Chosen as the Cursed Alpha's Seventh Bride

Emilia’s POV

I stood outside the closed door, and the floor seemed to drop out from under me.

My wolf hearing picked up every word from inside that room. Every accusation Abigail hurled at Titus and Mila.

And one thought kept circling: this couldn’t be real.

Titus and Mila, the Alpha and Luna who’d welcomed me into their pack house with open arms when my own father treated me like garbage. Mila, who insisted I call her by her name because "we’re family now, dear." Titus, who’d looked me in the eye at the ceremony and told me I was worthy of his son.

Those same people staged a hit-and-run? Murdered Abigail’s parents in cold blood?

"This is insane," Eve whispered in my head, her voice shaking.

"I know," I thought back, my chest tight.

But Abigail’s grief was real. The way she’d broken down completely. That wasn’t acting.

I turned to Damien, rigid beside me in the hallway, his face gray.

"Did you know about this?"

He didn’t look at me. His eyes stayed on the door, but his hands curled slowly into fists at his sides.

"Not at first," he said finally, his voice rough. "I didn’t find out until our second year in France."

My stomach dropped. "So you knew and said nothing?"

"Abigail made me swear not to tell anyone. She said if word got out, it would destroy Sebastian." He turned to me then, and I saw the pain in his eyes. "And she was right, wasn’t she? Look at what it’s doing to him now."

"Then why did you leave with her in the first place?" I shot back. "Was it her idea, or did you just decide to blow up Sebastian’s life on a whim?"

"She asked me to." His voice cracked. "The night before the wedding, she showed up at my door, begging me to help her disappear. She couldn’t marry Sebastian, and she couldn’t tell me why. What was I supposed to do? Turn her away?"

"You could’ve asked questions. Demanded answers before you destroyed your cousin’s life."

"I asked her a hundred times. She wouldn’t tell me. And I loved her enough not to push." He met my gaze steadily. "You probably think I’m an idiot. But that’s how I love someone, Emilia. I’d do anything for her, even if she never told me the whole truth."

I stared at him. This man who’d been vilified for three years, who’d lost his family and his pack, who’d become the most hated person in Sebastian’s life.

And he’d done it all for love.

Part of me wanted to scoff, to call him a fool for throwing everything away for a woman who wouldn’t even be honest with him. But the part of me that knew what it was to love someone until it swallowed you whole felt something closer to envy.

"She’s lucky to have you," I said finally.

Damien’s laugh was hollow. "Lucky. Right. Living in exile for three years, losing her parents, watching the man she loved move on. So lucky."

Before I could answer, the voices inside the room went quiet. I heard Sebastian’s low rumble, then footsteps coming toward the door.

I stepped back, Damien doing the same beside me.

The door swung open. Sebastian stood there, his face carved from stone, Abigail still wrapped in his arms.

He eased Abigail gently into Damien’s arms. "Take her home. Make sure she rests. Call me if anything happens."

Damien nodded and turned away. I heard Abigail’s quiet sobs as he murmured something to comfort her.

Then Sebastian was walking past me, his shoulder brushing mine like I was invisible.

"Sebastian," I called, reaching for him.

He didn’t stop. Didn’t slow down. He just kept walking, as if I hadn’t spoken at all.

My hand hung in the air, fingers closing on nothing.

I dropped it and hurried after him, my pride stinging, but the worry won out. Whatever storm was coming, I wasn’t going to let him face it alone.

We drove back to the pack house in crushing silence.

The second we pulled up, he was out of the car and striding straight toward the house like I didn’t exist.

I sat there a beat, staring after him.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Eve asked. "Are we really going to let him shut us out?"

"He just found out a truth this devastating," I thought back. "Cut him some slack."

"We’re his mate. We’re supposed to be his anchor, not his afterthought."

She had a point. But right now Sebastian was running on pure rage and heartbreak, and I knew better than to expect anything rational from a man in that state.

I got out and followed him inside. The moment I stepped through the door, I saw Mila on the couch, her face lighting up with a warm smile.

How could someone who looked so kind, so genuinely loving, do what Abigail had described?

"You two are back early," Mila said, standing. "I thought you were going to dinner. Did something happen?"

Sebastian didn’t answer. His voice was ice. "Where’s Titus?"

Mila’s smile faltered. "In his study. Sebastian, what’s wrong?"

He was already moving, striding past her to the study. The door banged open. "Get out here. Now."

Titus stepped out a moment later, his brow furrowed. "What’s going on?"

Sebastian gave him nothing. He turned and headed for the stairs, where Tiffany sat on the landing with her phone in her hands.

"Tiffany," he said. "Come with me."

She blinked up at him. "What? Why?"

"Just come."

She stood slowly, thrown by his tone, and followed him to the study. He guided her inside, and then came the unmistakable click of the lock.

"Sebastian!" Tiffany’s voice was muffled but panicked as she pounded on the door. "What the hell? Why are you locking me in here?"

"Stay there," he called back. "I’ll let you out when this is over."

He wanted her away from whatever was about to happen. With the tumor pressing on her brain, this kind of upheaval could trigger a seizure or worse. He was protecting her the only way he knew how.

Sebastian came down the stairs and crossed straight to where Titus and Mila stood by the couch. They knew something was wrong. They just didn’t know what yet.

I stood off to the side, arms wrapped around myself. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Stand with Sebastian? Defend his parents? Keep my mouth shut and let this play out?

Mila broke the silence. "Sebastian, why did you lock Tiffany in the study?"

He looked at her, and his voice came colder than I’d ever heard it.

"Because I didn’t want her to find out how despicable her parents really are."