Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King Chapter 81

EMILIA'S POV

For a long, breathless moment, no one moved.

Maximus stood in the doorway like a ghost from another life—his eyes locked on the doctor as though he'd just seen someone crawl out of his nightmares. His chest rose and fell too fast, his fists clenched at his sides.

The doctor didn't flinch. She just stood there, calm, poised, her lips curved in that same soft smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"You—" Maximus started, his voice low, hoarse. He stopped himself.

Something heavy hung in the air—thick, charged, suffocating.

I could feel it pressing against my chest, wrapping around my ribs until every breath came shallow. My heart pounded so loud it drowned out the steady beep of the machine beside me.

I turned slowly to Damien, my throat tightening. "Do they... know each other?" I whispered.

He didn't look away from them. "I don't know if they had any kind of relationship," he murmured, voice tight. "But she used to live here before she went abroad to study. She only came back recently—for her father's burial."

I nodded faintly, though my eyes were glued to the scene in front of me.

Maximus hadn't blinked once. The doctor's calm was almost eerie, her eyes gleaming like she held a secret no one else could touch. The tension between them was unbearable—raw and silent, like a storm about to break.

Finally, Maximus tore his gaze away from her and looked at me.

Just for a second.

His eyes flickered with something—guilt? Fear? Maybe both. Then he cleared his throat, the sound sharp in the still air. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice strained, as if the words cost him.

He didn't look at me when he said it. His eyes darted anywhere but mine—the floor, the wall, the heart monitor—but not me.

"Fine," I whispered, though the word barely made it past my lips.

It was a lie, and we both knew it.

The silence that followed was unbearable. It filled every corner of the room, thick and electric. I could almost taste the unease—like metal and smoke.

Maximus shifted his weight, his jaw tightening. Then, finally, he turned back to the doctor.

"Can I talk to you?"

Her lips parted in a soft, knowing smile. "Of course."

She glanced down at me, her expression smoothing back into professional calm. "I'll check on you again later, Emilia."

I managed a small nod, but my eyes didn't leave them—not even when they stepped out of the room.

Maximus didn't look back.

The door shut behind them with a quiet click that echoed louder than it should have.

And then—silence again.

I couldn't stop staring at the door. Something about the way they looked at each other... it wasn't normal. It wasn't polite or friendly. It was raw. Familiar. Dangerous.

My chest felt tight. My thoughts spun in circles until Damien's voice finally broke through.

"Hold on a minute," he muttered, mostly to himself.

I blinked and turned to him. "What is it?"

He was still staring at the door, his brows drawn tight, his jaw hard. "I think..." He hesitated, his throat working as if he wasn't sure he should say it aloud.

"What?" I pressed, my voice trembling.

He turned to me then, his eyes dark, intense. "I think they're mates."

The world stopped.

For a heartbeat, everything went silent—the machines, the water dripping from the IV, the sound of my own breathing.

Mates.

The word rang in my head like a curse.

I didn't know if it was the shock or the sharp twist in my chest that made it hard to breathe, but when I exhaled, it came out shaky and uneven.

Mates.

Maximus and the doctor.

The air around me seemed to tilt, the room spinning slowly as the reality settled in. My heart thudded once—hard—before the sound of it blurred into the white noise of my panic.

I didn't move. I couldn't.

Because deep down, some part of me already knew Damien was right.

The way he looked at her. The way she looked at him. The energy that filled the room like static, ready to catch fire.

And just like that—the fragile world I'd been clinging to cracked right down the middle.

**The door clicked shut behind us, and silence swallowed the room whole.

The doctor's office was too bright, too still. The faint scent of herbs and antiseptic clung to the air, sharp enough to sting my nose. I could hear every sound—the hum of the lights, the faint ticking of the clock, the uneven rhythm of my own breathing.

Raina stood across from me, her posture calm, graceful. But her eyes... her eyes were a storm.

I didn't know where to look. At her? The ceiling? The walls? Every time my gaze flicked to hers, something inside me twisted—tight and unfamiliar, like a chain being pulled too hard.

The tension was unbearable.

I wanted to speak, to ask, to say something—but the words refused to come.

She was the one who finally broke the silence.

"We're mates," she said quietly. Not a question. A statement. Her tone was steady, but her eyes searched my face like she already knew what my answer would be.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "Yeah," I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper.

Her brow lifted slightly. "You don't seem so thrilled about it."

I looked away. "It's not like that. It's just..." I exhaled, dragging a hand through my hair. "Complicated."

Raina tilted her head, studying me like I was a puzzle she'd already begun to solve. "Emilia," she said softly. "She's your woman, right?"

The words hit like a blow. My chest tightened. Before I could stop myself, the words slipped out, raw and unfiltered.

"She's Damien's mate."

The moment the words left my mouth, regret hit me like a fist. I froze, wishing I could drag them back, swallow them whole, erase them from the air.

Raina's lips curved into a small, amused smile. "That's funny," she said, her voice laced with something sharp. "Because the first time we met, she introduced herself as the King's woman."

I flinched. "Like I said," I muttered, "it's complicated."

Her smile faded, replaced by something quieter, heavier. "I'm your mate," she said, stepping closer. "You can tell me anything."

Anything.

My hands clenched at my sides. My heartbeat pounded in my ears. I wanted to tell her everything and nothing all at once. I wanted to scream at the Goddess for playing this cruel game, for tying knots I couldn't untangle.

Because this wasn't fair.

On one hand stood the woman I needed—the one who kept me breathing, who made me feel alive for the first time in years. On the other stood the woman who could break my curse—the one fate had chosen for me.

And there was no escaping either of them.

I stared at Raina, her eyes reflecting a calm I couldn't find inside myself. My chest felt too tight, my lungs too small.

There was no way out of this.

I knew it.

And still—I wanted to be selfish.

Because Goddess help me... I didn't want Emilia to belong to anyone but me.