You Can Be Free, Hawi

***Happy Birthday to me! [26th Oct]

[AWUOR]

"I'm Malika, your protector," the woman said and Awuor let out an empty laugh.

She couldn't be serious, right? Malika looked the same age as Awuor and one look at her was enough to tell Awuor that this woman hadn't even stepped on a damned battlefield. So what the hell was she even going to protect her form?

For a pretty uneventful day, the woman standing before her wasn't exactly what Awuor had thought she would see. She was adamant in her quest to tell Awuor that she was the protector.

She had been repeating it like some broken record and weirdly, instead of Awuor being pissed at the woman, she was weirdly invested in the truth of what Malika was saying.

She was curious because no one in their right mind would ever show up before the woman who had been banished by one of the largest and strongest packs in the werewolf kingdom. It was absurd, but what were the odds, right?

'She's going to repeat herself in three, two, one,' Awuor said to herself as she watched Malika repeat the same words she had been uttering for the past five minutes.

"Hello Hawi, I'm Malika, your protector," Malika said and Awuor just sighed. She had two options especially since she had seen that this woman was adamant and wasn't going to leave her side anytime soon.

Maybe she just needed to understand what the hell the woman was on about. Because Malika could stay here and repeat the same words like she was a lost ghost, or Awuor could indulge her and see what the woman had, right?

Besides, living in the supernatural world, Awuor had learned not to undermine anyone, no matter what the size was.

Power was relative in the realm and anyone could just be as powerful.

"You say you wanna protect me, yeah?" Awuor asked and Malika nodded, like she was thinking that the alpha was finally seeing what was happening to the both of them, they were stuck with each other no matter what they did to themselves now.

They were bound by fate almost like an amateur's bond. The thing about protectors was that once they were assigned to someone they would protect them till they grew old and faded into dust. Then they would rest for a year or two before they'd be assigned to another supernatural.

"From the bugs?" Awuor asked, clearly not believing the woman before her. There had to be a reason, but she was so tired and wanted to clean up her shelter before she decided on what she would do next.

She couldn't bind herself to the damned shelter for years and certainly not when her mate and best friend were together. That thought made her want to kill but Awuor couldn't kill Elodie. She loved her best friend too much, and maybe that was also why her betrayal hurt like a bitch.

"From anything you want me to. You are the white wolf and each time a white wolf is matured, they are assigned a protector, by the moon goddess. I am your protector, Awuor Hawi Sicario," Malika said and Awuor looked at the woman like she was crazy.

Maybe Malika was real. Maybe she wasn't a figment of Awuor's brain, but why did her offer sound a little too familiar to the Greysons' offer?

Awuor knew that alpha Rukiya wasn't just going to stop just because she had sent her away. There was something that had changed in Rukiya since the last time Awuor had seen her. Maybe it was just Awuor's brain screwing with her, but she knew that Rukiya was determined to help her out.

She could tell how much Rukiya was invested in this.

It seemed like it was personal for her too. Did it have anything to do with her mate? When Awuor had first met Adolf, he had said something about the alpha Rukiya having mate, but when she got to Greyson, Awuor didn't see anyone apart from Rukiya, her mother, and their subjects.

"How did you know all my names?" Awuor insisted though she had predicted the answer.s he just wanted to be clear.

Awuor knew Jer's position gave him power to manipulate their bond and right now this could just be one of them. This could be someone sent by Jer to Awuor. And how the hell am the alpha supposed to do that?

"I am your protector, Awuor Hawi Sica—"

"Okay, okay, jeez. I get it, damn. What now, madam protector with a creepy smile?" Awuor said to Malika who just smiled at her even wider. She was intentionally looking creepy, almost like she wanted Awuor to realize that there were so many hurdles for them to deal with.

"Goodness, don't… don't smile please, woman," Awuor said and Malika finally listened. She looked around them before heaving a sigh. It wasn't reliving in the least bit and it certainly wasn't because she wanted to be here.

"I know you don't trust me, and that's very smart of you. You need to be careful. Now I'm aware you can't go away from home, but that would be if you were a regular wolf.

"You are the white wolf, which means you can leave here," Malika said and Awuor, who had gone back to her shelter to remove the bugs, hurried out using her werewolf speed, hitting her head hard on the wood pieces.

"Oww, that hurts. But wait, what did you just say?" Awuor asked and Malike said the same thing.

Awuor wasn't sure if the woman was kidding or not, because even when she had been smiling she had a straight face, and now, she still had a straight face. Maybe they would need to work on her expressions.

"You mean I can leave?" Awuor asked again. She never thought she would have the freedom to move away from the horrors of Sicario.

She knew she was never going to be rational as long as she was this close to home and that was without doubt a terrible idea if she wanted her vengeance. But then she had been bound by her father not to leave or even get a pack on her own.

"Yes, Hawi. You can leave and start over. But you must keep in mind that only you can save your people. You will eventually have to come back, Awuor," Malika said and Awuor just smiled at her of course she would never forget about getting justice for her mother.

She would fight tooth and nail and she would make sure that her brother and mate would pay for theta they did.

"Now, I'm listening," Awuor said and Malika let out a laugh. She hadn't expected the woman to be that happy about leaving here. However, she also knew that Awuor wanted to get away from her pain even for a moment. So she gave her hope.

"Your bonds with your mate will weaken and eventually will break. Unless you want them to stay. Which also means that he won't be able to hurt you anymore. With the bonds broken, you will be free to choose another mate and you won't have to claw your stomach out all the time.

"It took me a while to fix you through the months," Malika sighed while the woman she was talking to already had her jaw on the forest floor.

"I am your protector, Hawi."