THE ISLAND WOLF - EPISODE 33

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Avril asked and Dakar shook his head. He was still holding her hand and staring at the bracelet.
“I like it”, she said and looked at the bracelet too.
“It looks good on my hand, doesn’t it?” she asked and he looked at her face. She was smiling and despite the depression he was feeling inside, he smiled at her.
“Everything looks good on Avril Henderson”, he mused and touched her hair.
“Yes. I’m perfect”, she chirped and he laughed.
“Yeah, you are. And you should remain that way”.
“You talk like you’re leaving me soon. Look, I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I guess I’m still immature when it comes to matters like this. But I know how I feel about you, and I don’t think I can cope if you disappear from my life”, Avril stated.
“Things are uncertain, Avril. I don’t know what the future holds for me. And I don’t want you entangled in all of that because Dojo hates you. And right now, you’re his primary suspect. He hates the way you make me strong, and how you’re breaking the curse bit by bit. He wants to hurt you”.

“Will you let him?”
“Never. Not in this life or the next”.
Avril shrugged then said, “Thats all I need to know. I trust you. So, why don’t we enjoy this while it lasts?”
“Yeah? While it lasts? Haha, okay. It’s fine by me”, he said with a chuckle. She grinned and raised her hand up to her face. She looked at the wolf heads on the charm bracelet and smiled.
“Can’t believe I fell in love with a hundred year old half human”, she mumbled.
“Hey, come here”, Dakar said and beckoned on her to come closer to him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Just come”, he repeated and cleared the plates from between them. She looked him over before moving to his side. He pulled her and made her sit right in front of him, while she faced the same direction he faced. Then he hugged her tight that she couldn’t even wriggle free.
“Dakar?” she called, because she didn’t understand his action and why.
“Ssh—no talking”, he whispered and leaned his head on her shoulder.
“You know, Camper used to say the arms of a woman are the greatest form of comfort. I laugh at him then, because I thought he was just a womanizer. But right now, my greatest comfort is right here”, he mumbled.
“You know I’m the one in your arms and not vice versa, right?” Avril asked and he scoffed.
“What matters is one of us is in the other’s arms”, he cooed and she laughed.
“I’m still hungry”, she said and he sighed.
“She never changes. Come on, eat it all up. I’m going to get some lettuce for the rabbit”, he got on his feet and she fell back.
“Ouch!” she winced as her head hit the bare ground, just passing the blanket by inches.
“Suits you right for ruining the moment”, he grunted and walked away.
“You are a son of a bitçh, Dakar”, she mumbled under her breath.
“I heard that!” he yelled out and she rolled her eyes.
“Living with a wolf is so much harder than it looks”, she said in her mind this time.

***
It was a few days to the first day of September, Avril’s birthday. She had been on the island for approximately six months already, and the last two were spent as Dakar’s special one. Their days were filled with affection for each other. Dakar always hide his insecurities and fear of being ripped away from Avril any day, and he tried his very best to make her happy all the time. Including making chicken as dinner almost every day, his precious chicken. With her sword fighting skills, she was almost perfect. Dakar was a good teacher and she was a fast learner. She was already good at shooting arrows too.

On this very fateful day, Dakar had marked trees with red paint and ordered Avril to shoot the red dots within five minutes. There were about ten trees and she stood a long distance from them. At first, she complained that she couldn’t do it. But Dakar would have none of it, he insisted she at least, tried her best. And when she did, she successfully hit half the trees bullseye. The rest were either totally missed, or almost hit. She was so happy she jumped and screamed. But Dakar stopped her immediately.

“Stop!” he had barked. She froze immediately.
“What?” she asked but he raised his hand towards her, signifying she should stay still and quiet. Avril’s heart began to beat faster, she had never seen Dakar acting that weird and it freaked the living daylights out of her.
“Something is coming”, he said and faced the direction of the ocean.
“Something? Like what?” she asked and he stood still without a reply.
“Dakar, you’re scaring me”, she stated and ran to his side immediately. He grabbed her side and clutched her tight.
“What is it?” she asked again.
“It’s a ship. The embargo over the island has been shifted. It’s no longer an invisible island”, he announced and she gasped.
“Really? Which means the curse is getting broken even more? Oh my God! Do you know what this means, Dakar? We can leave here. You can finally go home!” Avril squealed and jumped on Dakar in a hug. He chuckled and pulled her down.
“I doubt it’s that easy. But let’s go and check”, he said and grabbed the basket of arrows.
“Why are you doubting?” she asked as she began to follow him.
“Because Remus is invisible too. No one knows where it is except the inhabitants. And I had forgotten it’s location, remember?” he stated as he hurried along.
“You are the Prince of the kingdom, can’t you just order it to show itself?”
“I don’t know. Remus doesn’t always obey except it’s very Alpha. I doubt my father is dead, so it’ll obey only my father”.
“Stop walking so fast. Wait!”
He stopped walking and looked in the direction of the ocean again.
“The ship has reached the beach. Men are coming down”, he stated as she ran to hold his hand. They began to walk together this time.
“Do you think we should follow them? Or should we stay on our island?” Avril asked.
“If we stay, we might not have hope of ever leaving again”, he answered.
“I don’t want to leave. I feel this place is my home already”, she mumbled.
“Avril, hide your bracelet”, he said and stopped walking.
“Why?” she asked.
“We shouldn’t trust those men. What if they’re pirates?’
“Oh, okay. I get your point”, she said and removed the bracelet then put it in her pocket.

Dakar carried Avril and used his wolf speed to go to the beach. She hit his shoulder after they got there, to complain why he hadn’t given her a warning first. Because it was startling when he suddenly took off with her like that. After dropping her on the sand, she looked at the ship and the men.
“Wait, that ship. No, no way”, she stuttered and began to move backwards..“What is it?” Dakar asked but before she could answer, a deafening bang sounded and Dakar gasped as he felt hot metal dive into his chest. He looked at the place the bullet penetrated his skin and realized it was a silver bullet. Blood trickled into his mouth and seeped out as his legs gave way and he fell to the ground. Avril screamed and fell beside him.

“Dakar! Dakar! Hey, look at me! No, don’t close your eyes. Please, don’t close your eyes!” she cried as he tried to keep his eyes open. But silver was too lethal for him. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed Avril and pulled her from Dakar.

“Let me go!” she screamed and kicked her legs in the air. She tried to use her new fighting skills against the person but felt a sharp sting in neck. She held her neck in surprise, pulled out the dart and fell down unconscious.
“Freddie is going to be so proud”, the man who had grabbed Avril muttered and pulled her from the ground unto his shoulders. He turned around and began to walk towards the ship while some men ran to meet him.