Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Ñiraka returned to her quarters, hoping her father would take action as soon as possible. She could not wait to be the official princess of the kingdom. That way, nothing would separate them. It was said that the prince had no destined mate, so she would be the one to be mated to him artificially. Well, it was not the same as natural mating which was performed by their wolf spirits and the creator. They would not feel the strong attachment real mates feel or the natural love that just comes with being mates. But they would be attached permanently and not be able to be separated. Wasn't that enough for her? What else does she want apart from being bounded to the prince and becoming Luna some day. It wasn't like she even liked that prince. He was too much of a narcissist, even more than her. She knew she was rude and proud, but the prince was worse. She was used to being the top person, and keeping up with the prince and acting all humble was tiring for her. But she needed to be that before she could attain the Luna position she so dreamt of since childhood.

“As soon as I become Luna, I'll be the highest female in the pack. No one would be able to pin me down, not even the prince because I would be bounded to him,” she assured herself as she looked out of her window at the night sky. She was already in her sleeping dress, so she turned around and walked to the bed. She laid down and slept, but entered into a world of nightmares. A huge, grey and red eyed wolf was pursuing her through a forest with thorns on the ground. She kept screaming and running but he was catching up with her. She tried to shift into her wolf but she couldn't. Finally, she reached a safe spot under a mountain cave and sat down panting. Her feet were bleeding seriously. Suddenly, a lady wearing a dark red cloak with a hood on stepped inside and treated her wounds. She tried hard to see her face but the lady had it well hidden behind her big red hood.

“Who are you? Do you live here?” Ñiraka asked as the lady stood on her feet and turned to leave. She was hanging the animal skin pouch she brought out her medicine from back into her cloak when Ñiraka asked the questions. She hung it and turned around, backing Ñiraka.

“You and everyone else is safe now. But not for long. None of us would be safe anymore because this danger is looming closer than ever. There is a lot of work to be done,” the mysterious lady answered in a dry, empty and emotionless voice. Ñiraka's brows furrowed because she did not understand anything. But before she could ask her what she meant, the lady stepped out of the cave and disappeared out of sight immediately.

“Noo! Wait!” Ñiraka screamed at her and jumped on her feet abruptly, only to wake up in bed with a start and her heart still beating as fast as it was in the dream. She looked around her surprisingly as she didn't understand how she quickly entered a different place. Seconds later, she realized that she was in her own room in her quarters and she had been in a terrible nightmare. Immediately, she yanked the blanket away from her body and stared at her feet. She heaved a deep sigh seeing that they were fresh and white, no blood or thorn wounds on them.

The door was thrown open and one of her maidens ran in with her personal therapist. She was given one as a special royalty treatment. Her maiden had heard her screaming and crying, she entered and saw her sweating in her sleep. So she ran to the therapists house there in the castle and called on him.

“Ñiraka,” he called with his eyes peering at her. She was still panting heavily and soaked with sweat. He moved closer to her and sat by her bed.

“I'm sorry, it was just a nightmare,” she said dryly for courtesy sake. She wanted to be just alone at that point. The therapist nodded and kept peering at her.

“Take some water, freshen up and go back to sleep,” he simply stated but Ñiraka knew he was already trying to figure things out. He was a good therapist who first understands the patient by observation before even asking his questions.

Ñiraka did as he said and went back to bed after her maiden changed the sweaty sheets. Thankfully, she didn't have anymore nightmares.

\*\*

Avril stood by the door of the prince's castle and her heart began to thump loud again.

“Mi lady, you're making it too obvious that you are nervous,” Gia whispered gently. Avril smiled and looked back at her.

“You both can go back from here. I can take care of myself,” she said.

“Lady Fiorella, we're not even permitted to follow you inside. But make sure you are fine. If you need anything, tell him to contact us,” Aria said sweetly and Avril smiled brightly.

“Sure. Don't worry. I got this. Go on now. Bye,” she urged them to leave and they nodded and turned around. Avril gulped down and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, the door opened by itself and she looked surprised. She peeped inside and didn't see anyone. Prince Dakar did not like servants in his castle, so no one else would have opened it.

“Don't worry. It's safe to come in,” his voice sounded across the entrance. Avril stepped in with a surprised look.

“Where are you?” she asked. The door shut itself and she raised a brow.

“In my bedroom,” came his reply.

“Can I come?” she asked.

“You didn't come here tonight to hang by the door, did you?” he asked in return and deep chuckled. Avril smirked and walked towards the grand staircase leading to the first floor. She exhaled and let the bright lights, the sparling white floor and the beautiful Roman empire, yet modern designs calm her down. She reached the first floor, then took the next stairs to the second and last floor where his room was located. She didn't take note of this this morning when she raced down the stairs from his bedroom. Maybe it was because the two staircases are close by and could be mistaken as one.

When she reached the door she suspected should be his bedroom, she knocked. The door swung open by itself again and Avril entered. Standing by his study table was Prince Dakar, with a wine glass in his hand. He was staring down at a paper on the desk. That same paper she had tried to read yesterday. He was wearing a black dress shirt, well tailored and ironed to his fitness. His trousers were black too, ironed and neat. His shoes were purely Italian, black and sparkling clean. Avril furrowed her brows as she sized him up and down. Why was he dressed up? Even his hair looked shiny and brushes through, hanging neatly from one side of his head but tucked behind his ear at the other side. Avril could not see his face yet, as his head was bowed and reading the contents of the paper.

“Did you get telecom fixed?” Avril asked for conversation sake. She did not know what to say to him first so she just decided to ask on how he was communicating with her downstairs.

“It's been here for ages,” he answered and sipped his wine, still facing the desk.

“Oh. I remember you told me that you guys have technology even before it is released to the human world,” she stated absentmindedly. Dakar on the other side froze, he stood still for a while then smirked and sipped his wine. He turned around with his eyes darkened and peering at her.

“I said what?” he asked with that piercing look of his. Avril's mouth parted slightly at how mesmerizing Dakar looked. His chiseled jawline, his lips and nose, his thick eyebrows over his narrow eyes accentuated well with the style of his hair. He looked like a Greek god. The top buttons of his dress shirt were not done, so his chest was showing and...that tattoo. The wolf baring its teeth was showing slightly from his chest.

“I asked a question,” he said and jerked her out of her checking out session.

“What?” she asked without comprehending. But he didn't answer, instead kept peering at her. Avril realized what she had said and why he was acting that way and her jaw dropped.

“I...I'm sorry. I mistook you for Camper. He was the one who told me that you guys have technology before it is even released to the human world,” she lied. He stared at her with those furrowed brows for long seconds before sipping his wine again.

‘You are a very good liar,’ he said to himself and chuckled.

He turned around and exhaled. Avril was looking really beautiful in that red dress. Did anyone tell her red attracted male wolves? Since he returned, he hated the color red on dresses because he thought they were solely worn for seduction. So no lady was permitted to wear it close to him, especially Ñiraka. But seeing it on Olive reset his system back to factory settings.

He dropped the glass, picked up the paper and folded it then walked to his drawer. He opened it, placed it neatly in there and closed it, locking it as he did so. He turned back to Avril and smirked sideways.

“You look really beautiful, Fiorella,” he drawled and Avril immediately got a knee jerk because her legs turned to jelly. She gasped and stood straight again. Dakar had his eyebrow raised at her.

“I'm sorry, I just. It was a knee jerk,” she explained and he nodded. Deep inside, he was laughing at how vulnerable she was at that point.

“Thanks for the compliment though,” she added and he nodded. He walked back to his desk and took his car keys then walked to her.

“Let's go,” he said to her and took her hand. He felt a zap of electricity down his spine at their body contact. This was what his body longed for. To hold her...forever.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she walked behind him out of the room.

“You'll see,” he answered and tightened his grip on her slender hand. He squeezed it lovingly and she looked down at the way he was holding her. She smiled and looked up at his face, but he was wearing his stoic, emotionless expression which reflected nothing about the way he was holding her hand.

They walked out in silence until they reached the massive living room that Avril knew he hardly sat in. She saw his flat screen TV and wondered when last he turned it on.

“Why is your castle lacking the life and spark? It seems like an unoccupied million dollar mansion,” Avril spoke up. He smirked and looked down at her.

“Do I seem like someone who has the life and spark? I'm a living ghost,” he replied. Immediately, he regretted saying that even though it was the truth. There was a downcast in her spirit, and her countenance changed immediately. Her eyes turned sad and misty, she began to radiate despair and worry. Her love filtered through the feelings of despair and reached him. It made his heart squeeze painfully that he had to stop walking.

“I wish you didn't have such a life,” she muttered while looking around the room.

“You don't deserve it,” she added, not even taking note of the effects of her words and emotions on him.

“Maybe I don't deserve it. But what can I do?” he asked rhetorically. Avril looked at him intently and sighed. She wanted to say something in her mind, but she remembered Verona's teaching. She would have said he was once full of life even though he was trapped on a mysterious island with no way of escaping.

“Come on, let's go,” he said and gently pulled on her arm. They walked out of the castle together and he locked the entrance door. He took her to the side of the castle and they entered through a garage door of a bungalow. It led to an underground garage of lots of cars. Avril's mouth dropped open and she looked at his face.

“Choose one that we should drive out in,” he stated as he looked over his array of cars. Avril pointed excitedly at a black Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae resting smoothly at the far end of the garage, directly opposite them.

“Nice choice. But too short for me,” Dakar stated and Avril glared at him.

“I didn't buy it, did I?” she asked sarcastically. He smiled dryly and looked at her. He held her waist and pulled her up from the ground, then—zip! He had sped all the way to the car using werewolf speed. Avril was shocked but not for long as he was opening the car doors already. She squealed and ran to the other side then entered immediately.

“Oh my God, this is so coool. Alejandro didn't have a car like this,” she stated and Dakar peered at her. Who was Alejandro?

He entered without asking her anything and started the car. He retracted the roof then he began to move. He drove out of the garage, out of his castle premises and out of the entire palace. Avril was super excited as she kept looking at the interior of the car and outside at the pack too. When the speed of the car became too fast and she saw they were on a desolate road, away from the pack's lively night, Avril looked at him.

“Where are we going again?” she asked.

“A human city,” he answered and Avril's eyes bulged.