A Year to Hate My Alpha:( bound by curse and vows)

TAMIKA POV.

From the balcony, I watch as the Maybach pulls into the compound and he steps out of the car. He is clearly different from how my father had described him—just that he is taller than I had imagined.

This man looks sturdy in the black tux he is wearing. His hair is slicked back to perfection and even from the balcony, I can see the tattoo on his neck. I peel my gaze away from his neck and rest it on his face.

His face was quietly handsome. The kind that didn’t demand attention but had it anyways. His jawline is sharp and I fear it would nick me if I run my fingers through it.

Just before he steps into the house, he looks up at the balcony and our eyes meet. I don’t look away and neither does he. I already know who he is and I am sure he already knows who I am.

My mind drifted off to last night and I let out a sigh. I was reading a book in the library when the door opened and my father stepped in.

“Your mother told me you are here,” he said, lowering himself in the space in front of me. To the outside world, he was the king of Cane-city but to me he was my father.

“What do you want, dad?” I asked when he didn’t say anything for a few minutes, he only kept staring at me. I celebrated my twenty years birthday a few days ago and I already have a feeling of what he was about to say.

For someone born into a royal family, I knew there was a lot at stake. People like us never did anything out of love, it was always about something or another. For my father to look at me this way, I knew it was about something.

“Someone is asking for your hand in marriage, Celeste,” he finally dropped the bombshell and my heart skipped a beat. I was expecting everything but this was not one of them, not even in the slightest. Marriage? This was the last thing on my mind at the moment. I was just twenty years old, how did this even become a topic for discussion.

“Malachi Steene,” he continued and my disappointment hung thick in the air. That name, I was well aware of it. He was the owner of the biggest automobile company in America and its environs. Malachi was like an unreachable height, one that is only talked about but not seen.

“He is the one asking for your hand in marriage,”

“I will not marry him,” I blurted. I didn’t even think twice about it. Even if I knew my marriage was inevitable, I couldn’t marry someone like that, “he is not the man I want to marry”

“It’s not like we have a choice, dear,” my father continued, “do you know how many families want to shove their daughters down his throat?”

“So why am I the one you are choosing dad?” I asked, finally closing my book, “you can choose anyone for him. You are the king, no one can treat you in such a way…

My thoughts are interrupted and I look up to see Amanda beside me. Amanda is my personal maid and someone I call my best friend. From the look on her face, I can already guess what is going on.

“Your mother asks that you come downstairs,” she says.

“I do not wish to see him, Amanda," I tell her in all sincerity, “I do not wish to be married to someone like him”

“But you can come downstairs and say that to his face,” she says, “you can’t reject him from up here”

I let out another sigh. It’s one thing to not want to marry him and it’s another thing to defile my father’s orders.

“Fine,” I roll my eyes to the back of my head before turning and making my way out. I am not particularly dressed for the occasion but I am not looking to impress Malachi Steene so I just make my way out of the room.

The three of them are seated in the living room when I walk in. His eyes immediately meet mine and I see hate spilling out of it. If he hates me that much, why the heck is he here to marry me?

“This is not how to come meet someone, Tamika,” my mother says but I don’t say anything to her.

"This is my daughter, Tamika" he begins to talk and Malachi's gaze drifts to me again. This time, I see amusement in his eyes. He looks like he had found something interesting to keep him busy.

I peer at him, making out the tiny scar that runs through his left eye. For a moment, I am left wondering what he did to have his beautiful face scarred like that.

"So she is the one I will be getting married to?" He asks, his deep baritone ringing out.

"Of course," father answers, "she is the one,"

"I haven't said I was going to marry him," I blurt out and all eyes turn to me, Including Amanda who is standing beside me, "you have made the plans you want but you have not asked for my opinion yet. I do not wish to get married to him"

"Tamika, you-

"Choice stopped being part of this the moment I walked in here princess," Malachi interrupts my father as he pulls his huge body off the couch. He is even taller than I had thought, over 6ft.

"You and I are a done deal already, princess" he adds. Now he is standing face to face with me, his eyes peering deep into mine. He looks like he wants to snatch my soul and shatter it into a million pieces. There is something about him that unsettles me so badly—I want to run away.

“You can’t just come into my father’s house and tell me what you want,”

I stand my ground. I do not allow his intimidating look to get to me.

“Tomorrow,” he says, turning to my father, “we will have the marriage certificates ready by tomorrow. When the royal family is ready, we will have a wedding ceremony then,”

“Of course” father nods as his face breaks into a tiny smile.

Gosh! What the heck is happening? Why are the two of them making preparations like I am not here in the room? I hate Malachi the more, I hate men who try to use their powers to their own advantage.

“We will be expecting,” my mother finally speaks up. Before I can say anything, Malachi turns around and makes his way out of the room, leaving me and my parents.

“What the heck was that?” I half yell, “how can you—

“That’s the only way to keep the kingdom safe,” father interrupts me, “Amanda will get you ready for tomorrow. Do not throw any tantrum,”

He stands up and leaves and I just remain there, anger surging through my veins.