MALIA’S POV
I haven’t had the opportunity to spend quality time with him but for the short time we’ve spent together, I knew one thing for sure. He was a light-headed person so seeing him turn serious all of a sudden frankly took me by surprise.
But instead of reacting, I decided it was best to just stay cool and hear more of what he meant.
“I am still yet to understand the point you are trying to make. You can’t possibly just tell me to stay away from him without presenting your reason to me. I told you that he saved me from death. I should be giving it my best to repay him and staying away from him certainly isn’t one of the ways to” I pronounced out each word with utmost care.
He ruffled his hair, getting it everywhere around his face, and then tried to comb it back with his hand again. He looked baffled as though he was trying to decide if truly he should tell me what was on his mind or not.
“I know we haven’t met for long but you can trust me” Slowly raising my hand, I put it on top of us on the table and stared at him dead in the eyes.
“Alright listen here,” He finally snapped. “I know he saved you and that surely is a part that you shouldn’t let go of but you need to be very careful about how you operate around him. Ryder might be the Alpha but he is surely not who you think he is. He is not what a lot of people think he is. He is my brother And I know what I am saying.
As much as you can, just try to stay away from him. Don’t have meals with him, avoid him as much as you can, and maybe at some point he will get uninterested and let you be”
Instead of revealing anything, his statement confused me even more.
“I am still failing to understand what you are insinuating. You are not telling me why I should stay away from him” I said, my gaze still fixed on him.
He opened his mouth to speak but shut it up again, repeating the process several times before finally settling on what to say.
“This isn’t about you, okay? This is him. The problem is with him and telling you will mean getting you involved and that is the last thing I want to do.” He said.
“I do not want you tangled in his bullshit. Just watch your steps and do not fall victim to his traps”
His words shook me up a bit, although I tried not to show it. It made me realize In the deepest pit of my mind just how little I knew about him and the dread that followed after was horrific.
“You talked about losing interest. I need a bit of enlightenment in that area. You don’t mean he is interested in me, do you?” I asked just to get rid of the initial uncomfortable conversation and to genuinely get my answer for this.
“Ha,” He chuckled. “Ryder never does things without a reason. Of course he saved you for his own benefit.” he said.
“I thought you would have figured that out by now, or, am I rating you more than you deserve?” His question somehow sounded offensive but the look in his eyes confirmed to me that he didn’t mean it in an insulting manner so I held my tongue.
“But he has a mistress, doesn’t he? I gather that he will be getting married to her in a few weeks or so” I backed up my argument.
“Another person you should stay away from. Even farther than from my brother. He is the snake but she is the real devil, she is the poison contained in him. Don’t mess with her”
“Oh!” I scratched my nape. “I must have already gotten into her bad books. But I have been warned and I am planning on keeping away from her just like you said now”
“Good, cause no one can get you out of her dread, not even me. So stay away”
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why would your brother want me when he already has someone he was planning on getting married to?” it just didn’t make sense
“With power, you can do anything, Malia. You have been in a stage of power, you should know how it feels without me having to explain. He could easily just take her aside and pick you. There is nothing she or anyone else can do, he is the overall leader of this place” He clarified.
“Well…. this isn’t what I was expecting”
“A lot of things turn out to be not how we expected them to be but one thing you should know is that, even if it is just for a second, sometimes we have the power to decide what happens in our lives although most times we aren’t aware of such power. But one thing is clear, you have the power to control your own life at the moment, make use of it the most rightful way, and do not allow the fact that he saved you get in your way if acting right”
As he spoke, I continued to stare at him. I might refuse to come to terms with him for as long as I can, but one thing is for sure, he only spoke sensible words and my mind told me that if I did not stick to them, I was going to gravely regret it shortly.
“I will try, I will avoid him as much as I can and just stick to my newly found hobby” I responded.
“Sword fighting, you mean?” He arched his brows.
“You!” I yelled and reached out to hit him. “You were there!” My face was filled with happiness as I spoke.
“You could say that” He shrugged.
And tonight I have just stroke someone out of the list of those I considered close allies. It was not Ronan and it was certainly not Derek.