CHAPTER THREE

MALACHI’s POV.

I know women to be frivolous but I didn’t expect her to jump into the arms of another man the moment I left the house. I am clearly not interested in her but the fact that the entire thing is inevitable.

“Put me down,” She yells, biting and clawing at me. Her voice is sharp, royal and a hint of being used to obedience but the fact still remains. As long as she is connected to me, she is not allowed to be near anyone.

I don’t stop until we get to the car and this is when I finally put her down. She stumbles back before straightening herself, daring to look me in the eyes. Yeah If she is someone else, I wouldn’t have thought twice before disciplining her but she is a princess and that’s why I am trying to accord her that level of respect.

“What the heck do you think you are doing?” Tanika yells, “how dare you touch me? Do you have a death wish? Do you realize I am the princess of this country? I could have you beheaded for even daring to look at me,” she is fuming, the fast rise and fall of her chest does not go unnoticed by me.

She keeps on mumbling while I keep looking at her. Nothing she says matters to me. If I have my way, I will not even spare her any kind of glance.

“Who do you think you are, Malachi?” She yells again, “how dare you touch me in that kind of manner?”

“Watch your tone!”

Maybe she has forgotten for a moment that I can take her father off that throne. What is wrong with me did not put a hold on my abilities as the incoming alpha king.

“You—

For a brief moment, everything overlaps again and I find myself tightening my grip. My mind drifts back to eight years ago. On that particular day, it happened so fast that I still have not been able to comprehend it.

That night when I killed her. I hadn’t planned it but it happened. I caught her in bed with another man, my best friend and beta. He was fucking the hell out of her but somehow I was the one who got punished for it. My wife cheated on me but I was the one living with the curse for as long as I can remember.

Now seeing another human woman in front of me makes me very angry. She reminds me of everything that has happened in the past but somehow she is the only person I can actually be with.

My anger skyrockets as her voice reaches me again.

“Do not forget you are in cane—city and I can have my father ask you to leave,”

“Tamika,” my voice is low and lethal, I can feel my hands physically shaking, “the next time you speak to me like I am one of your palace guards, I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your life. Do you hear me?”

“Do not—

“I did not ask you to speak,” I interrupt her again, “you listen when I speak”

Her jaw clenches tight but she doesn’t say anything, her gaze never leaving me. She looks like she is studying me, trying to get in my head. People like her are manipulative, trying to think they have it all together. The ones who try to use their power to turn things around. I have watched her for five years, I know exactly what she is like.

Tamika is not my first choice for a human bride but she is the only choice, an idea that makes me really upset. Left for me, I will not even spare her another glance.

“I have already called the marriage bureau and they are waiting for us. I will give your father a call later and we can have the real ceremony anytime they visit us. Do you understand that?”

Tamika scoffs, folding her hands across her chest. I stare down at her finger for a moment and I scoff. It is pressed tightly against her skin, a clear contrast of the composure she claims she has.

Not like I was not expecting this part of her. Every family had a rebellious child and she was that. I have seen her escapades in the last five years, even up until this moment. No one would have recognized she was the princess but somehow, the image of her had been imprinted in my mind, I can never forget it—I can never forget that one encounter.

Natural silver hair, dark blue eyes that look like the deep ocean and that tattoo on her neck. I remember the day she got it.

“You can’t just marry me like that, Malachi. I am not one of your—“ her voice cut through my train of thought, pulling me back to the present.

I don’t wait for her to finish. I immediately pull out my phone and dial a familiar number and in no time, her father’s voice pops up.

“Malachi,” his voice rings out.

“I changed my mind,” I say, “I think we should have our marriage registered today. The earlier we get married and she births a son, the better for us”

I see as eyes almost bulge out of their socket but I don’t say anything to her, my attention remains on the man that is speaking from the other end of the line.

“It is fine by me,” her father replies, “as long as the alliance is formed”

The old man does not care, as long as I keep to my own end of the deal. Allow me to marry your daughter and I will give you all the weapons you need. He jumped right at the offer, oblivious of what this marriage entailed.

“Dad?” She calls out but then, I have already slipped the phone into my pocket.

“Do you need any more conviction?”

“Over my dead body,” she hisses—she might mean it.

“You better take your sorry excuse of a marriage and get the hell out of my face. I am fast losing my patience,”

This is when I grab her neck and yank her closer. Our faces are only a few inches away from each other. Patience they say is a virtue but that is one virtue I do not have. The urge to snap her neck in half envelopes me but I kept my cool.

“What do you mean a baby?” Tamika continues, “I have not even agreed to get married to you yet and you are already talking about a baby? Are you for real?”

I heave a sigh as I keep looking at her. People fear me, people fear to talk in front of me but this woman—she is getting on my nerves so much and I am about to lose my cool.

“You are not in control here, Malachi,” she begins to speak again, “you better kill me now because I am not—

“One year,” I blurt out and her forehead creases into a slight frown, “we will only be married for a year and we are done. This is not a marriage of love or anything. You do not have to do anything for me. Do you understand that? I already explained everything to your father.”

“What?”

“You heard me, Tamika. I do not like to repeat myself.

“I am not—

“After one year, you can go back to your boyfriend if he still wants you.”

“You are sick in the head,” she half yells and turns around to leave but I grab a hold of her hand. My jaw clenches tighter but it’s not like I can choose someone else.

“If not you, I can not marry anyone else,” I finally drop the bombshell, “you are the only thing standing between me and what I have become,” I add again and the look of confusion on her face intensifies.

“What are you even saying?”

“Agree to marry me and everyone is happy. Refuse and face the consequences.”