MALIA’S POV
I was immediately filled with a sense of guilt and released her from my hug. I had been so selfish and hadn’t even thought of how she was going to feel being apart from her mate throughout the night.
“What’s wrong, Malia?” She queried, her eyes filled with concern.
I took her hands in mine. “Thank you so much for being such a good friend to me. I called for you and you came. But I shouldn’t have done that. You’re supposed to be with your mate. I know how hard it is for newly-mated werewolves to be apart. You should go back to your mate. I think I’m fine now. I’d just spend the night with Ryder,” I said.
She smirked. “You must be kidding. You’re the most selfless person I know except when it comes to food.”
My lips quirked in amusement at her words.
“Besides,” she continued, “I love your bed so I’m staying.”
She plopped down on my bed and slid under the covers. I stared at her until she arched one perfect eyebrow and spoke. “I know I’m very beautiful but you don’t have to stare for so long when you could easily take a picture.”
I scoffed. “You don’t have to be so smug,” I said and joined her on the bed.”Thank you, though.”
She grinned and wrapped her arm around my waist. I sighed in contentment.
“I know my touch feels much better than your lover’s,” she teased.
I snorted. “I wonder how Damien bears your touch. Your hands are like sandpaper.”
She pinched me hard.
“Ouch,” I exclaimed, giggling.
“You don’t have to be so loud. I don’t want the Alpha to burst in here,” she cautioned and I giggled harder.
We fell silent for a moment.
“How do you think Ronan, Derek and Scott are faring in there?” I asked.
“Ronan is still royalty so he’s going to be treated well. I’m not sure about Derek and Scott but I know they’ll be okay. They should count their stars lucky that the Alpha is not going to have them executed for treason.”
I sighed deeply. “Do you think Lila is going to be fine too?”
Penelope scoffed. “Who cares? But you don’t need to worry about her. She’s tougher than she looks.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I just hope Ryder gives me the permission to go visit them. Right now, he doesn’t buy the idea. He says they’re dangerous. Can you imagine?!”
She was thoughtful for a moment.
“I think the Alpha has a point. If he allows you to visit them, Ronan might be able to convince you to help break them out,” she said.
I scoffed. “Please, I’m not so weak-minded.”
“But it’s not about being weak-minded. You have a soft spot for Ronan and he might be able to use that to his advantage,” she reasoned.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Penelope, neither does Ryder. I’m not going to make that mistake,” I assured.
“Alright then,” she murmured. “Let’s just hope the Alpha permits you to visit them. I don’t want to have to sneak into the prison with you because I’m certain you’re going to drag me into it.”
“Of course. What are best friends for?” I grinned.
She sighed dramatically. “Goddess have mercy on my soul!”
I giggled and went on to ask her when there was going to be a wedding between her and Damien.
“Isn’t it too early to be thinking about a wedding?” She queried.
I snorted. “You two are practically married already. So there’s no difference,” I reasoned.
“But if we make it official, he’s going to want us to have pups as soon as possible and I don’t think I’m ready for that,” she replied.
“Just make sure you explain properly to him so that he understands just in case he brings up the issue of a wedding,” I advised.
“Yeah yeah,” she murmured. There was a short pause before she spoke again.
“Damien doesn’t want me to be a servant anymore. It doesn’t suit his status as Gamma to be. And more especially because he doesn’t want me to be stressed out.”
“That’s great. It’s about damn time,” I replied with a grin.
“So what about you? When are you officially going to become our Luna?” She asked.
“Well, I don’t think the Alpha is going to announce the date of a coronation ceremony anytime soon. He still has to let the public know of the treason committed by his brother and ex-fiancee and give them time to absorb the shock,” I replied.
Penelope snorted. “I don’t think the Alpha cares about that. He’s going to do whatever he wants anytime it suits him and not because of the feelings of the pack. That is not to say he doesn’t care about us though.”
We fell silent and I was already starting to doze off when I heard her murmur. “I wonder who’s going to be the new beta.”
I was thoughtful for a while. “Probably your mate,” I replied
“Probably,” she said.
“Good night, Lia,” she said after a while.
“Good night, Pen,” I replied groggily and was soon fast asleep.
Penelope had already left my room by the time I woke up the next morning. She left a note telling me I shouldn’t expect her to bring my meals to my room anymore because her mate didn’t approve of it. I smirked and made my way to the bathroom. I felt energetic and reasoned it was a good opportunity to push myself hard during training.
I finished bathing and donned a plain T-shirt, a pair of shorts and sneakers.
I thought about going to the kitchen first to get a quick breakfast as I left my closet. I stopped in my tracks and smirked when I saw that Pen had already brought French toast and eggs.
She handed me a cup of coffee.
“Whatever happened to you not bringing my meals to my room anymore?” I asked as I took the steaming mug from her.
“Let’s just say I find it hard to stay away from you. You’re, unfortunately, irresistible,” she replied.
I snorted and took a sip of my coffee. Then my eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion as I noticed how rosy her cheeks were.
“You look very radiant this morning. Did you and Damien have a quickie when you left my room this morning?”
“Malia!” She exclaimed but her cheeks became even redder.
“What? It’s normal for you two not to be able to get enough of each other,” I said.
“Whatever,” she replied as she reached for a piece of toast.
I settled beside her and grabbed a piece for myself.
“I’ll be going with you to the training field today,” she announced.
“To train?” I queried, eyeing her outfit which was suitable for anything but training.
“Of course not. Damien is going to be there,” she replied. I needed no further explanation.
We finished our meal and stopped by the kitchen to drop the dishes.
Despite Mary’s insistence, Penelope still got them washed and dried.
We proceeded to the training field afterwards and I found myself still searching for Ronan with my eyes.
Penelope took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, understanding me perfectly.
I gave her a small smile. “I can see Lucien frowning at me already. If I don’t join him now, he’s going to torture me during training. So, Adios,” I said and made my way towards my trainer.
I smiled at him and he scowled. I let out a sigh of resignation.
“Have you seen Ronan since the arrest? How’s he doing?” I asked.
His expression became sad. “He’ll be fine. That I am sure of,” he replied.
I nodded. “And the others?”
He rolled his eyes. “Could you please stop with the questions? You could go visit them and see how they’re faring instead of badgering me.”
I mentally rolled my eyes as I grabbed a weapon from the ground.
“You can put that down. Today we’ll be using only our fists. We’d do this for a few more days before we move to fighting in our wolf forms.”
I stiffened. It hadn’t occurred to me that he’d want me to strengthen my wolf as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t have one but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I just nodded and put down the weapon.
He started off with some basic moves before we progressed to more advanced moves.
About an hour later, I had sprained an ankle and was covered in sweat and grime.
“We’d continue tomorrow,” he said, not even bothering to tend to my sprained ankle.
I scowled as I watched him walk out of the training field.
“That doesn’t look good,” I heard Penelope say and I tore my gaze away from Lucien’s retreating form.
I looked at my ankle and saw that the area around it was already swollen.
“You do not mind me carrying you back to the palace, do you?” Damien asked.
Penelope scoffed. “It’s not like she has much of a choice and I sure as hell am not going to carry her. She weighs so much with all the food she consumes daily.”
I scowled at her. Her mate’s eyes twinkled in amusement as he bent to lift me from the ground.
“Penelope, you weigh just as much as she does. Does that mean you also consume a lot of food daily? I’d be damned.”