The Rebellious Mate

2. In The Name Of Love

The bald agent returned and flipped through Asena's file. "Hmm, you've left room to renegotiate. Smart. We'll implant a chip to monitor your location and have people meet you every month to ensure your well-being and give you a phone too. Use it to call us if you feel unsafe. The agency usually charges a twenty percent annual commission."

"That's pricey, no?" said a slim male as he perched on the stool beside hers. He pouted. "I am... rethinking this deal."

Asena recognized this individual. When they had crossed the Sahara, he'd joined them for a few days. The group had heard a hyena laughing in the bush before he'd vanished. A cheetah and a few lion shifters had trailed behind the group. Either they hadn't checked in or favored the competition.

There were two major avenues for shifters to migrate to other safe havens. As Vic had elected the Majeerten-Hobyo, so did Asena. But she didn't trust them one bit. They weren't doing social service, but smugglers, making bank by running an illegal flesh trade ring for profit.

The agent huffed. "If our cut is too much, there's the door."

"Just saying..." the hyenaoid grumbled. "Eighty percent of zero is zero. Let's do this." He scrawled his initials with a flourish and pressed into the ink pad to add his thumbprint.

"You're both young and reasonably attractive and won't face a major language barrier. I have high hopes. We'll waive the travel and event fee, contingent on the medical test results, if you fetch a decent price," the agent added. He collected the paperwork and went inside.

"Why are you doing this?" Asena asked, baffled by the hyenaoid's excitement as he signed away his freedom.

"Why not? Any lucky male who wants me better pay. I'm worth it." He winked before adding. "Duma Okavango. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Asena Sahel." She held out her arm without realizing the import of her action.

Although he shook her hand, her overture surprised him. He'd noticed the social faux pas.

She'd retained her first name but adopted a common surname—Sahels. They moved around the Sahara desert's southern edge, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. The belt included Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, and a small part of Algeria. She'd learned the basic history of the region and still forgot the pertinent details.

"A Berber? Serval or Caracal?" Duma asked.

"Serval," she clarified. Both medium cat shifters were nomadic. Both had huge ears. She patted her head to check if hers were pushing out of the turban.

"You speak good English," he commented and pulled his lips into a moue.

"Our elders sent unshifted younglings to the missionary school during the Civil War. For safety. They sent us there too..." She doubted he believed her, but it was plausible. In the past, each sect spoke different dialects. Their alter egos had their forms of communication. As the world shrank, English had emerged as the universal tongue.

"With those long legs..." He whistled. "So are you after a changeling or chimera?"

She had never thought about it. They were all therianthropes. Whether one changed into an animal or a humanoid beast was irrelevant.

"Not sure," she mumbled, uncomfortable with his interrogation.

As teenagers, Vic and she had spent nights in the treehouse or hanging off branches on treetops. They snickered about the merits of various shapeshifter mates. They'd wasted many hours dissecting the pros and cons of the Canis, Felis, Panthera, Ursidae, Hominid Primates, Aquila, and Aves. Or which were superior—Old or New World creatures? For them, the choices were endless. Cross-species mating was no longer forbidden due to fear of creating chimeric younglings. Nowadays, it was encouraged. They came from the modern pack, with the technology to hide hybrids in plain sight.

Then the Shifter magazines became a thing and they only focused on the attractiveness of the Were. They'd never seen or met any of those alphas, elites, or primes photographed by the gossip rag.

They'd come of age but hadn't encountered their fated mate. Asena preferred Moggie's company and had found her calling. Vic sure drew the attention of males looking for chosen mates, but she'd rejected all offers. She enjoyed dating, not committing.

Life had been great until Vic disappeared. There were no signs. No warnings. She had no reason to leave without so much as a goodbye to her mother. The authorities failed to locate Vic and declared her a rogue. Asena waited, but received no word from Vic. When she took matters in her own hand, she proved the trackers hadn't searched hard enough. She retraced Vic's steps—to a fucking auction house in the middle of their enemy's stronghold.

The hyenaoid droned on, but she blocked him out.

'Why brood on what's happened or will happen? Soon we'll find Vic and Bri,' Moggie growled.

Her beast hadn't taken Bri's uncalled abandonment kindly either. Defying all expectations, especially her own, she'd survived the long walk and located the final breadcrumb Vic had left behind. But their actual work hadn't even begun.

For now, she'd settle for a bath, a meal, and a bed.

Weary to the bone, Asena tried to recall happier days. Except those memories had been destroyed by Victoria's sudden disappearance and Nasi's despair. Witnessing Vic's mom's inconsolable anguish had been unbearable. Asena continued the cycle by breaking her papa's heart.

The grief Vic had caused them all taught her a simple lesson.

Love hurt. There was no excuse for the pain they'd inflicted on each other in the name of love. She was done with love, and all it entailed. Never again would she stake her happiness on another being. Never again...

'Not even me?' Moggie meowed, as if hurt.

Asena scoffed. She knew better than to fall for that pitiful ploy to get her attention. Love had little to do with their relationship. They were stuck together forever and had no choice whatsoever, but to coexist.

'Punishing me for others' sins. Unforgivable! Worry no, I still love you, my Sena,' Moggie purred, 'even if you're as stupid as Vic, if not stupider.'

Moments like this, between Moggie and her, had kept Asena going, else she would have never stepped off the safe lands of the Americas.

Apart from her beast and papa, Vic was all she had. She couldn't give up, not when they'd come so far. If Vic was fine, she'd let her be, but for own sanity, Asena had to know she was alright.

******

** Hyenaoid Old World shifter. A humanoid hyena like Anubis.

Do you believe love hurts? I do. Platonic or not, it fucking hurts.