Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King Chapter 28

EMILIA'S POV

"You're still alive?"

I turned, pulse pounding so hard it almost drowned her out—but not quite. Nothing could dull the sound of that voice. My sister's voice.

Rosella stood there, arms folded across her chest, a smirk tugging at her lips like she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment. Her hair was perfectly braided, her dress neat, her chin tilted with the same air of superiority she'd worn since we were children. I hated how familiar it felt.

"Surprise, surprise," I said evenly, tilting my head just enough to meet her smug stare. "I'm alive."

Her smirk deepened, eyes glinting like shards of glass. "Barely. I told you the King would be too disgusted to touch you. Guess I was right."

I laughed, sharp and humorless, shaking my head. If only she knew. If only she could see the way his hands had claimed every inch of me last night, the way he'd kissed me like I was the last breath in his lungs, the way he'd used my body until I couldn't tell where I ended and he began. Heat licked at my skin at the memory, but I shoved it down, burying it under the reminder that I hated him and needed to get the hell out of here, not get tangled in dangerous thoughts of how it had felt.

"If only you knew," I murmured, more to myself than to her.

Her eyes narrowed, confusion flickering for just a second before disdain swallowed it whole. She stepped closer, every movement dripping with practiced grace. "Mom and Dad brought me here, you know. To learn about pack politics. So that when I become Alpha, I'll run the pack smoothly, with my mate by my side. Unlike you."

The word cracked like a whip. Unlike you.

I didn't flinch, but my jaw tightened.

She wasn't finished. She never was.

"You know what Mom told me?" she continued, her voice honeyed with cruelty. "That since you left, she's been so happy to finally get rid of a mistake like you. She said it felt like the moon goddess herself answered her prayers when we sent you away. I'm just surprised you're still breathing."

Her words landed like knives, sliding beneath skin and sinking deep where I couldn't stop the bleed. A mistake. That's all I'd ever been to them.

I didn't give her the satisfaction of a response.

Rosella leaned in, her perfume cloying, suffocating. "Dad doesn't even remember he has a daughter like you. Not when he has me. Do us all a favor—stay out of his sight. You'll only spoil his mood."

My throat burned, but I swallowed it down.

She smiled then, cruel and triumphant. "You're a stain on our family, Emilia. A shame we had to carry for far too long. They're glad they got rid of you. The only shame is that you aren't dead yet. But don't worry. It's just a matter of time."

Something inside me snapped, but I kept my face smooth, unreadable. That's what she wanted—my anger, my hurt, my broken pieces scattered at her feet. I wouldn't give her that.

Rosella tilted her head, eyes shining with venom. "At least the moon goddess did one thing right with you. She spared anyone the curse of having you as a mate."

That one hit different. It sliced through armor I thought I'd built thick enough to withstand her. I'd spent too many nights staring at the sky, whispering prayers I never got answers to. Asking why I didn't have a mate. Why no bond pulled at me, no fate tied me to someone who could see me, want me, choose me. To hear her spit it out so casually, like my greatest wound was nothing but a punchline... it hollowed me out.

But I didn't let her see it.

Instead, I forced a smile. "Well, precious child, go run to your mommy and daddy. I've got other things to take care of."

Her smirk faltered, just for a breath. I didn't wait for her to recover. I turned, walking away before she could throw more poison at me.

"Coward!" she hissed after me. "You'll never be more than a shadow!"

I didn't look back. Her curses chased me down the corridor, clinging to my skin, but I held my head high, my steps steady. Inside, though, I felt like she'd reached inside me and twisted everything raw.

I slipped into a group of girls scrubbing the marble floors near the servants' wing. Nobody questioned me, nobody cared. To them, I was just another face, another pair of hands made to work. Perfect. It gave me cover. It gave me freedom to move where I needed to.

While the others bent over their buckets and brushes, I let my gaze wander. Corridors branching off like veins. Doors opening and closing. Guards passing by, sometimes in pairs, sometimes alone. I memorized it all. My mind worked like a map, marking paths, exits, shadows I could slip into if I had to. Looking for the perfect escape route.

And then I found it.

The laundry room.

My fingers skimmed the wall as I stepped inside, heart thudding harder when my gaze landed on it—a door at the far end. One that was slightly ajar, as though daring me to push it open.

I moved closer, careful not to draw attention. Beyond the crack, I caught a glimpse of green. Trees. The woods. Freedom.

For a wild second, my instincts screamed at me to bolt. To throw the door wide and run until my lungs burned and my legs gave out, until the stench of this cursed palace and the echo of my sister's venom were nothing but fading ghosts behind me.

But reason dug its claws into me.

Not now. Not yet.

I forced myself to breathe, to think. Running blind in the middle of the day would be suicide.

I pressed my palm against the wall, steadying myself. Nightfall. That was the only way. When everyone would be too busy to notice, I'd slip out through this door. And then I would run. I wouldn't stop, wouldn't look back. I'd vanish into the trees and create a new life far from here, far from him, far from all of them.

My chest tightened at the thought. For the first time in forever, hope flickered inside me, fragile but real.

I turned away from the door, tucking the knowledge deep inside me like a secret flame I couldn't let anyone see.

Tonight.

Just one more night, and I'd finally be free.