In Which She Meets Malika

[AWUOR]

With her friends gone, Awuor Sicario sat up like she had just remembered something. Everything at the Sicario gates had been weirdly smooth, especially for a woman who loved chaos. She hadn't done shit when she saw Elodie hooking her hands to Jer's.

It was like she saw them as a brother and a sister, which was also unrealistic considering their mouths had said different things altogether. Maybe it was all a ploy, but then Jeremy had seemed too serious for it to have been a farce.

Someone was lying between her mate and her best friend, and the more she thought of the moment that had passed, Awuor was convinced that her best friend was the liar there. Elodie couldn't have betrayed her.

She thought of her encounter with Jeremy and her best friend. She thought of what Elodie had been doing and the cues she was making for Awuor. Elodie's body language was different, almost like she was uncomfortable standing there.

Awuor knew her best friend well, to know that Elodie was never scared of Awuor, no matter how dire the circumstances were. So why had she looked like she was scared of her best friend then?

Surely she had no reason to, right? Besides, with Awuor gone, Jer was bound to take on another mate, it was only right according to their customs anyway. Maybe he was grooming Elodie, even though the woman was a firecracker just like Awuor.

Awuor wasn't sure what it was, or maybe she was hallucinating but her best friend had used the cue that they always used when they were hiding something. It wasn't as obvious, but now that she thought about it, she was slowly getting convinced that Elodie didn't betray her.

It was a long call and even she knew it. It could have been easier if Elodie was a greedy person, but she wasn't. Awuor knew that by heart even as she thought of their conversation years ago, before the chaos and banishment.

*******

[Flashback]

"When you meet your mate, you will be happy Elodie, I promise," Awuor had told her best friend some time back and she had just laughed. She never talked about her mate and while Awuor was adamant about her, Elodie had remained herself.

"Mates are not for me, love. Besides, all they ever do is betray, I wouldn't want a mate. She would probably ruin me instead of the other way around. Think of the countless things that happened each time someone lost their mate in the pack.

"I wouldn't want my mate to suffer, nor would I want to suffer because of her," Elodie had said and Awuor, who had been keenly listening, realized that Elodie wasn't talking about a male mate.

Granted, she had no issues with that, but what of her statements? It seemed like she was talking about someone's betrayal.

"She?" Awuor asked, like she needed to confirm it for herself.

"Yeah, she. I would be caught dead with a male mate. Even the goddess knows that I love women," Elodie said before adding, "if you didn't have a mate, I would have asked the goddess for you.

"That Jeremiah needs to count himself lucky," Elodie had said and they had burst out laughing at the idea of Elodie squaring with the goddess just because she gave her a male mate.

There was a chance that it would happen, but her words seemed to have a deeper meaning, but Awuor waved it off, besides, they always talked like they were alone in their world. Maybe that was all it was then, right?

"Anyway, until I meet my mate, I'll always stay by your side, even if the world is against you, I will stand by you," Elodie had said while she played around with Awuor's cheeks. It was her gesture of love and for someone who wasn't into affection that much, Awuor leaded in and kissed her friend's cheeks.

"It's getting late, we need to leave and go back home," Aeuor had said, but Elodie didn't want to. The weather was nice and the evening warm. They could be themselves out here before they had to go back to the confines of the law and ranks in the society.

"Let's stay here a little longer. Besides, the pack is always chaotic. Who knows the next time I'll see you, right?"

"You're being dramatic, but fine I'll stay. Just make sure I didn't fall asleep—"

"I know. If you fall asleep, you might fall asleep with the whole pack," Elodie laughed.

[end of flashback]

****

Awuor was still in her shelter, reminiscing the memories from her past with her best friend. Elodie Kane was a stud. She loved women. Not men. She always wanted a femme for a mate, and that was all Awuor needed to delve deeper into her best friend's interactions with her mate.

It wasn't normal, of course, because Elodie was forcing herself to like Jeremy. Somehow, Awuor was willing to bet on her life that Elodie never lay with Jer. not even if it was just the two of them left in the damned world.

Maybe Awuor was being too trustworthy of her best friend, but she knew her best. So what the hell was Elodie Kane playing at? Why was she beside Jer when she should have stood up for Awuor?

"Maybe she changed," Awuor said to herself but even she didn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. It was impossible to lose someone who had been with her through thick and thin. It just made no sense whatsoever.

Awuor tried to understand what had happened, but as it was her body wasn't having it, and so she fell asleep, waking up and going back to sleep like it was what her body needed. Before she knew it, it was morning again.

The sound of birds chirping and the feel of the bugs on her body got her awake faster than anything ever had. She had been away for too long and her shelter had turned into some refuge for bugs.

Awuor got up and looked around, wondering how long she had to stay here. She didn't want to be stuck in a damn shelter for long, so she figured she would leave.

She had nothing to keep her around Sicario anymore. Her best friend and mate had betrayed her. And no matter how hard she tried to convince herself of the opposite, she had to acknowledge the mere fact that people did change when it was convenient for them.

She wasn't going to stay in the free lands and suffer while the people who forced her to this place were happy.

"Hello Awuor," A voice said to Awuor and the woman screamed all hell into life. She wasn't a coward, but the fact that the woman had managed to sneak up on her drove her nuts. She hadn't imagined that anyone would come to this place so why the hell was someone here for her?

"Goodness, what the fuck is wrong with you? You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Awuor said as she struggled to catch her breath.

The person who had called her was still watching her amusedly, like the startled woman was a spectacle worth paying attention to. Maybe she was, but what if she wasn't, right?

"Deep breaths, Awuor. Otherwise, your temperatures will rise and the clouds will gather. You don't want it to rain hail storms on Sicario, now would you?" the woman who had startled Awuor spoke, making Awuor glare daggers at her.

And even then, this woman wasn't even worried that she was startling an alpha with anger issues and trust issues like a package she needed.

"Hold on… who the hell are you and why the fuck are you here, dammit? And what's with the hail storms in summer, you weirdo?" Awuor asked as she removed the last of the bugs on her, those pesky little insects were making her feel like her morning wasn't good enough.

She was already living in hell, couldn't they just leave her the fuck alone?

"I'm Malika, your protector."