Chapter 22: Chapter 22

He turned abruptly and asked, “What? How's that possible?”

“I have a recorder here. It was an order,” the guard said and raised a small device that was beeping a red light.

“Witch”, Dakar mumbled and walked out. He entered his room and wore a shirt then walked with the guard to his mother. She was already sitting and eating at her dinner table.

“Did he give you any trouble?”, she asked her guard as they approached. Dakar shot him a deathly look and he shuddered.

“No, Luna. He didn't,” the guard answered.

“I thought you were listening. Why are you asking?”. Dakar sat adjacent his mother and began to fish pasta into a plate.

“That was just to make you come. I knew you wouldrefuse”.

“Nice plan”.

“Wait, let the maids do that for you. You don't have to gather them yourself”, she said and signaled for a maid to come arrange the dishes Dakar wanted.

“I have hands, mother”, he stayed and even got on his feet to take a jar of cream that was at the other side of the table. His mother caught sight of a red and swollen spot on his biceps, as he reached forth to take the jar.

“Dakar, I'm sorry for getting you beaten up. I was just angry”, she apologized. Dakar sat down and smiled at his mother.

“Why are you apologizing? You know I can't hold that against you”.

“I know. But thatwasn't really right”.

He looked at her face again and chuckled.

“You might be a witch on the outside, but you're quite soft”, he stated and she waved him off.

“I am not a witch, please. We both know who the true witch is”, she clicked her tongue and looked away.

“Mother, what do you have against Ñiraka?”

“I dislike her”.

“Why?”

“Why are you asking me such a question? Don't tell me you have fallen for her”.

“Mother, she's my bethrothed. Father wants me to get married to her.”

“And do you want to get married to her?” the Queen asked and narrowed her eyes at Dakar.

“That is not the issue”, he retorted.

“I know you don't love her. Dakar, I want you to marry someone you love. Someone meant for you,” she said and placed her hand on his.

“I don't ha,v, utddve a mate, mother. There is no one meant for me. I have to create it”

“I don't know why the moon goddess forsook you, but you can still find someone else”.

Dakar hissed and got on his feet.

“Mother, it's easy for you to say because you found your mate at eighteen years of age. You're almost two hundred years now and you have lived with him ever since. You will not understand the desolation I feel after waiting for fifty years only to be told I will be eternally alone!”, he blurted out. His mother wanted to speak but he walked out angrily. The issue of a mate, whenever brought up angered Dakar.

Werewolves were ruled by the goddess of the moon. She assigned them power and an eternal mate for life. A mate belonged to only one person for life and when mates see each other for the first time, they know immediately. Mates are like two halves that become one. Whatever happens to one mate, affects the other. An example is when the female is in labour, the male feels all the pain too.

So, Dakar realizing he will not have a mate to share companionship and life with, angered him. He accepted Ñiraka because his father wanted her to be his alternative mate. His mother was not in support because she knew something. And immediately Dakar walked out on her, she bowed her head worriedly and muttered, “I can't let this happen. The prophecy is putting itself in place. Oh, my poor Dakar”.

Dakar heard and turned back immediately.

“What prophecy, mother?” he asked and immediately, his mother froze with shock as she stared at him.

Chapter 28

“Mother, I asked what prophecy you were speaking about?” Dakar inquired again and walked into the room.

“Nothing, my son. It's not something serious. It's about a mateless wolf that will turn rogue”, she stated.

“Is that not a popular prophecy? Everyone knows that. Which is why we're permitted to get alternative mates. But I am sure that is not what you were referring to. It seems you didn't want me to hear you. Which is why the colour has drained from your face when I heard”.

The Luna sighed and palmed her face. Dakar gazed at her and felt her worry and fear. He drew closer to her and knelt down, holding her legs. He placed his head on her thighs and she started to cry.

“Don't make me tell you, please” she cried.

“Mother, tell me”, she insisted without raising his head. In their tradition, when a child does that to his mother, she has to fulfil that which he is asking for. The child is placing his head over the place the head first knew the world.

“Dakar, I am begging you. Don't make me tell you”, she pleaded but he didn't move. She kept pleading but he insisted,so she had no choice but to tell him.

“I will tell you. Everyone, excuse us.” she ordered all her servants and they all left.

“Stand up, Dakar. And come with me.” he got on his feet and held his mother's outstretched arm. She took him to her room and closed the door. Then she walked to her bed and bent down. She reached under it, and pulled out a crystal ball. It was broken and the other parts were missing.

“What is that?”, Dakar asked.

“The Ball of Dojo”, she answered and placed it in a bowl that she had pulled from underneath the bed too.

“What does it have to do with the strange prophecy you were talking about?”

“Bring your hand closer but do not touch it”, she ordered sternly. He wanted to ask a question but with the look on her face, he swallowed it. Reaching his hand towards the crystal ball, it glowed red and emitted heat. He took his hand back immediately. His mother sighed deeply and worry flooded the room again. She turned back and dropped the ball on her bedside table.

“What is the Ball of Dojo, mother?” he asked. He wanted to know why it bothered his mother that the ball glowed red. It bothered him too, because his mother had held it and it was normal. But, it changed when his hand got close to it.

“Sit, my love”, she said and pointed to her sofa. He sat down and clasped his hands in front of him. She sat on her bed and heaved another deep sigh.

“Dojo, is...” she began and glanced at her son. She was having second thoughts about telling him. Dakar was determined to hear it and his face was tensed up.

“He is a demon. And that is one of his property. A prophecy was told years ago about an Alpha Prince, who gets possessed by the demon after he fails to destroy the ball. Dojo places a curse on the Prince and turns him into a monster. A terrible monster who will destroy everything he desires to destroy. It is said, that the prince will become worse than the devil himself”, she explained and Dakar chuckled.

“And you think this Prince is me?” he asked with a grin on his face.

“The Prince is born with a thick black scar on his right thigh and a small red dot behind his right ear”, she continued. Dakar froze after hearing that, and the smile on his face turned into a deep frown. He had a terrible scar on his thigh. It was as black as coal and covered nearly all of his right thigh. And behind his ear, was a small dot, the size of a drop of water and it was pure red. He was born with them both.

“Those are the exact scars you were born with. Exactly as the prophecy described.”

“But mother, that could just be a coincidence,” he argued.

“The Prince becomes a mighty warrior who is never defeated in a battle of any kind. But he is without a wolf to mate, because the Moon goddess has turned her back on him”.

Now, this part of the prophecy was beyond accurate. Dakar had been engaging in petty fights since he was a child, but he had never been defeated once. And when he became a warrior, he had never lost one war. It reached a point that no kingdom was willing to put their disagreement into war anymore. They all wanted to settle with words and not weapon, because of Dakar.

“Dakar, you are the Alpha Prince. All these years, I have feared for you. But I had this tiny hope that you are not the one. And that hope was shattered”, she stated.

“Because I made the crystal ball glow”, he added and she nodded.

“Then, what does me finding a different lady have to do with this all?” he asked.

“You have to choose someone who you love. Someone without a mate or a dead mate. That person will help you fight Dojo. By giving you the strength that accompanies love”