Malia’s POV
I woke up feeling particularly energetic. I rolled out of bed and did a couple of sensual yoga stretches. Of course, my stomach growled to let me know that it was also awake and ready to be fed.
I reached for my phone and dialled Penelope’s number. She didn’t answer at first. I tried again and she picked up on the fourth ring.
“Hello,” she answered groggily and I giggled.
“The guest is supposed to be awake before you,” I said and she snorted.
“Why the hell are you up so early?” She queried.
I chuckled. “The question should be why the hell am I so hungry this early,” I replied.
She scoffed. “Now I understand your real motivation for giving me a call this morning. I’m hanging up. Bye.”
The line went dead before I could say anything and I pouted like a three-year-old.
For a moment I considered bothering her by just calling her phone numerous times but thought better of it. Penelope was as cruel as she was kind and I knew she wasn’t going to hesitate to get her revenge on me.
I decided to take my bath and just focus on giving myself a tour of the palace with the hope that I wouldn’t end up getting lost.
After a cool shower, I slipped into a pair of yoga pants and a crop top. This time I shod my feet with a pair of open-toe fluffy bedroom slippers.
Yes, it was meant to be worn in the bedroom and not for a tour around the palace but I didn’t care.
I was choosing comfort for the day and not what was proper for a certain situation or occasion.
I took one last look at myself in the mirror and exited the closet. I opened my room door and came face to face with Ryder. My heart skipped a beat as I took in his ruggedly handsome features.
His green eyes dropped to my cleavage and I felt my nipples tingle in response.
He smirked and walked off without saying a word to me. I desperately wanted to run after him but I was too proud to do that. I didn’t care if he never spoke to me again. I could live with that.
I turned in the opposite direction and walked through like a hundred (just exaggerating, but there were lots of passageways) hallways.
I tried opening several doors too. Most of which were locked. The few that were open turned out to be empty.
I got to a particular door and turned the handle.
I was sort of excited when the door creaked open. I was eager to know what was in it and hoped that it wasn’t empty like the other rooms with unlocked doors.
I slipped in and gasped in surprise as Ronan turned to face me. He was bare-chested apart from the apron that hung from his neck.
In one hand was a painting brush held somewhat daintily with his fingers and his other hand carried a palette.
“Fancy seeing you here. I thought you said you didn’t own a gallery,” I said, gesturing to the finished paintings all around the room.
“How did you even find this room?” He asked, his puzzlement creasing his forehead.
“Well, I just decided to take a tour,” I answered with a grin and proceeded to walk around the room and feed my eyes with the paintings.
“Do you do this every morning?” I asked, looking at a painting of the former Alpha.
Apart from the difference in their eye colours, Ryder was his carbon copy.
“No. I woke up this morning feeling particularly restless, so I decided to come here,” he answered.
“And torment the poor canvas,” I added and he chuckled.
“I guess you can say that,” he said.
“What’s making you so restless?” I queried.
I heard him sigh deeply.
“I really wish I could tell you, Malia, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
Naturally, I felt curious and I returned to where he was busy painting. “And why can’t you tell me? You’re not planning to murder someone are you?”
His lips quirked in amusement. “I wouldn’t tell you if I was planning to do something like that because I know you’re surely going to talk me out of it,” he replied.
“So it’s not something bad then,” I said and he nodded.
“I guess you can say that.”
I shook my head knowing that I wasn’t going to get him to say anything. He seemed to have made up his mind about not telling me.
“Aren’t you going to the training field today?” I queried.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” he replied.
“Why the hell are you being so cryptic today?” I asked in mild frustration.
To my annoyance, he grinned. He seemed to be enjoying my frustration at his lack of openness. It was really unlike him.
“Well, since you’ve decided not to communicate with me, I’m just going to leave you be,” I said.
“You should stay,” he said when I reached the door.
I heard the silent plea in his voice and turned to face him with a small smile on my face. I walked slowly towards him.
“You really can’t tell me what’s bothering you right?” I asked.
He sighed and shook his head.
“It’s okay,” I said, trying not to feel bad because my friend wouldn’t tell me what was on his mind.
I focused on the canvas he was painting on and watched with fascination as his fingers wielded the brush expertly.
“Do you wish to become Luna again?” He asked suddenly and I blinked in surprise at his question.
“If this is about your brother, I…,” I began but he cut me short.
“It’s not about my brother. I just want to know what you really want. I want to know your desires. Where you want to be in the near future.”
I was speechless for a moment at the intensity of his speech then I cleared my throat and tried to think of what I truly wanted.
“To be honest, I did enjoy being a Luna. I felt a sense of purpose in taking care of the women. Empowering them. Defending them. I wouldn’t mind being in that position again. Only if I could find a cure to this curse.”
“I thought as much,” he murmured and then turned to face me. “You’ll be Luna, Malia. You deserve it.”The burning intensity in his eyes unsettled me.
I snorted. “Yeah. Like it’s that easy to become one.”
He smirked. “You’ll see, Malia. You just have faith,” he replied.
“Well, this isn’t suspicious at all,” I said and he chuckled.
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing you should be worried about.”
He returned to his painting and after a few more strokes of his brush, my mouth fell open as I realized what the splash of colours had turned out to be.
“This is beautiful,” I whispered as my eyes took in the painting of the conservatory filled with poisonous flowers. It was perfect.
“I wish I had half of your talent,” I said and he grinned.
“Come on, Malia. I’m sure you’re really good at some things that I am terrible at.”
I snorted. “Indeed. The only thing I think I can do better than you is eat.”
As if on cue, my stomach growled loudly and we both burst out laughing.
“I guess I’ll be the one feeding you this morning,” he said as he took off his apron stained with different colours of paint.
I was distracted by his muscular chest and rock-hard abs for a moment. I was just a girl after all.
He moved closer to me until I could feel the heat from his body. I took a step back and mentally berated myself.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I also drool when I see myself in the mirror.”
I scoffed. “Don’t be so full of yourself.”
“That’s impossible. It’ll be termed a demonic possession if I’m full of something or someone else,” he joked.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. I don’t care. All I want to do right now is eat,” I said, walking towards the door.
I heard him mutter ‘foodie’ under his breath but chose not to respond.
We got to his chambers and the first thing I noticed was that the painting he had of me on the wall was gone. I was curious about it but chose not to comment. It wasn’t like I really cared though a small part of me was hurt.
I followed him into his kitchen and took an apple from the fridge.
“Hope you like sausage pasta skillet?” He asked and I rolled my eyes.
“Do I look like someone who hates any kind of food?”
He smiled as he began setting out the ingredients for the meal.
“No Malia, thanks for asking, I do not need your help,” he said sarcastically.
I giggled. “Trust me, it’s better if I do not offer to help. You seem way better at this than I am.”
“I highly doubt that,” he replied. “Do you mean to tell me that you never cooked for your ex-husband?” He queried.
I was quiet for a moment. I kind of missed cooking for Zade. It was one of the ways I expressed how much I loved him.
“I’m sorry I asked. Let’s talk about something else.”