Malia's POVI shut my door quietly behind me. All was quiet. Too quiet if you asked me. My stomach growled again as I headed down the hallway. I sang a lullaby in my head as I made my way to the kitchen which was about ten minutes away from my room. I smiled as I thought about scaring the people living in the palace by humming the lullaby out loud like in those Blumhouse horror movies. They would start to think that the hallways were haunted probably by Ryder and Ronan's mom. Ryder never did tell me how she had died and I wondered why. I decided I was going to ask Ronan. He was surely going to tell me. I thought I heard a whisper and I halted in my tracks. Had the hallway suddenly become cold or was it just my imagination? I slowly turned around to see if there was someone or something else with me in the hallway. There was no one else but me. I strained my ears to listen for a sound. It was eerily quiet. I took a deep breath and turned back around. No ghost was going to keep me

Malia's POVIn one swift movement, he was on top of me. One of his large hands encircled my wrists and pinned my hands above my head on top of my bed. His hard body was pressed flush against mine. I glared at him. “You seem to enjoy provoking me,” he observed. “You seem to enjoy making me provoke you,” I retorted. He gave a deep chuckle and I felt the sound reverberate through my body. I felt wide awake. “Since you'd be staying indoors for the rest of the day, what are your plans?” He asked. His weight on top of me felt oddly comfortable. “Certainly nothing that involves you,” I replied. “What am I to do with you, Malia?” He asked. “I'm guessing that's a rhetorical question,” I answered and he chuckled again. This time my toes did curl and I hoped he didn't notice. My body was starting to respond to his nearness even though I willed it not to. I wriggled my body in an attempt to escape from beneath him. “I wouldn't do that again if I were you,” he growled. His green eyes

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 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 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