Malia's POVThere was a huge painting of me on the wall. I moved towards it like a magnet. “Do you like it?” Ronan asked from behind me. “How? When?” I was baffled. I didn't remember posing for a painting or picture. He moved from behind me to stand beside me. I turned to him expectantly. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I may or may not have taken a picture of you when you were having an animated conversation with Derek. I had to wait for the perfect moment to capture your delightful expression.”I fell silent for a moment trying to remember the particular day that this must have happened. Ronan mistook my silence for displeasure. “I could have it rubbed off if you don't like it,” he said. “What? No,” I exclaimed and turned to face the painting. “It's really beautiful. I hadn't imagined that I could ever look this good. I'd love to meet the artist who did this,” I enthused. I was really impressed by the extraordinary talent of the artist. He had found a way to express t
Malia's POVThe walk to the library was completely silent apart from the sound of our footsteps against the floor. I mentally berated myself for being the cause of Ronan's sour countenance. I should have taken the hint when even the somewhat stoic Ryder had not wanted to talk about it. Why did I have to be so nosy? We finally arrived at the library and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I made a mental note to take all the books that caught my fancy back to my room. There was no way I was going to be able to make the long trip to the library every day. My mouth opened as I took in the grandness of the library. The ceiling was so high and a very impressive crystal chandelier hung from it. The large bookshelves made from oak wood were saturated with books and were so tall that ladders had been fixed so that the books at the tops could be reached.“If you leave your mouth hanging open for ten more seconds, we might find it difficult to ever get it to close,” he teased. “This is super
Malia's POVPenelope's eyes widened slightly in surprise.“How did you hear about it?” No one ever speaks about her. It's like an unspoken rule,” she said in a low voice.“I managed to get it out of your crush,” I replied, wiggling my eyebrows. She promptly blushed. “Ronan?”“Yeah. The one and only,” I said with a knowing smile. “He must really like you a lot for him to have mentioned her existence to you,” she stated with a sad smile. I rolled my eyes. “Penelope, Ronan is my friend. Friends do not hate each other. They like each other, just in case you didn't know,” I said with the patience of one explaining something complex to a little child. She breathed in deeply. “Well, it doesn't even matter. It's not as though if he didn't like you the way I think he does, we'd ever have a chance together.”I wanted to protest but thought better about it. It was only going to make her more upset. “Did you ever see the baby?” I asked. She gave me a look. “I was all but six years old at th
Malia's POVIf Ronan thought of my question as random or unusual, he didn't show it. Or maybe it wasn't as unusual as I thought. “Of course he was there but he showed up pretty late,” he replied and then went on to mutter something about Derek taking him for granted just because they were quite close. My thoughts churned in my head at his answer. It could mean that Derek had been in the library with Lila. The book must have been a distraction to lure me away from my seat which was not too far from the door. Or what if I was just overthinking this? Probably he had come to take a book from the library and his bracelet had fallen. Ronan shook me gently and I gave a start. His eyebrows were knitted together in concern. “Is something wrong? I've been saying your name.”“It's nothing,” I replied with a small smile. “Indeed. That was why you looked so lost earlier,” he scoffed. I thought of something else I could say to erase his concern about what I had been worrying about. I clear
Malia’s POVMy heart skipped a bit as Ryder strolled into the conservatory. I heard Ronan's sharp intake of breath. “Alpha Ryder, we were not expecting you,” he greeted calmly. “I wasn't expecting to see you two in here either,” he replied with a smile. “The beta has taken it upon himself to take me to all of the interesting rooms in the palace. I spent a part of this morning and afternoon in the grand library,” I said to Ryder. “That's so kind of you, brother,” he replied without taking his eyes off me.“What's he doing here?” I asked Ronan. “It beats me. My brother is not a fan of flowers,” he replied. Ryder's eyes which betrayed his amusement moved back and forth between me and Ronan. “You two realise that I'm right here and can hear you, right?” He asked. I tried not to focus on how much his T-shirt emphasized his broad shoulders and well-defined chest. “It seems you do not like flowers, so what brings you here? I'm just curious,” I said. “Well, I'm as curious as you ar
Malia's POV“You bitch,” Lila screeched from behind us. I froze in alarm for a moment. To my dismay, Ryder didn't let go of me. I dug my nails hard into his side and he instantly let me go.I moved to stand behind him because she looked like she wanted to rip my heart out of its cage. Ryder rubbed the back of his neck. “How are you doing, Lila? He asked. She scoffed. “Are you kidding me right now?”Her eyes had narrowed to slits and her hands were clenched into fists. “This is well beneath you, Ryder. She's nothing. How could you allow her to seduce you?” she demanded in fury. I wanted to protest. If anyone was the seducer it was the Alpha and not me. But I remained silent. There was no need adding gasoline to fire. “Lila, please stay calm,” he pleaded, walking slowly towards her.She looked like she was going to explode.Immediately he got close enough to her, she drew back her hand and landed a slap on his cheek. I gasped. “Hopefully that is enough to bring you back to your
Malia's POV“Ronan, you know how Lila can be super dramatic,” I said. I didn't think he was going to take it so well if I told him that Ryder had his hands on my bum, or worse, that I had loved every bit of it. I saw his jaw clench before he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “I'll take your word for it, Malia,” he said. I gave him a bright smile.“The troop that came here to search for you are gone,” he announced.My heart skipped a beat. “How can you be so sure?” I asked. “Our patrol team at the boundary saw them leaving very early this morning. So you wouldn't have to spend the entire week indoors after all,” he said. I gave a tiny shriek of excitement. “But I still think you should spend the whole of tomorrow indoors, you know, just to be on the safer side,” he advised.“I think I can survive one more day,” I said with a grin. “Come on. Today wasn't so bad, was it? You got to see the conservatory which you immediately declared your best place, and also the library,”
Zade's POV“So what do we do now? We've checked all the packs in this country and we've checked with all the airports. One thing we're sure of is that she's still here and she doesn't want to be found,” my beta said to me. I rested my face in my palms and tried not to scream out in frustration. My pack was in danger and it was all my fault. “Zade, I have a suggestion,” he said. “Let's hear it,” I replied. “Why don't we involve others in this search?” He asked. “What do you mean?” I wondered. “We should discuss with the heads of the other packs about placing a price on her. Whoever finds her is going to be well rewarded. People will be more motivated to look out for her if they stand to gain a lot,” he reasoned. I suddenly felt hopeful. “That's brilliant. Why didn't we think about doing this before?” I wondered. “Sometimes fear and stress affect our thinking and our ability to handle things effectively. Which is why I'm suggesting now that the troops should be allowed to return
MALIA’S POV Zade came to see me a week later. I had tried not to look excited at all when Penelope had come to tell me that he was waiting for me in the conference room. “Or should I ask him to come up to your chambers?” she queried and I gave her a withering look. “Oooh. How scary. I just hope he is not scared of you at all,” she said. She frowned when I didn't immediately get up from my bed but returned to the book that I had been reading before she came to inform me about my mate’s presence. After the incident, I had taken to reading books. I had gone to the library to check for any book that had to do with the witches of the Alfea tribe. I wanted to learn how to use my powers at will and I think that I was already getting a hang of it. The other day, I had managed to make Penelope’s dress wet when she had dared to make fun of my voice. We had decided to join a music class just for the fun of it and I realized that it was best I left singing alone. I also learned that pl
MALIA’S POV After making both Ryder and Victoria as weak as I could with extra help from Tommy(thank the Goddess the paralysis spell was temporary), I had to render them even more helpless by taking away Ryder’s wolf with the same spell that Victoria had used. I didn't even have to do any spells to take away her magic, she protested weakly when I lay my hand on her chest as though she already knew what was going to happen. I felt her power leave her body and go into mine with such force that I nearly lost consciousness. When it was over, I hurried to Zade’s side as fast as my weak body could carry me. Tommy was already by his side performing CPR to keep him awake. “This isn't going to work,” he said with fear in his eyes. “He needs his wolf right now or else, he is going to die. You can return his wolf to him, right?” I shook my head. I didn't know how but I was going to try everything in my power. He wasn't going to die on my watch. I bent my head close to his face and swipe
MALIA’S POV I must have fallen asleep again even though I had desperately tried to stay awake. Victoria had been forcing some sort of liquid down my throat for reasons best known to her and it had been making me fall asleep. I had vaguely overheard Ryder speaking to Zade. I prayed to the Moon Goddess that he should not fall for their trap but I knew that even if the Moon Goddess wanted to save him and prevent him from taking the bait, he was still going to find a way to come and save me. For the first time, my wolf hoped he wouldn't come. We were well aware that Ryder just wanted to kill him and claim his pack for himself. I lost count of the number of times I had wept because of Ryder’s betrayal. Never in my life have I felt so used and totally stupid. I wondered if Penelope had noticed my suspicious disappearance. And even if she did and discovered that Ryder was behind it, I doubted she would be able to do anything about it. He could easily threaten her with the lives of her ki
ZADE’S POV There was no way Victoria could have broken out of that house and killed about five of the highly trained guards I had placed there to prevent her from leaving and any person other than me and our son from going in. It wasn't just possible. I knew she was strong but she wasn't trained and didn't even stand a chance against one of the guards. So how had she been able to kill all five? I had immediately sent some of my soldiers to go after her when I discovered what had happened and was still waiting for them to return. “I think we should keep an eye on your son at all times. She loves him so much and might want to come pick him up. We can catch her that way,” Tommy was saying. I still couldn't get past the deaths of those guards. It wasn't just about the fact that they were killed but how they were killed too. It must have taken someone with a lot more physical strength and bigger size than Victoria. “There is no way she could have done it all alone. She had help,”
MALIA’S POV After skimming through the pages of about five books, we were able to learn a few things about the witches of the Alfea tribe. Like Alice had told us, there could only be one Alfea witch in a lineage and I was the chosen one in mine. The age at which the witch may discover her powers is different for everyone. But this discovery would be at a period in her life when she was going to need it. We were the most powerful of all the witches and were never supposed to act in rage because it could lead to the loss of many lives. Penelope and I had read open-mouthed, the story of an Alfea witch who had set a whole village on fire with her mind just because she had thought the King had something to do with the death of her only child. But she found out at the end of the day that her child had been killed by her best friend. “Well, now we have to get you to an anger management class,” Penelope said. I rolled my eyes. “I do not need it. I know how to control my emotions,”
MALIA’S POV While we were on our way back to the palace, Lucien warned us not to talk about my newly discovered identity as a witch. Penelope was not even supposed to tell Damien and he was not even going to tell Margaret. “If so many people know about it, it might cause them to be hostile towards you and some may even exploit you to their own advantage,” he had explained. I had so much to learn. I didn’t know the first thing about being a witch. I was just even getting used to being a proper werewolf. “You are not going to keep on wearing that hat forever are you?” Penelope queried. “I don’t know,” I replied, looking at Lucien for guidance. He shrugged. “Well, people are going to wonder why their Luna is suddenly covering her hair all of the time. It is going to make them more curious and when they discover that your hair colour has changed, they are going to be even more curious about why you had chosen to hide it. And trust me, they are going to find out.” “So I guess I
MALIA’S POV Penelope took off my hat without my permission as soon as we entered her chambers and Lucien gasped. “It is pretty, right?” she asked her father-in-law with a smile and I rolled my eyes. “That is not the point here, Penelope,” I said. She giggled. “I am so sorry but I can not just help but say it,” she replied. “Do you know if you have any witches in your ancestry?” Lucien asked. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. I had a feeling where this was leading and I was not sure I liked it. “I do not know. My mother never made mention of it. Neither did my father,” I replied. He was thoughtful for a moment. “It is better that we confirm what I have in mind. I think we should go to the witch that the Alpha took you to, to have your curse lifted,” he suggested. Penelope bounced in excitement. “Do you think she is a witch? Oh, I have always wanted to have a witch as a friend.” Lucien and I both rolled our eyes. “Are you not supposed to be taking care of my grandkids instea
MALIA’S POV There was nothing as sweet as your own independence and freedom. This I realized in the first few days of being alone in my room without Ryder in my space. He was sorely mistaken if he felt that giving me space was going to strengthen whatever attraction I had left for him. The more I stayed away from him, the more the attraction died and my wolf was beside herself with happiness. She was still insisting that I leave the palace and reunite with our mate. But I just didn't want any man in my space. I was dreading the day Ryder would ask me to return to his chambers. Maybe that was when I was eventually going to decide to leave him, go somewhere else and start afresh. The first time I heard him sneak out of his chambers, I thought perhaps, that he was going to his study to work overnight. He had done it a couple of times when I was still sleeping in his chambers. The same thing happened the next day and then the next and I began to get curious. I decided to ask him a
ZADE’S POV I returned to my Pack with mixed feelings. When I had decided to go meet my step-brother for help, I had known that there was a very high possibility that he wasn't going to help me but I just had to give it a shot for the sake of my Pack. What I had not been expecting, was to see my mate there. And the worst of all was that she was already married to that monster. I banged my desk hard in anger just as my Beta came in. He looked somewhat pissed that I hadn't allowed him to accompany me to my step-brother’s Pack but I didn't care at that moment. His expression changed to one of concern when he saw how pissed I was. “I take it things didn't go well at your brother’s Pack,” he said as he took his seat in front of the desk. “He is no brother of mine,” I spat out. “Woah! Okay, please just calm down and tell me what happened.” His mouth hung open as I told him how I had seen Malia and how she was already married to him. It took him a while to recover. “Then why d