MALIA’S POV
It was indeed a ride of my life and I was certain everyone in the palace could hear my screams of pleasure as he mercilessly pounded me into oblivion. I lost it when he encircled my throat with his hand and buried himself inside me to the hilt.
I lost count of the number of times that I orgasmed. One thing was certain. Ryder was a masterful lover and if I didn’t take proper precautions, we’d be expecting some pups. I wasn’t ready for that.
We didn’t stop until we were nearly drained of all our strength and body fluids. It was well past midnight. Ryder staggered a little as he walked out of the room to fetch us some water.
I was really tired and could barely move a muscle, but I knew that I had to at least change the sheets. I wasn’t sure about a bath.
I dragged myself out of bed and took off the soiled covers. I then went into his closet to search for clean ones. I was still battling with spreading them on the bed when he returned with two bottles of water and big apples.
He set them down on the bedside stool and assisted me.
I was about to plop down on the bed but he threw me over his shoulder and made his way to the bathroom. I moaned in protest and he spanked me gently on my bottom.
“We’re going to have a hot shower. Trust me, you’re going to feel much better and sleep better.”
He did most of the work as I could barely even stand. I frowned at the thought of having to dry my damp hair because there was no way I was going to wake up without a cold if I didn’t.
Thankfully, Ryder didn’t mind doing it for me. I sat on the bed munching on the apple while he dried my hair with the hair dryer.
“We can sleep now,” he said, gently laying me back down on the bed. He slid in beside me under the covers and I melted into his arms.
I was already half asleep when he murmured. “I love you so much, Malia.”
“I love you too,” I replied groggily.
The first thing I noticed even before I opened my eyes was that I was the only one on the bed. Ryder’s side of the bed was cold which meant he had been gone for long.
My eyes flew open as I wondered in panic, what the time was. Lucien hated tardiness.
A maid was standing at the foot of the bed with a dress and a pair of heels and I wondered just how long she had been standing.
I suddenly realized in painful embarrassment that I was naked. I had actually slept naked but at least, I had been under the covers. Now, the covers were tangled around my legs. I didn’t bother trying to cover up anymore. There was no point.
She bowed in greeting and placed what she had been holding on the bed, close to my legs.
I cleared my throat. “Good morning. Where is the Alpha?” I asked.
“He’s waiting for you along with everyone else at the ballroom,” she replied with a small smile.
I sat bolt upright and swung my legs off the bed as I remembered that Ryder was supposed to announce our union today. It just hadn’t occurred to me that I had to be there.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I queried.
“The Alpha specifically instructed us not to wake you up,” she answered and I rolled my eyes in disbelief. My gaze went to the clock and I gasped in shock. It was a little past noon.
“How long have they been waiting?” I asked with a sinking feeling.
“It’s just been ten minutes,” she replied with a wider smile this time.
“I had better hurry up then,” I said and got up just as the door swung open and Penelope entered.
“Girl, what are you doing? Get dressed already,” she ordered without preamble.
Then she got a closer look at me and saw that I hadn’t even taken my bath. She gave a sigh of frustration and planted both hands on her hips.
I tried not to smile and motioned for the servant to leave.
“Don’t blame me. Blame the Alpha. It’s his fault. Can you believe he gave the instruction that no one should wake me up? He’s so unbelievable,” I said and made my way towards the bathroom.
I brushed my teeth and took my bath as fast as I could. Penelope was admiring my dress when I came out. I was thinking about going to my room to get lingerie when another maid appeared with a box. To my relief, this time I had a towel wrapped around me. I arched an eyebrow questioningly and she told me it contained my underwear.
I dismissed her and started to get dressed as soon as she was out of the room.
Penelope flashed me a mischievous grin as she handed me my dress. My eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. “What?” I queried.
“Nothing. It’s just that Damien was thinking about telling the Alpha to install soundproof doors in the palace so that we can all scream as loud as we could, at any time of the day without disturbing others,” she answered.
My face heated up in embarrassment and she burst out laughing.
I started to take off the dress and her eyes betrayed her confusion. “What do you think you’re doing?” she queried.
“What if the entire community heard my screams last night? I don’t think I can face them right now,” I answered.
She laughed. “Come on. Don’t be ridiculous. It wasn’t that bad. I think we could only hear you so clearly because your room is directly over ours,” she said.
I buried my face in my hands. “I need to apologize to Damien.”
“What about me?” she asked with a pout. I pointedly ignored her and put my dress back on.
Grumbling about how I didn’t care about her feelings, she helped with the zip and also helped with my shoes.
I gave her a hug and brought my lips to her ear. “I know you think I don’t care about your feelings,” I began and gave a dramatic sigh. “Well, you’re right. I don’t.”
I straightened and laughed at the scowl on her face. She smacked me hard on my arm.
“Ouch,” I exclaimed. “Hitting the Luna can also be considered treason, you know that right?”
She scoffed. “Treason indeed,” she murmured. “Let’s get going, shall we? We do not want the people to think that their Luna to be is tardy,” she answered.
I took a deep breath and smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles on my dress.
Pen noticed how nervous I was so she took my hand and squeezed gently.
“You have nothing to worry about, Malia. They’re going to love you,” she assured, giving me a sweet smile.
I nodded and we walked out of Ryder’s chambers hand in hand.
I nearly turned back when we reached the ballroom but Penelope squeezed my arm reassuringly. I turned to face her. “There are so many people,” I whispered.
She gave me a patient smile. “Come on, Malia. You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”
I nodded and took deep breaths. “I’m ready,” I murmured and she let go of my hand.
Immediately I took one step in, and a hush descended upon the room and everyone turned to look at me.
I focused my attention on Ryder who was at the opposite end of the room. He gave me an encouraging smile and I couldn’t help but smile in return. I successfully reached his side without tripping and I breathed a sigh of relief.
He smiled knowingly and I saw that his gaze was on my legs as though he knew what I had been afraid of.
“There are no words that could describe perfectly just how radiant you look. Everyone is in awe. If perfection was a person, it’d be you,” he murmured.
I gave him a look. “I thought you said you weren’t good with words.”
He shrugged. “I guess you bring out the poet in me,” he replied. “Now let me address our Pack.”
He planted a kiss on my forehead and turned to face the people. He started with how his brother and ex-fiancee had conspired with some of the guards to murder him. There was a collective gasp of shock and then murmuring. They fell silent when he started to speak again.
“But thanks to this beautiful woman beside me, who caught wind of their plans and came straight to me. I’m alive today because of her.”
He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. “Everyone, meet the woman who has captured my heart. Our future Luna.” I felt my face heat up from all the attention.
The room was deathly silent at first. It was Lucien who first started to clap and soon afterwards, the rest joined him. I sighed in relief at the smiles on their faces.
He then went on to announce the new Beta which was Damien. No surprise there. But the surprise was evident on the new Beta’s face as he came forward to receive the ring of his authority. Of course, he was holding his mate’s hand firmly in his as he came to join us.
Penelope gave me a wink and I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing out loud in sheer joy.
After announcing the date of the coronation ceremony which was a lot sooner than I had expected, Ryder led me out of the room.
He led me to his limousine and opened the passenger door for me to get in.
I gave him a puzzled look. “Where are we going?” I queried.
He gave me a secretive smile. “You’ll see,” he replied.
I got into the car filled with curiosity and he slid in beside me, giving me a grin.
“You have nothing to worry about. You’re going to make the most perfect Luna,” he said.
I nodded and leaned back as he poured me a glass of wine. I hadn’t eaten anything yet so I began to feel a bit tipsy after the glass of wine.
I rested my head on his shoulder and he planted a kiss on my hair. I dozed off afterwards and woke up when he gently shook me awake.
I raised my head and rubbed my eyes. “We’re here, Malia,” he announced.
“Where?” I queried groggily.
“You are going to have to step out of the car to know,” he replied as he took my hand to help me out of the limo.
We were at the front of a big bungalow that didn’t even look the least bit familiar.
I arched an eyebrow at him and he smiled.
“You’ll understand when we go in,” he said.
I followed him to the entrance and the door swung open before he got the chance to knock.
The woman standing in front of us was like nothing I had ever seen in civilization.
Her untamable red curls and large eyes the colour of the Pacific hinted at something quite wild about her.
I realized she was smiling at me and I offered her a small smile.
“You must be Malia. Come on in you two,” she said and stood aside to let us pass.
I gave Ryder an uncertain look and he nodded reassuringly. I followed him in and was surprised at how homely the living room was. A contrast to its owner.
But we didn’t stop there. She led us to a room filled with so many crystals and candles.
I turned to look at Ryder and he held both of my hands in his. “We are going to get your wolf back today. The curse is going to be lifted.”
I blinked in shock. I was too afraid to hope. “Are you… sure?”
He nodded. “I have zero doubt and you shouldn’t too” he replied, wiping tears I hadn’t known were on my cheeks. I didn’t realize that I had been crying.
I nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay!”