Ronan’s POV
I would have gone back to Malia’s room but I thought I heard her chatting to someone, most likely, Penelope.
I noticed that they were becoming closer by the day. I was still kind of surprised by Malia’s humility.
Even though she had been a Luna, she didn’t choose her friends according to status.
I could not imagine someone like Lila becoming friends with a servant.
I made my way to my wing and lay down on my bed immediately I got in.
My mind went back to the discussion Ryder and I had just had.
He made it seem as though I was the one who didn’t want our sister to return to the palace.
I didn’t remember ever saying anything like that. Maybe he was just trying to mess with me or shift the blame on me.
Maybe he had also shared our father’s thought that she was the cause of our mother’s death.
I sighed and tried to lull myself to sleep. After a frustrating hour of tossing and turning on the bed, I accepted defeat and threw the covers off me.
I decided I needed to talk to someone so I went in search of Derek and Scott.
They weren’t at the guards’ quarters. One of the other guards mentioned that I might find them on the training field.
As I made my way to the training field, I wondered why he’d be there by that time. It was nearly 7 pm.
As I neared the field, I heard the clashing of weapons and grunts. My eyes widened slightly in surprise when I saw who he was training with.
“I thought you were going to take about four more days of rest before you start training,” I said.
I stood not too close to them to avoid being hit. I remembered the time Ryder and I used to train before Lucien forbade us from ever training together.
Whenever we trained or fought, it was always as though we wanted to kill each other. Maybe we did want to kill each other.
Lucien and the others got scared that one day during training, we actually might, so he stopped us from training together.
The Gamma made an expert move and Scott fell to the ground with the pointy tip of Lucien’s weapon close to his throat.
“You’re dead,” he announced victoriously before dropping his weapon to the floor and helping Scott up.
They were both panting hard but Scott looked like he was about to pass out.
I looked at Lucien accusingly.
He chuckled. “Don’t look at me like that. I was on my own when he came and challenged me. Perhaps he was thinking that my vacation would have made me weaker.”
I arched an eyebrow at Scott who had plopped down on the ground.
He shrugged. “It would’ve been Derek but he travelled immediately after training in the afternoon. He said it was an emergency.”
I was just thinking about the best way to punish him for travelling without my permission when my phone rang.
I took it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was Derek. I rolled my eyes before picking it up and raised the phone to my ear.
“You know what you did has consequences, right?” I asked.
“I’m really sorry,” he replied from the other end. “I wasn’t thinking. My aunt called to tell me that my mom was really sick and wanted to see me.”
“I got scared and the only thing I was thinking about was how she mustn’t die. I’m sorry I didn’t ask your permission,” he finished.
I felt sorry for him at once. It was obvious he wasn’t himself. His usually cheery voice was filled with sadness and he sounded like he was close to tears.
“It’s okay Derek. Fuck the permission. Take good care of your mom,” I replied.
“I will. Thanks, man,” he said.
“And yourself,” I added.
“Yeah. I got to go now,” he replied.
“Okay,” I said, but he had already hung up.
I put my phone back in my pocket.
“What’s up with him?” Lucien asked.
“His mom is really sick and he had to go to her,” I answered.
Scott’s face fell and Lucien sighed.
“I hope she gets better. His mother means the world to him. He’d be devastated if she doesn’t survive this,” Scott said.
He got to his feet. “I need to go crash now. Please forgive me if I’m late for training tomorrow,” he said.
“Scott, you must be the first one here tomorrow or you’re going to jog a hundred laps,” Lucien threatened.
I watched as Scott’s face paled slightly and I tried not to laugh.
He nodded and walked off towards the palace.
“You’re mean,” I commented with a smile.
He chuckled. “Poor boy is probably wishing I had not cut my vacation short.”
“Or he’s wishing you were the one who had fallen ill instead of Derek’s mom,” I added.
He laughed.
“Why did you come here anyway or do you also train at night?” He asked.
I took a deep breath. “My brother had a talk with me and as expected, he ruined my mood. So I went in search of my friends to put me in lighter spirits. I was told I’d find them here.”
He regarded me with his piercing gaze for a moment.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Did you know that the woman the Alpha of the Silver Crescent Moon Pack is searching for is in the palace?” He asked.
There was no point in lying. “I take it you’ve met Malia.”
“Why do you think the Alpha is searching for her?”
“I have no idea,” I answered. “Maybe my brother might know,” I wisely said.
“Yeah right,” he replied. “Your brother and I talked about it and he claims that she was a servant who was sexually abused by the Alpha.”
That wasn’t what I had expected Ryder to come up with. My eyes widened in surprise.
“I take it you didn’t know about that,” he said, thinking that I was surprised because it was a fact I didn’t know about.
I nodded. “When Ryder brought her to the palace, he only introduced her as his guest. He didn’t tell me anything else.”
“I see,” he replied. “Anyway, we’re not going to be revealing her picture anymore. But like I told your brother, there are members of this pack who are visiting other packs currently. And her picture will definitely be shared with the public there. So they’ll see it.”
“I’m sure my brother will know how to handle that,” I replied.
“Well, he seems to have it all figured out,” he replied. “We’ll see how it goes.”