Chapter 9

I sat on the couch and was eating a slice of bacon with the tv on when a knock came. I walked to the door and it was Beta Markus again. "Are you ready?" He asked. "Yes." He nodded and started to walk away. I followed behind him trying to memorize the way we were going. We went down to the first floor and took a left to the office I was in yesterday. We walked in and the King was there sitting in his massive chair. Everything was cleaned and the door to the balcony was even replaced. "LeeAca, have a seat. There are some things we need to discuss." King Alarick said nonchalantly. I took a seat in one of the chairs across from his desk and Beta Markus sat in the other. I gave him a questioning look but kept my mouth shut and schooled my expression. "We need to talk about the arrangement. I chose you because you are exactly who I need." I sat not moving and not saying a thing. Only waiting for him to continue. "I only need a woman who will play the part of Luna. I will mark you for the crowning ceremony, but we will not complete the mating process. We will never be intimate. This will be a business deal. I will be intimate with others, and I need someone who will not care. One who will not get jealous and one who will not fall in love with me and vice versa. You LeeAca, you are this woman." Fen starts screaming in my head. "WHAT THE F*CK DID HE JUST SAY? WHO THE F*CK DOES HE THINK HE IS GOD? F*CK HIM LETS KILL HIM." Ignoring her, I think of my rational response. "And what if I do not agree to this?" I ask. "There is no room for disagreement. I need a queen and you have already been announced. If you do not agree you will be killed." He answers. "Well that's an enticing offer, your highness, but I have some problems with what you are wanting in this arrangement, so go ahead and kill me." I say with no emotion. Beta Markus starts to panic a little and the King only gets irritated. "What are your problems with the arrangement?" He grits out. "For one, I will not be looked at with pity when you have other women in your bed. You will need to have them sign a contract stating that they are not to talk of it under no circumstance. My image is not to be tarnished. If you do not show respect then your people will not. Secondly, you will obviously need to keep whomever you are entertaining in private. Lastly you will not mark me at the crowning ceremony. We will need to figure out another way to make it look like I am marked." I say to him, leaving no room for argument. His aura starts to radiate off of him making the Beta shrink back in his chair. He is very angry, "YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" He yells. "I am in a position to amend a contract that we will be agreeing to. Those are my requirements. You can choose to kill me if you would like, but you won't". I say. "AND HOW do you know that I wont?" He asks in a dangerously low voice. "You won't kill me. You only kill people who are threats to you and your kingdom. And I am no threat. Plus I am the only woman who would agree to this sort of thing." I say matter of factly. "FINE." He grits out. Alarick's POV Once she walked out of the office Markus looked nervously at me. "She is uh different." He starts. "Yes. That is why I chose her." I answer him. "Are you actually going to go along with this?" He asks. "Yes. It is the best way to get the council off my back." I say irritatedly. "Right. But what about your second chance?" He asks me. "I don't want a second chance Markus. Mates are a weakness." I state matter of factly. "They are not a weakness. They bring out the best in you. They give you a chance to be happy Rick. Why can't you see that we all just want you to be happy?" He argues. "I am happy." I state, getting more and more irritated. "You call forcing a woman to be queen happy. You would have never done that before. When we were kids.." Before he could finish his statement I interrupted him. "When we were kids we were naive. You lost your mate as I did mine. You of all people should know nobody, not even a second chance would be able to live up to the expectations of your first mate." I say. "We don't know that Rick. Neither of us has been able to find our second chance." He says. "Correction. You have not been able to find your second chance. I have not been looking. Even so, if I do find her, I will reject her." I state. "You wouldn't reject her. You are too kind to do that. You don't want to hurt people and rejection would hurt an innocent person. Just because Katherine died.." Before he could finish I interrupted him again. "She DIDN'T just die. She was working with the rogues and I killed her. I killed my destined mate. You don't think that that takes a toll on somebody." I state, my voice rising with each word. Markus looks down and sighs. "At least give LeeAca a chance to find her mate. Everybody deserves to find their mate, she is not an exception. This life you wish for her to live is harsh. Being queen, but not actually being a true queen with her king is hard." He says. I feel guilt start to rack me. Maybe he is right. Everybody deserves to find their mate. Just because mine was a b*tch and I do not want another one, doesn't mean that she is the same. I should have done more research on her before I chose her. Chose anybody. "You're possibly right. Instead of giving her a choice though I want to know her history. IF it turns out that she had a mate I will not make any adjustments, but if she does not, I will give her a choice to find them if she wishes." I say and my heart constricts a little. She infuriates me but intrigues me at the same time. I can't seem to control my emotions with her around.