The Rejected daughter chosen by the Alpha (Maya and Atila) novel Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Chapter 113

-ÁTILA

One week later

The book was open in my hands, but I hadn’t actually read a single word in minutes.

5 vouchers

The armchair beside the bed was comfortable enough for a normal human, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d truly rested in it. My back was stiff, my shoulders locked tight, and still, I didn’t move. I stayed there, completely still, as if even the slightest shift might disturb the fragile balance holding that room together.

The heart monitor filled the silence with its steady, rhythmic pulse while she remained trapped in deep sleep.

My eyes dropped back to the book in my hands.

Biological Psychology – James W. Kalat.

I kept clinging to the idea that understanding how the human brain worked would help me accept the process. That if I learned enough about neurological recovery, it would ease the pressure crushing my chest. That knowledge meant control.

It didn’t.

Nothing in those pages gave me control.

My gaze skimmed over a paragraph about neuroplasticity, about how the human brain could rebuild lost connections. How it could, eventually, heal itself.

Eventually.

I closed the book carefully, marking the page without even noticing where I’d stopped.

The soft snap of it shutting sounded too loud in the quiet room.

I stood.

Each step toward the bed was slow, deliberate. Like I was approaching something sacred.

I stopped beside her.

For a moment, I just looked at her.

Maya’s face had grown paler over the days. Her lips, usually full of life and sharp replies, were relaxed now, slightly parted. Her dark hair spread across the pillow in uneven strands, and something about that detail, that ordinary imperfection, tightened something deep inside my chest.

I reached out.

My fingers touched her forehead first, gently brushing a strand of hair away. My skin grazed hers, and the warmth was still

there.

Alive.

My hand moved down slowly, my fingers tracing the soft curve of her cheek.

She didn’t react.

I tilted my head, studying every detail, committing her to memory all over again.

16:40 Fri, Apr 24

Chapter 113

19

5 vouchers

“You said yes,” I murmured, my voice low, rough from too much silence. “So come back and keep your promise, princess.”

My hand slid to her jaw, my thumb tracing a faint, almost nonexistent line.

“I’m waiting.”

Wilfred had said she would wake on her own when her body was ready, that the human body knew when it was time to come back. But I couldn’t stop the thought from creeping in. What if it took a decade?

Or worse.

A century.

Time in our world didn’t move the way it did for humans. Centuries passed like seasons. Time had never been my enemy.

Until now.

And the idea of waiting a hundred years, more than any curse ever could, terrified me.

I leaned down slightly, my forehead nearly touching hers.

“Don’t make me wait that long,” I whispered.

A soft knock at the door broke through my thoughts.

I turned my head.

Miss Langford stood in the doorway, her hands folded neatly in front of her, her posture as flawless as always.

“Sir,” she said gently. “If you’d like to shower or eat something, I can stay here until you return. You’ve been here a very long time.”

I looked back at Maya.

My hand was still resting against her face.

Reluctantly, I pulled it away.

“Thank you, my friend,” I said quietly.

I gave a single nod.

“I think I’ll eat something.”

She nodded in silence, understanding more than words could ever carry.

I stepped out of the room, closing the door carefully behind me.

The apartment was silent.

I walked toward the kitchen, the sound of my footsteps echoing against the polished marble floor. The lights were already on, and I found Victoria standing at the counter.

She was holding a knife.

Her thumb slid slowly along the side of the blade, not enough to break the skin.

I stopped in the doorway.

16:40 Fri, Apr 24

Chapter 113

“What are you doing?”

She turned immediately, like I’d caught her doing something she didn’t want seen.

She shoved the knife into the drawer too quickly and smiled.

5 vouchers

“Nothing,” she said. “I was thinking about making something for us. Bringing it upstairs for you. Since you don’t leave that room for even a minute.”

“You don’t need to make anything for me, Victoria.”

She held my gaze.

“So,” I said. “Have you decided when you’re leaving?”

Her eyebrows lifted.

“Wow. Are you kicking me out?”

“I didn’t say that.”

She looked away for a moment, and when she looked back, something in her expression had fractured.

“I’ll leave tomorrow. For your happiness.”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

She let out a small laugh with no humor behind it.

Silence settled between us for a few seconds.

Then she spoke again, quieter this time.

“I don’t understand.”

“Understand what?”

She looked straight at me.

“If you’re temporarily human now… shouldn’t you stop acting like some lovesick puppy? Technically, humans don’t even have destined souls.”

Puppy,

Something hot and ugly flared in my chest.

“Choose your words carefully,” I said, my voice colder now.

She ignored the warning.

“How can you still have that damn instinct, even after a curse?”

“Maybe,” I said, my voice rising now, “because it was never about instinct, Victoria. Maybe it’s because I love her.”

She froze.

Her eyes filled with tears instantly,

16:40 Fri, Apr 24

Chapter 113

“What did you say?”

“I love her.”

She walked toward me, pressing her finger against my chest. Not hard. But full of resentment.

“You don’t get to say that to me like it means nothing.”

I exhaled slowly, rubbing my temple.

“I thought we already settled this.”

5 vouchers

“We never did,” she said. “I will never forget what we had, Átila. If you can forget that easily, fine. But I’m not you.”

“This will only hurt you.”

Before she could answer, a sound came from upstairs.

Movement.

Light.

Then Miss Langford’s voice echoed from above, distant and urgent.

“Maya?”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify