[HAWI]
"We have a mission to complete, Mbali. You and I both know the mission is important and we can't afford to lose you. So, if bearing your sister's mark is the only way to keep you alive, then I don't see why not," Hawi countered, her voice flat as she stared at the woman who was hunting and still laid on the ground.
The White wolf was not going to sit by and act as her people suffered and if that meant doing the unthinkable, then she would approve of it.
At the moment, they were running on thin beliefs and if this went on for a little longer they would all be screwed. That was a risk Hawi was not going to take, not this time and certainly, not here and now.
"You don't mean that," Ruru said to her mate as if she was trying to understand and make Hawi change her mind about that.
The Hawi she knew was someone who understood others, someone who cared about what her friends would feel, someone who adored her people and would always do what was best for them.
This decision may have been necessary but it would break a lot of hearts for a very long time. That was something they could avoid, yet somehow if they managed to avoid that decision, they wouldn't be able to avert the madness that would follow.
Loving Mbali would hit them worse than anyone they had ever lost in the past four years and that was something they couldn't afford. Maybe Hawi was thinking with her mind and not her heart, but goddamn, sometimes did hearths need voices too?
"When we left homecoming for the mission, we agreed to let out personal feelings on the side. Even you are here as the Greyson alpha, sweetheart. The mission must go on and you know that too," Hawi reminded and Rukiya felt her heart sink on behalf of Mbali.
The truth was something that would always hit hard and as much as they wanted to tell Hawi that the rules could be bent, they had to agree that they had come out here with logic and not emotions.
If anything, they had all learned firsthand that emotions were the worst distractions. And decisions made based on emotions would always have some after-effects that couldn't be solved and would end up being problems into the future they wanted to build.
Perhaps they could fix this soon, yeah?
"Damn," Mbali sighed as realization dawned on her. She couldn't fight that reality, even though she could. They were warriors and they needed to get moving instead of slowing down because of her.
"Let's get this over with. We can't lose a good warrior just because of a bastard," Malika said as Hawi stepped back to give her more space. It was heartbreaking, seeing Mbali weak, and Hawi took that chance to look at Nik who was suffocating slowly.
He was probably about to be useful to them but they would figure it all out at the end of the day. Nothing was ever going to be the same, and that was a reality they had to keep in touch with. If only it wasn't so crazy and challenging.
It didn't matter how long it would take because at the end of the day, they would have to figure out a way to work through this. But first, Mbali needed to be saved, that was the first priority of the night anyway.
"Growling at the werewolf queen is punishable by death," Ruru reminded the woman amusedly as she took in the presence of the woman before them.
She had long hair and was beautiful. Her hair was twisted into red, brown and black dreadlocks and if she wasn't a menace, Ruru could have appreciated the hair and even complimented the woman.
She was here dressed in all black like every assassin they had been taught about in the books in every library in the realm. She had high boots, had two swords sitting pretty in their sheaths on her back.
She had a blade sheathed on her belt and she had rings on her hands that were probably poisonous too. Well, that was not a matter to Hawi, evade Mbali would be saved come hell or high water. And Hawi would be both if she had to do that to save her friend.
"Then I will gladly die for my mate," the woman said with conviction like this was something she had been planning on doing from the onset. Well, if she had wanted a fight, then she should have started with it.
Continue your journey at empire
Or maybe if she was really that then they would let her get close to Mbali. And if she was Mbali's mate, then that would mean she was Amina. Then again, maybe she was talking about Nikolai who was still choking barely a few meters away from Mbali.
He looked messy as hell with the fire brought up on him. He looked pitiful and lost, for a man who had been so powerful and proud. He looked tamed and that was what the Russel warlocks would consider embarrassing on so many fonts.
It doesn't matter how this worked out, because unless the woman was talking about Nik, they would have problems with her interfering with the mate bond that was meant to save Mbali.
"You can join him on the ground there. He looks pretty stuffed. Lemme fuse, you're the wife who came for him? That could explain the recklessness you're showing here. Now back the fuck off.
"If you want your fucked up mate over there then go try and take him and watch yourself share the same fate as him. I wouldn't mind having a few minds to fuck up a little more. Besides, it isn't like there is anything he can live for anymore, right?" Hawi mocked and the woman stared at her like she had lost her mind.
Maybe she had, and even if she hadn't, it was just a matter of time before it all came crashing, seeing how they were determined to keep going and this was just another menace for them. Perhaps they would figure out a way together with the women gone or dead, right?
"What?" Malika, Mbali, and the woman asked at the same time like this was the most absurd thing they had ever heard.
"Get off of what's mine, Malika," the woman responded with a growl as she looked into Hawi's eyes like she was taking a claim.
"Oh shit, this is about to get interesting," Hawi mused.