Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Prince Dakar's breathing turned ragged as he clutched the chair for support.

“My prince,” Ñiraka called to him as she noticed he wasn't okay. She tried to hold his hand but he pulled it away.

“Son, are you okay?” his father asked. He breathed in deeply and opened his eyes.

“Yes, father. I am okay,” he answered and sat upright. The pain had gone so he was back to normal.

“What is her name?” the king asked aloud. Everyone settled their eyes on the man in the middle of the field again. He reached into his pocket and picked out a paper. He took it towards the light of a fire on a pole and pronounced the first name his eyes fell on among the list of names.

“Fiorella,” he said and drummers beat noisily on their drums.

“From today henceforth, the human girl will be called Fiorella which is translated as Flower. She shall be treated as one of us because she was chosen by the Prince,” the king announced.

“Long live Fiorella!” a masculine voice shouted from the crowd.

“LONG LIVE FIORELLA!” the whole people echoed.

***

Avril woke up with the worst pain she had ever received in her whole body. Her arms, chest, tummy, back and legs were so heavy and painful. She groaned and opened her eyes fully to look around the room. There were two windows in the room now and both were fully open without curtains. She remembered how Dakar made windows in the wall of the mountain-house and smiled.She stared at one of the windows and breathed in the fresh air coming in. Then she tried to sit up in bed. It wasn't an easy task, because her arms felt so weak. Thankfully, her door opened and Aida ran in.

“My lady,” she called and ran to her on the bed. She helped her sit up and Avril smiled weakly.

“Thank you,” she muttered.

“Your throat must be dry. Wait, I'll get you water,” Aida said and dashed off. She returned a minute later with a bottle of cold water and a glass cup. Avril drank it down and sighed satisfactorily.

“That was refreshing. Thank you, Aida,” she appreciated.

“You are welcome, my lady,” Aida replied.

“Can you please stop calling me that. I told you, my name is Avril.”

“Uhm... No, your name is not Avril.”

“Huh?”

“You are now Fiorella. The pack has named you Fiorella and as long as you're here, that is what you'll be called.”

“What?Why change my name?”

“They were also going to change your memories, remember?”

“Urg! This is rubbish!”

“Calm down, you're still weak.Don't bruise your back,” Aida said and held Avril's hand.

“What did they do to me last night? Why did they place hot metal on me?”

“Brandingyou as the property of Remus. Remus is the name of our pack and kingdom.”

“May I see it? I mean, the brand.”

“Sure.”

Aida helped her to her feet and walked her gently to the mirror. Avril turned her back at it and looked in at her body. She bit her lower lip as her eyes caught sight of the image at her back. A wolf head was burnt into her skin, giving her a tattoo.

“Painful,” she muttered. The skin around that place was pure red, but the wolf head itself was black. The metal had been painted with black ink before being placed on her back.

“Do the others have this too?” she asked.

“Yes. They all went through what you went through. But theirs was not much of an important ceremony. And they took it easy on them. You on the other hand is the concubine of the prince, that's a really important position. The Prince doesn't have much concubines since most women have mates.So, each concubineis treated like an egg.”

Avril walked back to the bed on her own and sat down.

“Does he have a wife yet?” she asked.

“No. I don't think he's planning on having one soon. Seems he truly hates women. Before he disappeared, we all thought he would end up with Ñiraka. But right now, he doesn't even care about her.”

“I'm hungry. I need food,”Avril stated

“Oops,my bad. Food is coming right up!” Aida cooed and ran off.

After her breakfast, she was taken to the large living room to relax while they (her maidens) massaged her. They rubbed a special ointment over her burn so she would feel less pain. And also on her arms and legs.

“When can my friends come and see me, Gia?” Avril asked.She was seated on the long couch, and was wearing along dress which was quite light and flimsy that the air tossed it about. It was brought in alongside bags of other things from the king's castle, specially for her.

“Depends on when they are free. Nana asked me to tell you that she would check on you tonight. They are so worried about you,” Gia answered.

“They should worry about themselves too. I'm not the only one that is a victim here,” Avril said with a pout that made Aida chuckle. Aida was sitting at her feet and playing with a red flower.

“We haven't told you all about our kingdom yet. You fainted yesterday, so you didn't get to hear the briefing. Only your friends did,” Gia stated.

“You are werewolves. Shifters to be precise and you live in a hidden kingdom. What else should I know?”

“Wait... How did you know that?”Aida asked.

“I told her while you went to the bakery,” Gia answered. Avril chuckled inwardly because she had known about them since two years ago.

The door opened abruptly and they all got startled. They looked through it outside but did not see anyone who could have opened it. Then, two ladies walked in. They were dressed like Aida and Gia. Two other maidens walked in again and two behind then also walked in. These two behind were spraying flower petals on the floor.

“What the heck?” Avril mumbled. Finally, the person behind the dramatic entrance walked in. Avril muffled a laugh as she saw the way Ñiraka walked. She was walking slowly like a leopard monitoring its prey.

“Anything funny, my dear?” Ñiraka drawled as she settled her eyes on Avril.

“Nothing. Who are you and how may I help you?” Avril asked even though she knew that was Ñiraka.

Ñiraka swayed her long satin dress of peach color and swung her long dark hair to the other side of her head.

“My name is Ñiraka. I am the Royal Concubine to the Prince,” she said and walked further into the room.

“O...kaayyy,” Avril drawled and waited for her to say why she was there.

“Why is this place dusty?” Ñiraka asked and swiped a finger over the arm of the couch Avril was sitting on.

“Are you here to inspect the cleanliness of the room?” Avril asked and she frowned.

“Of course not! I am not a janitor!”

“Okay. So why are you here?”

“To welcome you to the pack and to Prince Dakar's Chambers. I hope you have a good time. But just a little advice? Be contented with what you have been given and don't aspire for more. Humans don't usually last long with us if they get nosy.”

“Wow. Okay, thank you. Anything else?” Avril asked.

“Why do I get the impression you want me to leave?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I'm tired and you're blocking the passage of fresh air.”

Ñiraka eyed her and scoffed. She walked back and beckoned on her maidens to start leaving. As they walked out, they sprinkled flower petals on the floor so Ñiraka would step over.

“Wait... Who's going to sweep that?” Avril asked after them.

“Fiorella, you're acting weird towards her,” Aida whispered.

“I don't like her,” Avril said with a frown.

“But you hardly know her.”

“I still don't like her,”Avril repeated and got on her feet.

“She is trouble. She doesn't like it when someone doesn't respect her. You'll have to respect her because she might be the queen someday,” Gia spoke. Avril frowned at the thought of Dakar marrying Ñiraka. She was his cousin, he would never do that. But why was she still his concubine?

Avril thought he had truly lost his memory which was why she was still his concubine. But she then vowed never to let that happen. She was Dakar's concubine too, and would strive hard to make him fall in love with her again.

“Ñiraka's in for a rival,” she thought to herself.

“I want to go for a walk. Sitting down would make my legs weaker,” she spoke out loud. Aida stood up and held Avril's hand.

“Do you like gossip? I can tell you all about anyone we come across.”

“Aida!” Gia yelled her name.

“What? Allow me gossip in peace! What do you say Fiorella?”

“Let's gossip in peace,” Avril whispered and they laughed and began to walk away.

Gia crossed her arms and shook her head as she watched them go.

“Wait for me!” she said and hurried after them.

They stepped out unto the stone floor outside and began to walk away from the house. As they did, Avril looked around to see if she can find Dakar. She had determined to always be around him until he notices her again.

Chapter 64

Avril looked left and right the spaces between each building. The houses were built close to each other so the spaces were not too wide. She couldn't hear any voices, and it seemed like they were the only ones outside.

“Is the palace always this empty?” she asked her maidens.

“Well, it's not empty. Just that no one is walking around this vicinity yet. People only walk when they have to go somewhere,right?” Aida asked.

“Yeah. Uhm, can we go towards the prince's castle?” she asked in a low voice. Aida and Gia exchanged puzzled glances.

“We can't?” Avril asked.

“We can. Only if we are called by him or sent by the Alpha. Only Ñiraka has that liberty to go in and out of his house,” Gia explained.

“Which means we can't. Eish!”

They walked in silence, looking at the trees and other buildings. Avril saw the dried leaves being blown about and she remembered. It was her birthday soon, and the time of the year she got separated from Dakar two years ago. So, it was going to be three years already?

“So soon?” she asked aloud and shut her eyes in thought.

“Anything wrong? Fiorella?” Gia asked.

She opened her eyes and bit her lower lip.

“I'm fine,” she muttered after a few seconds of staring into space. They continued to walk silently, with Avril reminiscing old memories.

“Oh, look. This is Verona, she used to be a rogue but Prince Dakar saw her during one of his trips and he brought her to the pack. She's been his concubine ever since,” Aida whispered.

She was looking at the direction of a very beautiful woman. She was tall like Avril, but had short ginger-red hair which was straight and in a bob. She was not wearing the normal girlish clothes, but was wearing gothic style. She wore black makeup,a gold chain, a black crop top and black ripped jeans. Only her boots were red.

“That is a concubine?” Avril asked in disbelief. What would Dakar want with a girl so evil looking? She looked like a college bad girl.

“Yes. One of his favorites. By that, I mean she goes to his castle often,” Aida whispered back. The girl was standing before a house, in front of the big oak door. She was chewing gum and scrolling on her phone.

“How often?” Avril asked and narrowed her eyes at the Verona.

“About three times in a month,” Gia replied. Aida looked at her in surprise.

“What?”

“I never knew you wanted to gossip too,” Aida teased.

Gia scoffed and looked away while Aida chuckled. Avril was still looking at Verona.

“Can't she hear us?” she asked because she remembered werewolves could hear very well.

“We are not that close. Plus, we're whispering. She can only hear our whispers if she was at least, a metre close,” Aida explained. Avril nodded and gulped down. She wanted to tell the maidens to turn a different direction whenVerona looked up and met eyes with her. Avril gasped because those eyes looked cold and stiff.

“She is definitely a mean girl,” Avril thought.

Verona smirked evilly and began to walk towards them.

“Oops! Let's go, I'm scared of her,” Aida tugged on Avril's arm.

“Fiorella,” Verona drawled.

“How did she get her so fast?” Avril asked herself. She heaved a deep sigh and looked Verona in the eye. Time for tough Avril.

“Hello,” she said.

Verona clicked on her oink gum and blew a bubble. She bursted it and chewed on while wearing a smug smirk on her face.

“You're prettier than when I saw you last night. I must say, you don't look as pitiable as I thought,” she said in a cool voice, like a girl who raps in a band.

“Thank you,” Avril said.

“How's the pain?” Verona asked and swept off stray strands of hair from her left eye with her black fingers.

“Not bad,” Avril answered.

“I didn't introduce myself, my bad.” She moved closer to Avril until there was just two steps between them.

“My name is Verona. I love chicken and I'm very happy when it's time to fight the Weak End Fight,” she said and drew her face closer.

“Especially if I'm to fight against Ñiraka. I f**king hate that wolf,” she whispered and scoffed.

Avril stood watching Verona with interest. She was blowing a bubble again. Aida and Gia were giggling at the back.

“What is the Weekend Fight?”Avril asked.

“Not Weekend, dear. Weak End. Like, the end of the weak. And, it's a fighting sport held every Friday between us,” Verona explained.

“Okay. And Ñiraka participates in The Weak End Fight?”

“Yeah. The women's session. What? Why are you interested in her? Don't tell me you like her!” Verona spilled with wide eyes, like Avril had said something outrageous.

Chapter 65

“What? No! Damn, I hate her!” Avril retorted and her held unconsciously moved up to her hair. She winced in pain from her back and dropped her hand immediately.

“Oh sorry. Be more careful. That shit is painful,” Verona sympathized.

“Uhm, Verona. Can I find somewhere to sit? I'm tired of standing,” Avril said.

“You're taking permission from me? Don't be that soft, please. There's a bench under that tree. Wanna sit there?” she pointed at a tree close to her building and Avril nodded. They walked there silently, except for Verona's frequent bubble bursting.

Avril heaved a deep sigh as she sat down. Something was wrong with her and she didn't know what. She was suddenly feeling nervous.

“I need to see my friends. Gia, how can I see them today?” she asked Gia who was behind her.

“Ehmm.. when? I don't think they're also strong enough to meet up right now. You'll have to wait until, at least tomorrow morning,” Gia answered.

“Yeah, wait until tomorrow. I'll keep you company if you need one. Are you hungry? We can go have brunch of you're,” Verona stated while scrolling endlessly through whatever she was looking at on her phone.

“Gia and Aida, can you go home and get brunch ready for us? Verona will take me further until it's ready and we'll be back.”

“Okay. Okay, ma'am,” Aida said and she left with Gia without any arguments.

“Something tells me you just sent them away,” Verona teased with a sideways smirk.

“Your something is right. I just sent them away.”

“I don't even like maidens. Got rid of mine during my first week. I go lone.”

Avril chuckled softly and looked ahead of her. Her heart was beating fast. Why was she nervous?

“Can you... Can you please accompany me towards the prince's castle?” she spilled out and Verona lifted an eyebrow at her, like she was asking why.

“I... I find him attractive. Just wanna peep,” she added and faked a smile.

“I did that too. Dude is so friggin' hot. But we have to be careful. Come with me,” Verona took her hand gently and they walked hurriedly yet stealthily between the buildings, until they reached his castle. Avril's heartbeat doubled as they stared at the building.

“He's usually back at his garden by this time. It has a small stone fence that we can actually see over, so let's go,” Verona whispered really low. Avril wondered how her voice could be so low, yet smooth and hearable. It was definitely a wolf thing.

They walked quietly, looking here and there until they reached the back of the castle. Avril could see the fence already, and the trees swishing here and there with the wind. She bit her lower lip and realized they were taking a big risk. What if they were caught?

“Come on,” Verona nudged Avril gently. They bent low and crawled behind the fence until they reached the middle of it. It was obvious Verona was used to doing this with how swift she was. They gently raised the heads and peeped over the fence. There he was, sitting under a tree by a table. His hair was not in his signature ponytail, but was freely flying about with the wind. He wore a white singlet, and his wolf head tattoo was visible on his shoulder. He looked hot just sitting down there and reading a book. His thick eyebrows creased into a furrow and he stopped reading. He heaved a sigh and bit his lower lip. Then he looked up at their direction. But Verona was quick to pull down Avril's head along with hers. Five seconds later and she tried to peep but, Prince Dakar was still peering at their direction. She immediately pulled down again. That was weird, he never stared that long. What Verona didn't know was that he knew Avril's scent more than anything else, and he knew she was there.

He scratched his left eyebrow at Avril's stubbornness. Why couldn't she just sit down and let him be? Well, she was always stubborn.

“Thinking about her?” came that sly voice he dreaded so much.

“No,” he replied with his mind.

“Liar,” Dojo teased. Dakar glanced at his arm with the burnt lines. He regretted ever pulling that stupid stunt he pulled bact at the island. He had a bit of ocean water in a jar, and had always planned to use it on himself to see if it would not burn him. That was supposed to be when the curse was broken. So, when he turned human again, he thought the curse was fully broken. He wanted to make sure and that was why he poured the water on his palm. It burned him mercilessly, and began to move like tiny snakes up his arm. Burning the flesh it came in contact with, and causing him pain. Dojo had been able to take over his mind and body at that instant, and he had almost killed Avril. He regretted that day.

Dakar looked aheadagain and sensed that they were gone. He rubbed his jaw gently with his thumb and breathed out with his mouth. He had to do something about Avril. He couldn't stand the torture he received from Dojo, and couldn't stand not talking with her. He loved her. He sincerely loved her.

At that last thought, his hand glowed red and he groaned in pain.

“Arghh,” he tried to surpress the sound he made. He bent over and held that arm, as it hurt like it was being roasted in a bread furnace.

“Don't think about her!” Dojo gritted and he ran his good arm through his long hair. Dojo could not hear his thoughts as long as it did not involve her, so he needed to think something out.

“How to stop him from inflicting pain on me,” he mumbled. Suddenly, an idea flicked into his mind. It was time to go on another trip out of the pack again.