Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Her heart stopped working and she felt everything become so silent. She looked into Dakar's eyes with courage and surprisingly, she felt familiar with them. Those green orbs stared back at her in an intense way.

“You are beautiful, Fiorella,” he muttered loud enough for her to hear. She gulped down and exhaled.

“Prince Dakar, you truly don't remember me?” she asked.

His eye brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?” he asked, not changing their position by the wall.

“I... Well, you and I are...,” she trailed off again, not knowing what else to say to make some sense.

“You don't seem familiar and I haven't dealt with a human this young before. What makes you think I know you?” he asked.

“My island wolf,” she pronounced and stared deep into his eyes. Dakar felt that gaze, his insides churned. His right hand moved involuntarily and cupped her face. His face moved swiftly and he captured her lips, kissing her ravenously like she was a tough prey. He didn't know why he moved that way, but he didn't want to stop. Avril on the other hand was as stiff as a rock. She was shocked, not because he was kissing her but because of the circumstances surrounding the kiss. Had he regained his memory? She felt his hand on the wall move to her head and hold her hair.

His fingers grazed her scalp and his right hand tilted her head to the left. She didn't kiss him back, maybe she was still shocked. But his kiss was not ending, and her body was slowly accepting the turn of events. She moved her lips a bit and was about to kiss him back but he pulled away. His deep breaths grazed her skin and she saw his chest rising and falling. He smirked at her.

“I like that name; Island Wolf. What if I ask people to start calling me that?” Dakar asked. Her chest rose and stayed like that. So he didn't kiss her because he remembered?

“It's fine. The name is fine,” she said with a fake smile. He nodded and took three steps away from her. She straightened up from the wall and looked at the floor.

“Hungry? I cook,” he said.

“I know,” was her answer.

“Everybody knows,” he chuckled and walked back to his closet. He pulled the door and walked in. Avril fanned herself with her hands and took deep breaths. What was she going to do to make him remember her? She bit her lips and looked around the room. There was nothing that resembled his life on the island. But there had to be something, right? Even though it was just one. She looked at his study table and saw a folded piece of paper. The paper looked rough and old. Prince Dakar was reading that before she arrived. She gently tiptoed to the table and her fingers gently touched the paper, about to lift it.

“Don't you dare,” Dakar's voice echoed through the room. Avril felt her heart drop to her knees.

“I'm sorry,” escaped her lips as she withdrew her hands. She looked up at his face and expected it to be angry, but it wasn't. He wore an expression of fear and a bit of defense. He picked the paper and walked back into his closet. Avril twitched her lips and cussed at herself for trying to snitch on his property. She patiently waited for him to come back, not wanting to touch anything else.

Finally, Dakar returned. His hair was in a loose bun at the back of his head. He wore his usual white t-shirt and shorts. He was wearing a pair of Crocs, white Crocs.

“Come with me,” he said or he ordered, because his voice was stiff, cold and authoritative. She followed him out of the room silently. They walked down the grand staircase until they landed on the living room floor. The room was bright with lights, and didn't look like the outside was an ancient stone building.

They entered the kitchen and he walked to the counter.

“What do you want to eat?” he asked.

“I don't know. What's on the menu?” she asked in return and he chuckled. An empty chuckle that didn't show on his face. It was just a sound.

“I like fish. I can make barbecued fish,” he said without looking at her.

“I had a friend who always made those for me. We used to do the fishing together,” Avril said and watched him wash his hands.

“Cool,” he simply said without any emotions. But something about what he said made her heart bleed.

Alejandro Mateo.

How could she forget about him? She had been so busy thinking about Dakar everyday that she didn't think about Alejandro for once. She didn't even pay him respect. She didn't talk to him. She just let him go like that. Her heart squeezed and she had to take deep, deep breaths to calm herself down. She promised she would spend sometime alone in her room to talk to him. She knew he would hear. Thinking about him again, she realized his death wasn't worth it. Alejandro Mateo shouldn't die like that!

“Fiorella, wash your hands,” Dakar's voice echoed in her head. Her eyes blinked and she saw him looking at her.

“Huh?” she asked.

“Wash your hands and wear that apron. I don't normally let people touch my stuff, but I'll give you a chance to help me,” he spilled and walked to his fridge. Avril frowned and clicked her tongue. He said he was giving her a chance, like she wasn't even worth it.

“Okay,” she just said and walked to the sink he just left. She washed her hands and wore the apron. He brought out two big fishes from his fridge and put them in a bowl for rinsing. Avril watched him do it and a smile crept on her face. He still loved cooking.

Dakar heat up the oven and made her give him a knife and some dry ingredients from his cabinet. She watched him cut the sides of the fishes and sprinkle ingredients on them. He wrapped them in foil and placed on the oven tray. The smell of curry and other sweet smelling ingredients filled the large kitchen. Finally, Dakar slipped the tray into the oven. They washed their hands and went to the dining room. Dakar poured out grape juice into two tumblers and handed her one.

“You are acting different,” she voiced out.

“How?” he asked.

“From what I heard, you're supposed to be scary and not nice. But you're actually nice to me,” she said and sat on one of the dining chairs. She placed her left hand on the table and used it to support her chin as she peered at him.

“So what about the scary aspect of me?” he asked and gulped down the entire content of the glass.

“You're scary. Like the first time I met you,” she answered.

“In the throne room?”

She shook her head though he didn't see her, since he wasn't looking at her. She wanted to say she saw him in a forest the first time. With red glowing eyes and hanging on a big tree. But wouldn't she sound crazy? He wouldn't remember, so she would look crazy.

“I'm not being nice to you. I'm just letting you cook with me,” Dakar added after she was silent.

“You kissed me. That was sexy.”

Finally, he looked at her. His left eyebrow was raised at her in a question. As if asking her what the kiss had to do with him being nice.

“I'm just saying,” she protested.

“I kiss my women. Not special,” he said in a cold emotionless voice.

Avril swirled her drink in her hand and peered at the twirling liquid. She always wished to hold him again, and kiss him again. But now that it happened, she felt void. It truly wasn't special. It was just Fiorella, a concubine being kissed by the Prince she belonged to.

“Fiorella,” Dakar called and she gently looked up at him.

“This night, I'm being nice, I agree. Because it's your first night here. You're human, I'm not. Or at least, I'm not fully human. If it was a shifter female sitting down there right now, I might not be this cool. Wait, she wouldn't even be sitting right now. But I'm being considerate to you, because you're human,” he spilled out. Avril almost rolled her eyes at his speech.

“So? I should worship you for that?” she asked sarcastically. His smirk formed on his face again and he rubbed the side of his nose with his index finger.

“Yes. You should,” he answered.

“I won't do that. You're just a normal person to me. I won't fear you. I don't fear anyone,” Avril retorted and his eyes dilated a bit. Wow, her voice sure sounded brave. He knew his Avril was stubborn, but not too brave. This woman here was showing tiny signs of bravery. It was at the tip of Dakar's tongue to ask her what happened to her those two years they were separated. But he couldn't. He wanted to hug her and pin her to his chest, make his body feel her warmth again. But he couldn't. If only he could call her Avril, and tell her he was herIsland Wolf. Tell her he remembered every part of their memories. Tell her he knew he was the friend she was talking about. But hell no, he couldn't. Wasn't this torture too?

Anthena made it clear that he should not let her know he was the same one she knew on that island. He shouldn't make her realize he was her island wolf. He told her it was because of the memories that were not just good, but bad. He had tried to kill her more than once on that island and Dojo was the cause. She knew about his weaknesses and his full story. If anyone perceived she knew a bit of what happened to him both on the island and how he disappeared, then she would turn to a prey. Anthena said it was better to make her bury those memories and create new ones, so she wouldn't be used. Werewolves weren't the only beings in the world. Vampires existed, witches, demons, dragons and elves existed too. Good and bad still existed. Each being had abilities and they could read the mind of a mere human like Avril and use her against him. And as far as Dakar could still remember, he had enemies. He wasn't clean even before he realized he had a curse.

So, he was going to love Fiorella now, not Avril. She didn't have to know he knew her. It didn't matter. But, a part of him did not wish for her to forget their memories. He couldn't forget, he didn't want her to forget completely either. Just a single herb could erase her mind but he couldn't. How could he make Avril forget that she alone made him a housekeeper? The thought of him waking up very early to make breakfast and fearing to not make it on time before she was up made him chuckle. He dreaded Avril's hungry side. Was she still like that?

At that point, she yawned.

“How many hours does it take for fish to get baked? Don't tell me Remus fish is tougher than our normal fish too!” she raked with a deep frown. A smug smirk appeared on his face. He had gotten his answer too quick. Avril was still like that.

“It's just been ten minutes, Fiorella. Five minutes more,” he mused as he looked at her. She pouted and took the remnant of her juice in one gulp, like she was taking a tequila shot. Dakar's eyes furrowed. Where did she learn to do that?

“F*ck! I'm hungry,” she cussed and his jaw dropped open. When did she start cussing? What happened to her?

His eyes caught sight of a mark on her arm, a very faint mark that only his kind could see clearly with their vivid eyesight.

He walked to her and held up her hand.

“Fiorella, how did you get this?”

“Get what?” she got on her feet and looked at the spot. She couldn't see the mark at first, but then she realized what happened to her there and she finally saw a very light peach line.

“Oh that? I was running after a man who was stealing information from us. He was selling this info to a drug cartel about our operations and where wehid our sh*t. We found out and I decided to deal with him myself. I got that mark because his knife brushed through my arm as I pushed it back to stab him. I wasn't supposed to bring him back dead so I pushed it into his arm instead,” Avril explained without even thinking. Her eyes were on the faint mark so she didn't realize Dakar's eyes had widened in shock as he stared at her.

___

Avril woke up in Dakar's magnificent bed. She was covered with his thick and red comforter, and the sunlight from the open window kissed her face. She sat up and stretched. She was wearing her clothes from the previous night. Wait... How did she get into bed?

Her eyes widened as she looked around the room. How did she come in there? She remembered having dinner with Dakar. But that was all. She didn't remember anything at all. Did she sleep off and he carried her up? Where was he?

She climbed out of the bed and saw her shoes at the foot of the bed. She wore them and looked around for any sign of him. She looked back at the bed and saw that the other side was rough too, which meant he had also slept on the bed. She looked at the nightstand and saw a neatly folded paper on top with FIORELLA written on it. She picked it and opened it. It said; You're returning tonight too. Your breakfast is downstairs. Just eat and go home. PS, last night was hot.

She felt her face burn red.

“Liar,” she gritted. She knew quite well with the way she felt that she wasn't touched last night.

Chapter 70

Avril pinned her upper teeth on her lower lip in rage. Why was he playing with her? She wasn't a little naive girl who could be teased around.

“Where is that sneaky wolf?” she said with a scowl on her face. She dumped the paper on the bed and ikrkhurried out of the room, as fast as her legs could e her. She threw the door open and walked through it. In few seconds, she was already hurrying down the grand staircase with her feet making 'clank clank' sounds. She hurried through the front door after pushing it open. It was early in the morning and the sun was starting to rise. Avril knew that Dakar hadn't gone far and she just wanted to catch up with him and warn him never to tease her again. The thoughtthat she missedThe Weak End Fight because of his call, and not even doing anything worth it added to her rage.

Servants were the only ones walking around, during some morning duties. There was no distinguished person in sight. She stopped hurrying and slowed down, thinking she wouldn't find Dakar because he might be totally off the vicinity. But then, she sighted a trail of flowers a few metres from her.

“Ñiraka,” she breathed out with a scowl on her face. She decided to follow it just in case Ñiraka was with Prince Dakar. Few seconds after hurrying alongside the trail, she heard Dakar's voice.

“...I already made plans with another,” his voice echoed through the atmosphere.

“My prince, it's been weeks since I last saw you. Please, just let me—”

“—Ñiraka, you know me well. I said I already made plans with another. And, it's just been a week not weeks we last saw each other,” Dakar cut in.

Avril smirked and walked into the vast space, right in front of Prince Dakar's whole champers, just before the gate. He was standing there with Camper alomgsife Ñiraka and her maidens. His face showed he was utterly displeased and didn't want to be standing there and talking with her. Camper wore an amused expression as he stared at Ñiraka's desperate face. Avril's mimd wandered to the fact that Dakar and Ñiraka were supposed to be cousins. But she quickly shove it off her mind, because she would end up being confused with why Ñiraka was still his concubine.

“Hey you!” Avril's voice rang through the vast space, and all eyes raised to look at her. Ñiraka's desperate face turned into a frown at Avril.

“What is it?” she asked with a deep annoyed tone.

“Not you, sucker. I'm referring to this punk face of a prince!” she retorted and glared daggers at Dakar. Camper's amused face turned into one of surprise at Avril, and Ñiraka's frown turned into disbelief as her mouth dropped at the name she just called Prince Dakar. The Prince himself wore an expressionless face.

“Punk face?”Camper asked as he grinned at Avril in amusement. She was still glaring at Dakar as she moved closer and stood inches from him. She looked up at his eyes and stood without saying a word. From afar, one would think the two are about to fight and are first of all, glaring at one another.

Prince Dakar had a dark aura around him which made it hard, impossible for someone who is not Camper to call him names. The elders knew better than to call him names, or even raise their tone at him. But here was a human, new to the kingdom raising her voice, calling him names and looking him in the eye. That meant trouble. Prince Dakar would not take that.

The maidens with Ñiraka suddenly took interest in gazing at the stone floor instead of looking at the new lady staring at their prince that way. It was like they would be punished too if they stared at them.

“Is there something wrong with you? Hey! Stop looking at my prince that way!” Ñiraka tried to put up a fight and pulled Avril's arm. However, to her dismay, the human girl didn't move one inch.

“Prince, do you take me for a fool?” Avril asked as of Ñiraka did not just talk to her.

“You look like one,” Dakar replied gently. His tone shocked both Ñiraka and Camper. He should be breathing out hot air right now.

“Geez, you're stupid to take me that way. I'm no fool. That stupid note you left was filled with lies! I know you did nothing!”

It was Dakar's turn to look amused. He stepped back with a smirk and he scratched his forehead.

“Is that where the trouble is looming from? The fact I lied?” he asked and Avril crossed her arms. Before she could answer, Dakar said,

“Or was it because I actually did nothing?”

His smirk went higher as he watched Avril's face turn slightly pink. She looked lost for words on how to answer that, making Dakar guess his answer. He leaned closer to Avril's ear.

“You're still coming tonight. Make sure you don't sleep off this time so you'd make sure I don't lie to you tomorrow morning,” he whispered. Ñiraka scoffed in disbelief.

“This is her? The one you made plans for?” she asked with eyes that spelt utter disgust.

“Something wrong with that, she-wolf?” Avril asked and raised a brow at her.

“You're fierce, babe. I like you,” Camper praised Avril with sincere like in his eyes. But Dakar didn't know how he ended up glaring at his best friend for that remark. Camper immediately looked away and scratched the insides of his hair. Ñiraka noticed that and her heart seemed to swell.

“Have you had breakfast?” Dakar asked Avril who was still rooted to a spot. She gently shook her head.

“No wonder you seem to want to swallow me. Go have breakfast,Fiorella. Before you swallow me whole,” he teased and she noticed a smile was trying hard to break out from her mouth. No, she needed to keep acting tough. No,she shouldn't show Dakar she loved what he said and how he said it. She came here to act tough towards him, but here she was blushing at his words.

“How am I sure you didn't poison it?” she managed to ask with a straight face.

Camper tilted his head at her and Ñiraka just couldn't take it anymore. She knew this Fiorella was trying to rub shoulders with her prince.That should be her, Ñiraka, and not this Fiorella.

“Want me to eat with you? I'll get to taste it first for any poison,” Camper spoke up and smiled at Avril.

“Yes,” Avril returned the smile and held Camper's hand then pulled him along. But Camper did not fail to notice the pair of eyes that followed his move. He almost pulled his hand off Avril's, but her grip was strong. That was how he ended up having breakfast with Avril, in Dakar's kitchen.

___

Avril arrived in her house a few minutes to eleven in the morning. She was more than thrilled to see her three friends in the living room with her maidens.

“Oh my God!” she squealed and they jumped up and ran into each other's arms, forming a group hug.

“Finally, we're complete,” she said excitedly.

“Yeah. I almost felt like I was alone in this world,” Xiào Wéi joked and they laughed.

“When did you girls arrive?” Avril asked.

“About ten minutes ago,” Chidi replied and they went to sit on the long couch which could contain the four of them. Aida and Gia stood by the wall and watched them with amusement.

Nana leaned forward and peered at Avril with a smug smile.

“I heard you spent the night on the prince's bed,” she whispered and the rest of the girls gave her that same look Nana wore on her face. Avril's neck turned pink and she palmed her face.

“Oh my God! It's true!” Nana yelled and the girls screamed and began to clap and fan themselves dramatically.

“What? No, stop! Hey!” Avril tried to calm them down but no, not these friends of hers.

“Gosh, that guy is hot. Do you see that hair of his, man, I wanna braid it,” Nana whined and the three girls screamed again. Avril could see Aida and Gia secretly blushing too. She groaned and jumped on her feet.

“Enough!” she ordered and they stopped. But they were still smiling sheepishly and touching their hair or faces as they acted like they were in love. Avril ignored their acts and heaved a sigh.

“Nothing happened. He still doesn't remember me. He kept calling me Fiorella and won't agree that he's known me before,” she let out and began to pace around. Her friends let out small sounds that she didn't understand. She stopped pacing and looked at them.

“What?” she asked as she watched their awkward expressions.

“Uhm, Avril...We're really not alone right now,” Xiào Wéi whispered. Avril's eyebrows creased as she looked around. Her eyes met Aida and Gia looking at her with surprise. They now realized why she was always trying to be around the prince. She had known him before coming to the kingdom.