Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King Chapter 129

EMILIA'S POV

"You're evil," I spat, the words ripping out of me like claws. My voice cracked, raw and shaking, but I didn't care. "Pure, twisted evil."

The woman threw her head back and laughed—bright, delighted, like I'd just paid her the highest compliment.

"Evil?" She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. "No, darling. Smart. I was controlling them all, and not one of them ever suspected. The king. The queen. Maximus. Every single one of them. Puppets."

Her smile stretched too wide, too sharp. "Isn't that genius?"

I couldn't breathe right. My lungs felt crushed.

She stepped closer, slow, savoring every second of my horror.

"That poor girl—" she purred. "So desperate to please him. So desperate to fix what was 'wrong' with her mate. She came crying to me, begging for help. And I gave it to her."

Her fingers danced in the air, miming handing over a tiny vial.

"A special potion," she sang. "Drink this, sweet girl. Give some to Maximus. It'll calm the beast, I promise."

She leaned in until her lips almost touched my ear.

"What she didn't know was that it would rot her mind from the inside. Day by day. Hour by hour. Until the voices got too loud...and the roof looked like the only quiet place left."

My stomach lurched.

"She threw herself off the east building," the woman whispered, gleeful.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but the image burned behind my lids anyway.

"And poor, poor Maximus," she went on, voice dripping fake pity. "He found her body first. Thought he was the monster. Thought his mate killed herself because she couldn't stand being tied to him. He screamed so hard that night the windows cracked."

She clapped once, sharp. "Perfect."

Bile rose in my throat. I swallowed it down, tasting acid.

"But I didn't stop there," she said, almost bouncing on her toes now. "That would've been boring. So I let the beast loose. One tiny push and boom. He went wild. Completely feral. No one could stop him."

She paused, grinning like she was admiring a masterpiece she created.

"And he destroyed an entire pack."

Her eyes glittered with satisfaction.

"A job well done, if you ask me. One entire pack gone—another piece of my problem taken care of."

The air left my lungs.

I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't think.

She laughed again—the ugliest, coldest sound I had ever heard.

I couldn't believe someone could be so heartless.

"So much blood," she said dreamily. "So much chaos. It was beautiful."

A chill ran down my spine, colder than the stone beneath me.

She laughed harder...but then suddenly stopped.

Her smile fell away.

Her eyes sharpened.

"Oops," she said softly. "I heard your parents died that night too."

The world tilted.

Everything went white for a second, then red.

My parents.

The attack everyone whispered about. The one that shaped my whole life.

She did that.

She killed them.

My hands clenched so hard the ropes burned my wrists. Blood trickled warm down my fingers.

"No hard feelings," she chirped, shrugging. "I just did what had to be done."

My blood boiled.

"So ruining people's lives for your own selfish gain is what 'had to be done'?"

She slammed her hand into the stone beside me.

The sound shot through the place like thunder, making me flinch.

"Yes!" she screamed. "The moon goddess thought she was all high and mighty. Thought she could imprison me, silence me, erase me."

Her eyes blazed with pure hatred.

"But guess what?" she hissed. "Guess who's playing with all her precious creations now?"

Her lips curled into a victorious smile.

"Me."

I tried the ropes again, twisting my wrists, pulling until my skin burned—but they were tied too tight.

Panic clawed up my throat.

I reached for my wolf, desperate for any strength, any spark of power I could use.

Nothing.

But then—

A quiet hum.

Weak. Distant. Like someone calling me from the other side of a thick wall.

Something was blocking her.

Shit.

I cursed inside my head, fighting harder to break through the fog, but the hum faded again.

The woman continued speaking as if she could sense my struggle—and enjoyed it.

"I had so much fun watching Maximus kill those women," she said, her voice light and airy, like she was talking about the weather. "Thinking one of them could cure him? Oh, it was just... entertaining."

She stepped closer and suddenly grabbed my jaw, her fingers digging into my skin.

My head jerked back painfully.

"Until you came," she hissed.

Then she released me—hard.

My head snapped back and hit the stone wall with a sharp crack.

Stars exploded in my vision.

"I wanted him to kill you," she said coldly. "That's why I told him Milandra's spirit was inside you. I wanted to break him. Completely."

I tasted blood in my mouth.

"But he didn't kill you," she said, her expression twisting with annoyance. "I tried everything. I even pressured that stubborn bastard. Told him the kingdom was at risk. That you were dangerous. But he refused. He wouldn't give you up for anything."

Warmth filled my chest despite the pain.

Maximus.

Even then.

Even before everything made sense.

He chose me.

He protected me.

He loved me—without understanding why.

"If he had killed you," the woman said with a careless shrug, "that would have been his doom."

She rolled her eyes dramatically.

"But no. He got obsessed with you instead. Obsessed. It became disgusting to watch."

My heart ached—not from her words, but from realizing just how deep Maximus's love had always run... even when neither of us understood it.

"So," she continued cheerfully, "I had to spice things up."

My stomach twisted again.

Spice things up.

"I twisted your lives," she said with an evil grin. "Gave Damien a fake mate bond—made him feel it in his soul that you belonged to him. I compelled him to believe you were his mate."

My heart dropped.

"That's why..." I whispered. "That's why he—"

"Yes!" she said eagerly. "Everything was going perfectly. Damien thinking you were his. Maximus feeling a strange connection to you but having Raina as his mate. Damien and Maximus fighting over one woman." She sighed dramatically. "Such delicious drama."

My skin crawled.

"But Milandra," she snapped. "She always ruins everything. She gave you your wolf and everything went downhill."

My jaw tightened.

Anger, hot and sharp, burned through my chest.

I forced myself to look her directly in the eyes.

"You're mad at the moon goddess," I said slowly. "Why don't you take out your anger on her? Why destroy us?"

The woman threw her head back and laughed.

A loud, crazed laugh.

"Oh, sweet Emilia," she said, wiping imaginary tears from her eyes. "What's better than hurting a goddess directly? Hitting her where it hurts most."

Her voice dropped into a whisper dripping with poison.

"Watching her own creations tear each other apart while I pull the strings."

She smirked.

"Especially her direct descendants. The royal family. Her precious bloodline."

I felt sick.

She leaned in until we were eye to eye.

"I'm not just winning, Emilia. I'm making her watch."

"So you've been behind every single thing," I whispered. "Playing savior while you poisoned us all."

"Exactly!" she said brightly, twirling like a child showing off a new dress. "I was their trusted witch. Their guiding light. Their hero."

Her smile turned sharp again.

"And I fooled them all."

She stepped closer, leaning down until her face hovered inches from mine.

"But I'm not done, Emilia."

A cold shiver shot through me.

Her eyes darkened, filled with a hunger that made the room colder.

"There's one more thing I must do before I'm satisfied."

Dread flooded me, thick and black, drowning every other feeling.

"What?" I forced out. My throat felt lined with sand. "What more could you possibly want?"

She straightened slowly.

Silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.

Her smile returned—slow, terrible, full of sharp teeth.

"You'll see," she whispered.