop living up to the hame others gave you. You’re not a killer, Maximus. You don’t have to be.”

Another step forward. My bare feet sank into damp earth, cold mud seeping between my toes. The barrier hummed louder, almost like it, was alive, responding to my heartbeat.

“You don’t want to kill innocent people,” | whispered, the words trembling but sure. “I know you don’t. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you let this… this curse define you.”

A low sound escaped him-less a growl than a wounded whine, so faint I almost missed it.

My chest ached.

“Please,” I said again, softer this time, my voice breaking on the plea.

“Come back to me.”

Lightning split the sky, searing white across the blood-red moon. For one electrifying heartbeat, the forest lit up like day.

And I saw them.

HIs eyes.

They were black bottomless pools of darkness that swallowed the light whole.

My breath caught. My heart skipped.

He was looking at me. Really looking.

“You’re not a monster, Maximus,” I said, my voice barely a whisper over /the thunder rolling above us. “You’re a king. The most powerful, most feared king this kingdom has ever known. And you-” my chest tightened, “-you’re wonderful just the way you are.”

The clouds above groaned as if the heavens themselves responded.

My feet splashed through puddles, mud sucking at my heels as I closed the distance between us. And when I reached him, when I finally cotlided with his body, the world seemed to snap back into place.

I threw my arms around him, clinging to him like the last solid thing in a collapsing universe. His skin was hot despite the cold rain, his chest rising and falling in violent, uneven breaths.

Maximus,” I choked out, my tears mixing with the downpour. “You’re here. You’re really here.”

His arms came around me, strong and desperate, pulling me so tightly against him it almost hurt. One large hand slid up to cradle the back of my head, the other pressed against my spine as though he could fuse me into him and never let go.

Then-he pulled back just enough to cup my cheeks.

The look in his eyes stole the air from my lungs. Blue fire. Fierce. Raw.

Grateful.

Before I could speak, before I could even breathe, his mouth was on, mine.

The kiss was thunder. Wild and consuming, like the storm that raged around us. His lips were hot despite the rain, rough and urgent, tasting of desperation and something sweeter, something that burned all the way down to my soul.

I melted into him, my fingers tangling in his wet hair as his arms tightened around my waist, drawing me impossibly closer.

The rain fell harder, pounding against our skin, soaking us to the bone.

The world blurred into the sound of storm and heartbeat and the relentless press of his mouth against mine.

When he finally broke the kiss, his breath was a ragged whisper against my lips.

“Thank you,” he murmured, his forehead resting against mine. His voice cracked, low and reverent. “Thank you for saving me.”

Another kiss-softer this time, but no less fierce-stole the words from my tongue.

And then, as if responding to his surrender, the barrier that had trapped us shivered once, glowing faintly in the rain-and disappeared.

The forest sighed, the storm swallowing the last hum.

1 clung to him as the world exhaled, my heart pounding with one undeniable truth.

I hadn’t just saved him.

I’d saved us.

But even as 1 buried my face against his neck, I couldn’t shake the question that pulsed beneath the roar of the rain.

If I could summon a power like that…

What else was I capable or?