Chosen as the Cursed Alpha's Seventh Bride

Emilia’s POV

"You can sleep more than a damn hibernating bear," Sebastian’s voice said, amused and fond.

Without opening my eyes, I kicked out at him. "You’re the hibernating bear."

"Ow..." The hand on my face disappeared. "You’re awake?"

"I was," I mumbled, cracking one eye open to glare at him. "Until you woke me up with your insults."

He was kneeling beside the couch, looking way too pleased with himself. His hair was slightly messy from the wind, and there was color in his cheeks.

I sat up, fully awake now. "Alright, spill. Where did you sneak off to?"

"Sneaking?" He raised an eyebrow. "I left you a note."

"A very bossy note that didn’t actually tell me anything." I crossed my arms. "What were you doing?"

Instead of answering, he started unbuttoning his shirt.

My eyes went wide. "Are you serious right now? You just got back and you’re already... Sebastian, I can barely walk as it is!"

He looked confused for a second, then burst out laughing. "Moon Goddess, Emilia. Not everything is about sex."

"Oh really? Because last night said otherwise..."

"I’m trying to show you something," he interrupted, pulling his shirt open.

I stopped mid-sentence.

His chest was bare. Completely bare.

The tattoo... Abigail’s name... was gone. Not even a trace of ink left.

"Sebastian," I breathed, reaching out to touch his skin. It was smooth and warm under my fingers. "You... you really did it."

He caught my hand, pressing it flat against his chest. His heartbeat was steady and strong under my palm. "I told you I would."

"I know, but I didn’t think you meant..." I looked up at him, my throat tight. "You did this today? This morning?"

"I found a place that could do it right away," he said simply. "Had to pay extra for the emergency appointment, but it was worth it."

I wanted to say something clever, something to lighten the moment, but the words got stuck in my throat. The tattoo had been there for years. A constant reminder of his past, of the woman who’d broken him.

And he’d removed it. For me.

"Hey," Sebastian said softly, tilting my chin up. "Why do you look like you’re about to cry?"

"I’m not crying," I said, even though my eyes were definitely getting wet. "You’re crying."

"I’m definitely not crying." He smiled, brushing his thumb across my cheek. "Though you’re about to make me regret getting rid of it if you’re going to be this emotional about it."

I laughed, wiping my eyes. "Shut up. I’m allowed to be emotional. You just did something really sweet and now I don’t know how to handle it."

"Handle it by kissing me," he suggested.

So I did. I pushed up onto my knees and kissed him hard, pouring all the feelings I couldn’t name into it. He made a surprised sound but quickly recovered, his arms coming around me.

When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, I rested my forehead against his. "Thank you. For this. For everything."

"Remember what I told you that night?" he murmured. "Everything I do for you, I do with my whole heart. This is just the beginning, Emilia."

Eve was practically glowing with happiness, and I couldn’t stop smiling. "I’m really lucky, you know that? To have you as my mate."

"I’m the lucky one," he said, then added with a smirk, "Though I’d feel luckier if you hadn’t kicked me in the ribs just now."

"That was your fault for insulting my sleeping habits."

"Fair enough."

The flight back home felt both too short and too long. I was happy to be going back, but the closer we got, the more nervous I became.

"You’re fidgeting," Sebastian said from beside me, not looking up from his tablet.

"I’m not fidgeting."

"You’ve adjusted your seatbelt three times in the last five minutes."

I stilled my hands. "Okay, maybe I’m a little anxious."

He finally looked at me, setting the tablet aside. "About what?"

"About seeing your parents," I admitted. "We left so suddenly, and now we’re coming back after a week in Paris, and I look like..." I gestured vaguely at myself. "Like someone who spent a week doing nothing but eating pastries and having sex."

Sebastian’s lips twitched. "You did spend a week eating pastries and having sex."

"Sebastian!" I smacked his arm, but I was fighting a smile. "That’s not the point. What are they going to think?"

"They’re going to think their son finally got his head out of his ass and claimed his mate properly," he said, taking my hand. "Which would be correct."

"But what if they’re upset we didn’t tell them we were leaving?"

"Then they’ll get over it." He squeezed my hand. "Emilia, my parents like you. They’re probably going to be thrilled that we’re actually acting like a mated couple now."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He paused, then added with a grin, "Though my mother might cry. She’s been waiting for me to mark you since the day we met."

I touched my neck without thinking, where his mark was now there for good. "Yeah, about that. How exactly do I explain..."

"You don’t have to explain anything," he interrupted. "The mark speaks for itself. And besides, they’re going to be too busy celebrating to ask questions."

As we got close to home, I felt uneasy again. Sebastian noticed and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"They’re definitely going to think something’s wrong with me."

"No, they won’t. They’ll only think something’s wrong with me."

I laughed at that. "You know yourself well. Do you have any idea how hard that time was for me?"

"Of course. You held on and made it through. The others couldn’t, so they had to leave. Like they say, he who laughs last laughs best."

"Pfft..."

On the surface, I acted like I didn’t care. But inside, I was really worried. Sebastian wouldn’t know that behind my smile was a bitterness I couldn’t put into words. It was too early to say who would laugh last.

There were still so many things ahead that no one could see coming.