THE ISLAND WOLF - EPISODE 61

Aida paced around the back of Prince Dakar’s castle, partially worried. What they were doing was very illegal, and if they were caught? That could be worse than death. Why did she even agree to doing this in the first place? Avril had told Gia to go and spy on her friends and tell her where they were. Gia had agreed and immediately she left, Avril turned to her and asked to be taken to the prince’s castle. Avril had promised to be quick so Aida agreed. She had taken her through his house as quiet as possible and went back to stand outside.

“I’m so stupid,” she muttered and slapped herself. The roof was far up, so she couldn’t hear a thing. How Avril knew the Prince would be up there, she wondered. Why did she even want to talk with the Prince?

“Aida,” she heard her name and gasped as she saw Avril with the cloak in her hands. She was staggering as she walked and almost fell down to the ground if not for Aida who grabbed her immediately.
“Take me inside, please,” she mumbled and Aida hurried towards her house. They reached and she took her to her room.
“What happened?” she asked but Avril would not answer. She brought her a glass of water and she gulped it down immediately.

“I want to sleep. Where would you spend the night?” Avril asked Aida.
“Right here. Our rooms are downstairs,” Aida answered.
“Okay. Good night, Aida. Tell Gia to give me the news tomorrow,” Avril said.
“Yes, my lady,” Aida bowed then left the room. Now left alone, Avril climbed into the bed and covered herself with the comforter. She dipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out her charm bracelet.
“What was I thinking?” she asked herself in her mind as she stared at the gold jewelry. Everything that happened replayed in her mind again. Dakar’s eyes had glowed red immediately he saw the bracelet.

“Take that away,” he growled and Avril moved back. The curse had not been broken completely and Dojo still possessed Dakar’s body.
“Let go of Dakar,” she had said and held the bracelet firmly.
“Ha! You come back here and try to ruin everything again? I’ll ruin you first!”
And with that, he waged towards Avril with his claws drawn out. She gasped and ran out of his way. The bracelet was still in her hand and she realized that was what Dojo was triggered by. But why? What was happening to Dakar?
She quickly stuffed the bracelet back into her dress pocket and removed the cloak from her body. Dakar was on the floor, groaning and holding his arm.

“Dakar,” she called but was standing in the same spot. She didn’t dare move towards him.
“Get-out!” he said with gritted teeth.
“And if you dare tell anyone what happened tonight, I will attend your funeral,” he added while still kneeling. Her heart was racing as she ran past him and down the stairs leading inside. She didn’t stop until she reached the huge front door. She pushed it open and walked out into the night. She breathed in and managed to walk to Aida’s position, despite her shaky legs.

She tossed and turned in the big bed as she tried to stop herself from remembering who she had seen. Her head kept seeing the old Dakar that loved her, and compared him to this new Dakar who didn’t seem to even recognize her at all.
“Maybe I should just move on and live with the fact that Dakar’s changed,” she told herself.
“No, I’ve waited two years to see him again. I can’t let him go,” she added and sat up. She needed to turn the lights off if she wanted to sleep. But she didn’t know where to find the switch, and she didn’t want to stand up and find it. So, she covered her whole body including her head with the comforter and closed her eyes.

“Good morning, my lady,” both Aida and Gia’s voice rang through her head.
“Morning?” she asked unconsciously and turned to the other side. She snuggled into the huge pillow and smiled into her sleep.
“Uhm, my lady… It’s time for you to wake up,” Gia said.
“Leave me alone. I just slept off,” she mumbled. They gave each other looks of confusion then looked back at Avril.
“You have to get ready for the initiation. We have to begin preparations right now,” Aida stated. Avril groaned angrily and sat up.
“But it’s still nighttime! At least wait till morn—” she stopped as she saw the brightness of the room. And the rays of sunlight coming from the open window.
“Morning? It’s morning?” she asked rhetorically and jumped off the bed. She ran to the window and flung off the curtains.
“What? But I just slept off like a second ago!”
“Well…you might have slept deeply. It’s already morning. Your breakfast is set downstairs. Your dresses are ready. Your ornaments too. It’s going to be a long day so you need to be up and strong.”
“Aida, what exactly are they going to do to me?”
“Just initiating you into the pack. And making you a royal concubine. Your friends will also be initiated.”

“You need to take a good bath. I doubt you’ll have time to do that again today,” that was from Gia. She walked to the bathroom door and flung it open.
“After you, ma’am,” she said and stylishly pointed her palms to the open door. Avril pouted and walked through the door reluctantly.

“Why did you say I might not have time to do this today again?” Avril asked as they were adding different types of soap, perfumes, and other strange liquids in bottles into the bathtub.
“You’ll see,” Aida answered. Truly, Avril saw why. They spent about two hours in the bathroom. They applied different skin care products on her skin and face and made her lie in the yellow colored water without moving. They explained the water would work hand in hand with the substance on her body. Well, after ten minutes, they changed the water and applied a red paste to her hair. Then, they made her dip it only into the water with her body outside the tub. Aida and Gia supported her by holding her so she could balance well.

After ten awful minutes of back ache, they finally made her remove her hair. They rinsed it and unplugged the tub. The water drained and Avril thought she was finally going to have a proper bath. But no, they changed the water and began to pour the contents of new tiny bottles into it.
“What now?” Avril drawled.
“For your privates. You need to be cleared of all infection or dirt. The Prince loves his women neat and—” Aida was cut short by Avril’s coughing. Yes, she was coughing as a result of cringe.
“Are you okay?” Gia asked.
“Yes. Just don’t talk about the Prince,” she had replied.

So, minutes turned into hours before Avril was allowed to walk out the bathroom door. She was so tired, weak and hungry. But when she looked into the mirror, she loved what she saw. Her skin appeared creamy and felt super clean. Her face was so clear she could see reflection of herself from the mirror. Her hair too was much fuller, the brown appeared darker, and it was more lustrous.
“How did this happen? What were those things you kept pouring in?” she asked in awe, as she continued to stare at the mirror.
“Secret recipes for beauty, passed on for generations. Can’t you see how beautiful our women are?” Aida asked and giggled. Avril smiled and sat down on the chair, still looking at herself in the mirror. Gia opened the drawers in the vanity and began to bring out some things.

“Do you have any for making women sexy? I noticed some of your women are extra curvy,” Avril said and remembered the woman who had held Dakar’s hand. She frowned immediately.
“Yes. That’s used from childhood though,” Gia answered. She was beginning to blow dry Avril’s hair before styling.

The doorbell rang from downstairs and Aida hurried down. She returned few seconds later.
“It’s Camper. He wants to see you,” she announced.
“Camper?” Avril asked. She remembered that was Dakar’s best friend who loved women.
“Yes. He’s Prince Dakar’s best friend and he wants to see you.”

Avril looked at her body that was clad in a towel only.
“Uh, sure. Let me see him. Gia, can I get a bathrobe?”
“Yes,” Gia answered and walked to the closet. She returned with a pink fluffy bathrobe. Avril wore it before Aida went back to let Camper in. When he came in, he gasped after setting eyes on Avril.

“Oo la-la! Can you believe this?” he cooed.
“Good morning,” Avril greeted. She recognized him as the first person that came to talk with them when they woke up.
“Morning, pretty one. Okay, not to waste your time but I’m here for something very very important. I came here for your help,” he stated.

Avril’s heart wandered. Did he know about her and Dakar? Maybe he wants her help with him. But, Dakar didn’t seem to remember her so there was no way he would tell his friend about her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Thank you. Please, what’s her name?” he asked.

“Her name? Who?”
“That girl with you. Your friend. The one in that room with you,” he answered.
“Wait… Is this the important thing? The name of a girl?”
“Yes. Isn’t this important?” he asked in return with a very serious face.