CHAPTER FOUR

I sat slumped in a high-backed velvet chair.

My palm pressed firmly against my forehead as I stared down at the paper on the table.

It felt as if the ink were mocking me.

Row after row of intricate political geography, complex state economics, and military history.

They stared back at me like a foreign language.

Lifting my head, I looked up at my assigned tutor in absolute confusion.

Then my features twisted into a frustrated scowl.

"I don't know any of this," I protested. My voice echoed sharply in the quiet, closed room.

Kei stood perfectly still beside the desk, hands clasped behind his back.

He merely raised a single, dark eyebrow.

"Even the Beta children know that basic knowledge, Your Highness."

"Basic? You call this basic?!" I narrowed my eyes.

At the same time, my inner Alpha hissed in dissafaction. 'That Beta was belittling us. How dare he, you bite his face now!'

I gripped the feather quill tight in my hands.

After our first and second meeting, I had already decided. I didn't like him that much.

And I didn't want him to think that I was just a meek prince who didn't even have any bones to bite.

Yes, I am aware. I was different from the other Alphas. But I was really trying.

And right now, I wanted him to treat me like one.

'Let's bite him now!'

My mouth twitched at my Alpha violence tendency. 'Shut up, being an Alpha is not all about being physical.'

My Alpha bristle at my words. 'Fucking Omega mindset.' He growled.

I took a deep breath and calmly looked at my tutor. "How am I supposed to know any of this?"

I try again.

"No one has ever taught me this before. It's not a secret that I've spent my entire life lying on my bed."

"Which is exactly the purpose of today's test," Kei replied, his tone entirely unmoved.

"You are to answer what you do know. From there, I will evaluate what you lack and teach you accordingly."

I raised my brows. "You are too formal. The way you talk is like listening with a dead man reciting his life. Please, save the puppet speech for my father."

My inner Alpha screamed inside when we didn't recieves any response.

'Fuck this is really insulting.'

'He's fucking getting on my nerve!'

'Why can't he just fucking show emotions?'

'He's doing this on purpose. He's fucking doing this on purpose!'

"I said, you speak like a puppet, Beta." I repeated slowly.

I could actually heard my heart beating fast as I waited for his reaction.

His face didn't change.

My Alpha let out a frustrated huffed as I give him a fake smiles. "What? Did my father forget to give you a tongue?"

"50 minutes."

My fake smiles falter as I heard his words.

'Fucking 50 minutes. Fuck him. Let me take control.'

I scrunch out my face. 'Listen, we can't just act impulsively here. He is our tutor, and he is our only hope to save our mate.'

'Don't save him. We find another mate.'

"45 minutes.

My Alpha fully take control on me, and let out a bitter, defeated laugh, tossing our head back.

"You damm Beta, you're really getting on my nerves—"

A flash of wood.

Crack!

The blow struck our forearms and cut my Alpha's snarl clean in half.

For half a second, I felt him rise up. Big and furious. Ready to dominate this room.

Then the pain hit.

And he was gone. Thrown back into the dark, leaving me with the ache.

I flinched back as I got my body back, hissing through my teeth as I cradled my arms. "Ow! That... that actually hurts, you cruel!" I cried out, glaring up at the taller man.

'Bitch. Stop whining.'

My face darkened. 'Whining? You left me with the pain, you traitor.'

"Remove your hands from the table," Kei commanded coldly, tapping the stick against his own palm.

"If you cannot manage the simple dignity of proper posture, I find it difficult to believe you can manage a kingdom. Hands off the table. Sit up."

My face flushed a deep, glowing red. Scowling at him, I crossed my arms tightly over my chest.

At the same time, my Alpha once again take back the control. Using our hand, he throw the feather quill off the desk.

It clattered uselessly onto the floor with a sound.

"Listen, you scented Beta! How dare you hit me! You're supposed to be our martial arts instructor." He gritted our teeth. “Now, you listen here. Your job here is to teach how me to fight."

Kei calmly looked down at the discarded quill. Then his cold gaze slowly drifted up to lock onto our eyes.

"If you do not possess the mental capacity to comprehend basic strategy, what are the chances you will stand a chance in a physical defense lesson? A warrior who cannot think is merely a corpse waiting to happen. I will only teach you to fight once you prove you are knowledgeable about the things that matter."

Frustration exploded through our veins.

Pushing past the lingering softness in my legs. He puffed our chest out and stood up abruptly.

Then he let out a low, defensive growl. Taking a threatening step toward our tutor.

'Are you sure about this?' I nervously watched as my Alpha arrogantly stride forward.

My Alpha laughed confidently in my ears as he take more steps. 'This is where you show him your Alpha side.'

But he didn't even get to half cross the distance.

When Kei raised his wooden stick and pressed it directly against our shoulder, stopping us dead in our tracks.

I blinked as the physical pressure pinned us in place.

"Go back to your seat," Kei said, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous tone. "Leash your Alpha and focus on your test."

I blinked again but before I could step back.

My alpha shook my head angrily. 'The sheer audacity of this Beta, ordering me around like this. Like a pup! And did he say you put a leash on me! You put a leash on me!?'

Not even giving me a chance to answer. "You dare to order me around... You dare to order a leash on me!" My Alpha snarled.

But before things turn worse, I decide to take back my control.

"Look, i'm sorry about him." I apologized.

But Kei face remain unchanged. He slowly pulled the stick off my shoulder.

Before stepping forward to invade my personal space.

The sheer size and imposing presence of him forced me to instinctively take a hasty step backward.

I gulped back my saliva, regretting my decisions to be the one to face him at this moment.

'Fuck... he's actually so tall, he could crush me with just his hands–'

'Why the fuck are you backing up now, Mace? You coward, we're the alpha here. You show him or I'll show it to him.'

I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat and puffed out my chest more as I tried to look as intimidating as possible.

"A Beta has absolutely no right to order me around," I hissed, baring my teeth in a desperate display of dominance. "I am an Alpha. And I am your Prince."

Kei didn't flinch. He didn't even blink. Instead, a cold, mocking smirk slowly spread across his handsome face. "Is that so?"

My head automatically nodded as I tilted my chin more with a slight hesitating grin.

I mean, I was not sure if he was being sarcastic or not but I still stood in my place. "Yes, and as your Alpha I order–"

"In your seat. Now."

My shoulders slightly slumped back as I flush under his dominating gaze. 'Right, back at my seat–'

'What the fuck are you doing now, coward!'

I paused as I heard my inner Alpha curse, and realize I almost fell for his fake authority.

I glared at him, a sudden, desperate thought crossing my mind. 'Alpha! Alpha! We're an Alpha..'

Gritting my teeth, I tried to push past my physical limitations and force my Alpha pheromones to flood the room.

Attempting to project an aura of absolute command that would force a mere Beta to drop to his knees.

But with my scent being too weak, too fragile, and completely lacking. It did nothing.

Kei still stood there, completely unaffected, with his cold annoying smirk never fading.

My lips formed into a thin line. "I won't listen to someone who is lower than me," I murmured, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to sound mighty like my inner Alpha

But Kei leaned down slightly, the fresh, sun-kissed grass scent of his presence subtly sharpening in the air.

I slightly avoided his gaze by looking at his hair instead.

"Wanna see how low a lower person can go when a prince test his patience?" He smirked. "Go ahead, keep talking."

My eyes widened in shock, my earlier bravado finally fled.

I stumbled back another step. My back hitting the edge of my table desk. "Y-you..." I pointed at his face.

"It's that a threat? I will tell the king! I-I will.... will tell my father that you're threatening me! It's a crime! A...and you'll pay."

Kei's expression instantly wiped clean of any amusement. Returning to that terrifying, impenetrable mask of stone.

"Sit down, now."

I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms. The bitter taste of reality flooded my mouth. I knew I couldn't do anything.

I had no political leverage, no real knowledge, and absolutely zero fighting skills.

I was entirely at this man's mercy.

'If threatening him with my father didn't work, what else could I do but to stay silent?'

'And my acting earlier didn't even worked at all. Those novels from room that features those standard alpha is not so accurate. I just waste time practicing on my mirror.'

Lowering my head, I slumped back into my chair, my voice dropping to a defeated murmur.

"The King will not like how you're treating me..."

I didn't bothered to act brave again, completely ignoring my inner Alpha curses.

Kei stared down at me, his golden eyes boring into the top of my head.

"The King," Kei murmured, his voice laced with a dark, chilling promise, "will have absolutely no idea of what I want to do to you right now."

My breath slowed. The subtle danger in those words sent a shiver straight down my body, paralyzing any remaining urge to protest.

Fearing what might happen if I pushed any further. I quietly gripped the edge of my seat, lowering my face completely to avoid looking at the terrifying man standing over me.

The silence in the room stretched for a long, suffocating minute.

The only sound was the frantic, uneven beating of my own heart. And the frantic, continues threatening words from my inner Alpha.

Unable to bear the tension, I slowly, and cautiously tilted my chin up. Trying to peek through my eyelashes to see if my tutor had turned away.

He hadn't.

Kei was already looking straight at me.

His intense, calculating gaze fixed unblinkingly on my face.

But as he shifted his weight. The collar of his uniform suddenly pulled slightly to the side.

My breath trapped itself in my throat.

Because there, hidden just beneath the edge of his high collar on his neck...

Was an angry red mark peeking through.

And, I knew what this familiar permanent mark meant.

My inner Alpha grew quiet. As we both stared deeply at it.

My mark flared with a burning pain.