MALIA’S POV
My gaze moved from my food to his face multiple times during my eating session. I had no idea why he had a genuine interest in staring at mine. Or perhaps he was staring at my face. I never could tell cause the moment I turned to look at him, he had his eyes facing the other side of the room.
When I got tired of the little game we were playing I got up and excused myself. I could feel his gaze on me as I walked to the door. I stepped out of the room and called to the guard at the other end of the hallway.
“The Alpha would like to have the same thing as me,” I told the guard. All I got in reply was a curt nod and then he left for the kitchen.
I retreated back into the room and continued to munch on my meal like nothing had happened. A few minutes later, the guard arrived with a tray filled up with food even much more than mine. He bowed deeply and placed it in front of his leader.
Ryder gazed at the food for a long time and then his gaze shifted to me in question.
“What?” I shrugged. “You have been staring at mine, so I figured out you needed yours too” I defended myself and resumed eating.
I thought he wasn’t going to eat but surprisingly, he began to eat. I hid my smile behind a glass of wine and got on with mine. When I was done, he was halfway through so I excused myself and wished him a good night’s rest. Men just don’t know what they want until you point it out to them, he was hungry.
With a fulfilled heart and stomach, I made my way back into my room only to be greeted by Ronan standing with his hands folded behind his back and looking through the window at the starless night sky. The lonely moon was only able to cast a gloomy light on his face.
“Ronan?” I called him, my movement skeptical. I wasn’t sure what he was doing inside my room by this time of the night.
“Where are you coming from?” He asked still refusing to turn to me.
I opened my mouth to come up with an excuse but decided against it mainly because he might as well had known where I had been. If he went through this hallway to get to my room then definitely he must have heard our voices from within Ryder’s room so lying was useless.
“I was with Ryder, in his room” I answered, trying to sound as nonchalant as I could.
He was quiet and for a moment I thought he hadn’t heard what I said and wanted to repeat. I opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it.
“What did I tell you to do when it comes to him?”
The way he said “him” with so much disgust, I would have sworn that the person been referred to wasn’t his brother.
“Err…. I didn’t know it was that serious” I raised my two hands to signify just how confused I was at his sudden outburst.
“You don’t know it was that serious? Are you seriously kidding me right now?” He yelled in disbelief. Well, it wasn’t me who was going to answer that because that was below my standard of respect.
“I sat you down and told you that whatever you are going to do around here, just stay away from him. Try and keep your distance and do not engage in anything that involves him. Wasn’t that what I told you?” He asked again but didn’t get even a nod from me.
“Why then did you have to go ahead to his bedroom for dinner? Isn’t that too extreme for the first day? It seems you do not understand the gravity of what I am talking about” He finally left where he was standing in front of the door and started roaming around the room.
“To me, it looks like you are blowing this way out of proportion and you should probably calm down and see this from my own perspective” I tried to calm him down.
“Ryder is my brother. I have known him all my life and you do not have to tell me there is something new I should be seeing in him. I know him like the back of my hands and you should believe anything I tell you about him” He said, suddenly standing in front of me.
“I think we both have a different perspective of him. He is your brother, quite alright, I am not arguing with that and you also know him more than I do that is certain. But I am yet to see that bad side of him that you are trying to make me see. You are forgetting the fact that he saved me when I needed help the most. He’s my savior, do you think I am ever going to forget that?” I retorted and waited for his reply. If he thought he could come into my room and talk me down, then he really should think again.
“That event is in the past, Malia. Anyone could have saved you as long as the moon goddess willed it, there is nothing great about that, damn it! Why are you acting this way?” He ran his hands through his hair, suddenly portraying a type of anger I never knew he had.
“Yes, it is” I nodded in agreement. “And you are also right. Anyone could have saved me but he did and I am not forgetting that. And I never would, because instead of anyone else, he did save me” I said, standing my ground.
“You are going to regret this, you are fuckin’ going to regret this” He shook his head like someone who had seen the future and then stormed out of my room, banging the door behind him.