Chapter 37: Chapter 37

Mia curled up in a corner in her room; her heart's hurting from all the pain she had shared with Alex during the incident with the human.

After Alex walked off, she made to follow him but was stopped by Hendrix. She was surprised to see him there, she hadn't before and it just seemed like he appeared out of the blues.

His touch was unwelcomed and she jerked her hand from his. Although she wanted to still go after Alex, she knew Hendrix was right for stopping her. Going after him wouldn't help things; he needed time.  So she let Alex go.

She was frustrated and she didn't know what to do, who to ask or who to cry to.

She was all alone in this marriage and she felt thoroughly abandoned like a stone buried in the deepest ocean.

She wiped a stray tear as she disentangled her legs from the sheets she had wrapped around herself protectively.

She was confused, everything around her was vague.

What was the pain she had seen in his eyes? What was the fear? Why was he even scared?

Why had he walked away so abruptly from her?

She wanted to scream in frustration so the moon goddess would hear her and pay her some heed.

Alex needed help; that much, she knew. What she didn't know, however, was why and how to help him.

She wanted to accept defeat and walk away from her mate and marriage even if it killed her, but she couldn't. She wouldn't.

Even if Alex was going to stubbornly hide things from her like the way he had at the river, she was going to match his stubbornness and uncover every single one of them. Even if it took her an eternity.

With that determination in mind, Mia picked herself up and walked out of her room. She headed straight to the one person she was sure would know something with renewed strength and determination.

The castle was uncharacteristically calm and everyone seemed to be in some sought of solemnity from what had happened earlier that day in the garden.

Thankfully, the human Alex had tried to kill didn't die, but he remained unconscious and Mia was grateful that the humans had all hurried away out of the palace with the unconscious man.

Mia still didn't know what had happened to provoke Alex but she knew things could have gone pretty worse than it had if she wasn't there to stop him on time.

She took the corner to the kitchen and found Anne and some other maids whispering to themselves. When they took notice of her, they jerked and stood straight as if in fear.

She could tell immediately that they were gossiping about the incident at the garden. Mia sighed and continued on her way, ignoring them. She couldn't blame them. There was no one that wouldn't gossip about something like that.

When she got to the extravagant kitchen, she saw the head cook sitting on a very high but comfortable chair as she chopped some carrots. The kitchen was packed up with overzealous cooks and a bit unkept.

The old woman was too busy giving orders to even notice Mia approaching her and the rest of the kitchen attendants too busy following said orders to pay Mia any attention.

Mia tapped the head cook slightly on her left shoulder, which was bent with age. The head cook took a gander at Mia, she was obviously surprised to see her standing there. The head cook jumped on her feet and bowed.

"Your majesty." Her head was still bowed when Mia instructed her to follow her to the store room.

The head cook followed Mia.

"Your majesty?" The old woman couldn't help but question. They had been standing in the store room for about five minutes and Mia was saying nothing. Just standing there staring into space.

"Tell me what you meant that day in the kitchen." Mia locked gazes with the woman and the woman sighed heavily like she had expected the question.

"I don't..."

"Don't dare lie to me."

Mia was already losing her patience.

"You used to be around when you were younger," The old woman blurted out and instead of clarity, all Mia was left with was confusion.

"What do you mean?" Mia blinked rapidly, trying to digest the words.

The woman sighed again and took a low sit by the bags of rice which stood taller than she did.

"When you were younger, your parents paid us visits with you tagging along." The head cook interlocked her fingers at her back.

Mia furrowed her forehead in reasoning. She remembered none of that. But then again, she remembered nothing much from her childhood.

When Mia said nothing, the head coom went on, "You were very little then, maybe five or four. I can't really remember."

The head cook shifted in her seat a bit, and Mia took sat right in front of her to look into her eyes and be sure she wasn't being lied to.

"You used to play a lot and tell the palace kids stories, a lot of stories," The woman explained, staring into thin air with a small smile gracing her lips.

"What palace kids?" None of the stories so far brought back any of Mia's memories.

"You really don't remember?" The old woman inquired and Mia shook her head solemnly. The woman continued, "There used to be a couple of palace kids when you were younger. There was Onyx, Ember and another kid that I never seemed to remember his name."

The head cook gave a light chuckle and went on, "You were all very playful but none as playful as Alpha Alexander." She smiled fondly and Mia tried but failed to imagine Alex playing. He was so serious all the time that she believed he had never smiled in his life.

"What happened to him then? Because the Alex I know never smiles not to mention playing." Mia shrugged with a deep frown creasing her forehead.

The old woman smiled sadly at her.

"I don't know. No one really does," the cook said with a slight shrug to Mia's bewilderment.

"All we know is he woke up one morning and started yelling at everyone including his parents and his friends not to come close to him. He seemed scared at first, but that fear gradually turned into raging anger and pain. From that very day till date, he became a whole new person," the woman explained with sadness in her eyes.

"But why does he get so angry all the time?" Mia voiced out her thoughts.

"I really don't know," the old woman said again and Mia wondered if there was anything she 'really knew.'

"But there was this time when he was twelve, his parents threw a surprise birthday party for him even when he had asked them not to, and he got so mad that he went against his parents and when his father used his Alpha voice to compel him to calm down-" the woman paused and her eyes widened a bit as she continued, "-he withstood it."

"What do you mean he withstood it? No one can withstand the Alpha's command. Right?"  Mia asked, suddenly in doubt.

"Well, no one should have the ability to but the young Alpha did." Her eyes went even wider and Mia feared if they did a little more, they'd pop out of their sockets.

Mia shivered a little from how the woman looked at her.

"Do you know what triggered his anger?" Mia inquired, feeling she was getting somewhere.

The old woman shrugged again and said, "I don't really know." Mia was now certain she didn't 'really know' anything. "But what I do know is no one goes against him and no one has since his birthday party. He's admired and secretly desired by most of the maidens but as much as they desire him, they fear him. That's why we all believe he'd never have a mate."

That was right, none of them knew she was his mate. What would be their reaction if they did? Mia got her answer when she saw pity dancing in the old woman's eyes for her.

"Thanks for your time,"

Mia said, getting tl her feet and ready to leave.

"Anytime, Luna,"

The old woman said too with a bow.