Chapter 6

Lita's POV

"Owwwww!" I yawned as the warming brightness of the sun touched my skin. "It was morning already?" I asked myself.

I groaned as soon as the sun caused its light to hit my face, slightly o ending my eyes in the process, and forcing me to turn the other way.

I looked across the bed and found no one, no one at all. Darrius was never that way. He had never left me on the bed all alone in the morning. It was so unlike him.

It was already bad enough that he let the sun wake me up instead of him. He'd usually kiss me on my forehead, causing me to wake up to his reassuring smile. Then we'd cuddle. Yes, we'd cuddle for a minute, two minutes or even more. I never wanted to let him go on those occasions but I knew I had to. I loved the way that I felt whenever I was engulfed by his powerful arms. I felt like he was all I could live for. That feeling of security was pure bliss.

Yet, here I was, with nothing else to cuddle but these little pillows, consumed by the thoughts of he, who had left me for good. But how could he? I'd never deprived him of anything he wanted. I'd been so submissive to him, yet dominant in places where I had to be. I was the balance between weak and strong, perfectly suited for him and consumed with the desire to keep him happy always. I did that. Well, I always thought I did. Why else would he struggle to get his eyes o me? Why was it a battle for him to say no to me? Why did we end up on the bed last night? I had to be right. But if I was, why wasn't he by my side?

The questions were a lot and the answers were very few. Yet, he was someone I

couldn't a ord to lose. The goddess forbids it! I had to do something. I had to hold on to what rightfully belonged to me and I had to act fast.

"Melissa!" I screamed as I remembered that I had an ally on the inside. "How did this just cross my mind now?" I asked aloud.

Melissa was the wife of the late alpha; Darrius' mother. She was the reason why I got to know him in the first place. She knew how much her son loved curvy women and where he usually went to hook up with them and she made sure I went there. She publicly displayed her a ection for me in his presence and always talked me up, which a orded me more time in the palace and more time with Darrius. She was the one who told me how much Darrius loved to have his hair caressed in a very slow fashion. Surely, she could help me in a situation like this. There was no way I was going to agree to never show up at the palace anymore.

I stood from the bed and quickly put on my slippers. I went to the bathroom and washed my face as quickly as I could. I didn't know where Darrius went or how long he was going to stay so I needed to meet with Melissa as quickly as possible.

I walked out of the room with giant strides and climbed the stairs to Melissa's room. As I got to the door, I raised my right hand to knock but paused a little on seeing her picture, hand-drawn on her door. I loved drawings a lot. This was very fascinating to me.

I finally knocked on the door and waited for a response but I didn't get any. I knocked once again, and this time, I heard a voice from inside the room. I couldn't tell if she said I could come in but I did, anyway.

"Good morning, Melissa," I said, as I got into this room, turning briefly to shut the door behind me. "I'm very happy to see you, ma'am."

"Lita! My sweet girl," she said, her face beaming with smiles, displaying her white, beautiful set of teeth which I always loved to see. "Come here. Give me some sugar, will you?"

I ran across to her, genuine excitement buzzing on my inside, and hugged her very tightly. She broke the hug for a moment and planted a kiss on both my cheeks before returning me to her lovely embrace. It felt so good. Why wouldn't it? She reminded me of my late mother. The love, the care, the tenderness, everything that I ever wanted in a mother. Hopefully, she was going to be my mother-in-law soon.

As we broke from the embrace, she sat back on her bed and gestured for me to sit on a chair just beside it. As soon as I sat, I squeezed my face lightly and wore a sad visage. I looked up a bit so that she could see that something was wrong.

"Why the sudden change of mood, Lita? You're not happy to see me anymore? Did I hug you too tightly?"

"No, ma'am. It's not that," I answered.

"What is it then?"

"It's your son, Darrius. He's the problem; my problem."

"What about him?"

"He has asked me never to set my feet in the palace again to see him," I said, still seeing a need to make the point sink in better. "He said he never wants anything to do with me anymore."

"That's absurd! I won't let that happen, my dear. How would he say something like that?" I got the exact reaction I hoped to elicit. There was a fire in her eyes and her voice as she spoke. She was visibly livid and I loved it. I always let out a smile of comfort but I knew it wasn't the time for that, lest she'd feel I was playing with her. "Did you do anything wrong to him?"

"Nothing at all, Melissa," I replied. "Unless, of course, my presence has become a crime, then I'd consider myself guilty. I just came by yesterday, just like other days and as we began to talk, he made it clear that he was done with me and any other lady that he has had something to do with in the past. He said something about trying to set his life straight and get a mate and I wondered why he'd say that."

"It's a good thing for him to want a mate. You know, leave the life of jumping around from one lady to another and stay committed to his mate. Why not choose someone who knows so much about him and also loves him truly and not just because he's the alpha? Why not choose you?"

"I think only he can answer that question, Melissa," I replied, as sadness began to overwhelm me. "I've given him everything and I do not regret it. I'm willing to give him even more, no matter the cost. Darrius is all I can think of. I can't imagine myself with anyone else but him. I don't know what else to do to get him to see this. I don't know…"

I broke down. I couldn't take it anymore. Tears flowed from my cheeks uncontrollably and my sobs went from inaudible to very audible in a matter of seconds. I couldn't explain what I had done wrong to Darrius. It was far beyond my reasoning.

"Hey, hey, calm down, Lita. Please, don't cry." She got up and walked across to me, cleaning my tears with her hands. I felt so much comfort that I kissed her hands and held on to her so tightly. I loved the woman and it was clear she loved me too. I just wished it could be the same for her child. "I need you to be calm, Lita. This is all going to be sorted out."

"But how?" I asked her. "How are you going to convince him? You know he always loves to do whatever he pleases."

"You'll soon find out, my dear. I'm his mother after all, aren't I?"