Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King Chapter 70

MAXIMUS'S POV

Her eyes opened wide at my question, water dripping down her lashes like crystal tears. For a moment she looked at me as though I had asked something absurd, something ordinary.

"What do you mean?" she said lightly, though her voice trembled in a way she couldn't hide. She tilted her head and offered me a weak smile. "Who am I? I'm Emilia. Hello..." She even lifted a wet hand from the bathwater in a mock wave, as if pretending this was all a joke.

But I didn't smile.

"That's not what I mean," I said, my voice low, rough. "And you know it."

The faint humor drained from her expression. Her hand sank back into the water.

"I haven't stopped thinking about it," I went on, my chest tight with the words I'd carried too long. "Last night in the forest. How you stopped my beast from leaving. How I touched you last night and you're...you're—still alive." My throat worked. "Every other woman... every single one... dead. But you're still here. Breathing. Whole."

Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

I leaned closer, my hand braced on the edge of the tub. "And then there was that night you were stabbed. You should have died, Emilia. I felt the life draining out of you. But you came back. You healed. You..." I shook my head, searching for words that didn't exist. "I don't know, Emilia. What are you really? You don't even have a wolf."

Silence filled the space between us. Only the steady drip of water echoed off the walls. My heart thundered so loud it felt like a drum inside my chest.

At last, she whispered something so soft I almost missed it.

"I don't know."

The sound cut through me, fragile and broken.

Her gaze dropped to the steaming water, her voice unsteady. "Back at the forest last night... it just happened. I felt this consuming need to protect you. And then that energy left me like lightning. I don't know how. If you asked me to repeat it now, I can't. I don't even know what it was."

Her hand trembled on the edge of the tub, and her next words came out raw. "And about not dying that day... maybe I'm immortal. I don't know. In my pack, I've been beaten near to death. Bones broken. Skin torn. But by the next day, I would wake up without a single mark. Like nothing happened. Maybe I'm something bad. Maybe I'm cursed too." She finally looked up at me, eyes wide and afraid. "I don't know."

My chest ached at the fear in her voice—the way she seemed ready to believe the worst about herself.

"No," I said firmly, shaking my head. "No, Emilia. You're not something bad. You saved me."

She bit her lower lips.

"If I had escaped the forest last night," I continued, "this morning I'd be drowning in regret. Because I would have killed innocent people. I would have destroyed everything in my path. But you stopped me. You gave me back control when I had none. You reminded me that I wasn't just a beast. Whatever you are, you saved me from myself."

Her breath hitched.

I leaned closer, my hand brushing against her wet hair. "And we will find out what you are. Together. And if you have powers, you will learn to use them. You will learn to control them. I will make sure of it."

For a moment she only stared at me, eyes shimmering with something I couldn't name. Then she whispered, "Thank you, Maximus."

I shook my head slowly, a faint smile tugging at my lips. "No. I should be the one thanking you."

She rose from the water, droplets sliding down her body like liquid diamonds. My throat tightened at the sight of her bare skin glowing in the steam. I immediately grabbed a towel and wrapped it carefully around her, my hands lingering at her shoulders longer than necessary.

Her hair clung to her cheeks as we walked back to the bedroom. She dried it with the towel, her movements casual, but I couldn't look away. I sat down on the edge of the bed, watching her, drinking in every detail.

She noticed. Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "Are you going to get me something to wear, or are you going to keep staring at me?"

My lips curved into a smirk. "You look better naked."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but I caught the faint flush on her cheeks. With a chuckle, I rose and fetched one of my shirts. When I handed it to her, she slipped it on quickly, though the hem fell almost to her thighs. It looked better on her than it ever had on me.

She sat at the small table, hair still damp, and picked at the food I had made earlier. Yet her gaze kept lifting to me, soft but searching, as though weighing a question she wasn't sure she wanted answered.

Finally, I leaned back in my chair, meeting her stare head-on. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said too quickly, shaking her head.

I raised a brow. "You can ask me anything."

She hesitated, chewing her lip. Then she looked away. "Forget about it."

"Emilia." My voice dropped in warning.

Her shoulders slumped. She exhaled hard, then finally spoke. "Well... since we're asking each other questions..." Her voice trailed off.

"Yes?" I pressed.

Her eyes lifted, wary and uncertain. "How...?" She stopped, her throat working.

My heart thudded once, heavy. "How what?" I asked, my voice a rasp.

Her gaze met mine. "How did you get cursed?"

The question cut through the air.

My hand stilled around the fork I held. My pulse slowed, heavy and cold.

The room seemed to shrink, the silence pressing in.

I opened my mouth to answer—

And stopped.