The White Wolf |MCU|1

sixteen

   Okay, I can understand locking Agent Ross in the office.  But why me?

   I'm as much a Wakandan as everyone else.  I should be standing there in support of T'Challa, not locked up like an outsider.  This is just embarrassing!

   I sit at the desk, the desk that used to belong to Father.  Now it belongs to T'Challa.  I remember sneaking in here with Shuri when we were children, playing behind this desk.

   I smile to myself, reminiscing in the memories of my childhood.

   "Can I ask you something?"  Agent Ross's voice cuts into my memories.  He's standing by the ceremonial masks, having accidentally knocked one down, he turns to face me.

   "No," I respond simply.  I know what he's going to ask.

   Not hearing my response, he asks, "How did you end up in Wakanda?"  Here we go.

   I take a deep breath.  "Are you asking for my backstory?"  I ask as I stand up from behind the desk.  I make my way to the sofa.  The same sofa T'Challa, Shuri, and I would sit on with Father after dinner to watch the news.  The same sofa I would sit on with Father when I had nightmares and he would comfort me.

   When was the last time I sat here with Father?  

   I think it was about three weeks before it happened.  Before the incident in Vienna, when everything changed.  It seems like only yesterday.

   "Yeah, I guess I am."  Agent Ross says as he joins me.  I glare at him as he sits in the same spot Father used to sit in.

   I close my eyes and releasing a puff of air.  "When I was about three years old, I was found wandering around the borders of Wakanda."  I glance at him before continuing.  "The border guards grabbed me and took me here, to the palace.  Moth-Queen Ramonda had just had Shuri but insisted that they adopt me.  But Fath-King T'Chaka said they had to wait, see if anyone was looking for me.  They kept an eye on any missing person's reports in the area and around the world, seeing if anyone reported me missing.  They waited for over a year but heard nothing.  Found nothing.  So, Father and-I mean King T'Chaka and Queen Ramonda officially adopted me."

   There is a moment of silence before Agent Ross speaks.  "So that's it.  They didn't notify anyone or the UN, they just waited to see what would happen?"

   "Agent Ross, there was reluctance letting you in Wakanda.  Do you really think Utata wanted to open the borders to let everybody in, let alone the UN?  Just to figure out why a little girl was wandering around, but instead, find all this!"  I snap, turning to face him.

   "What about your family?  Don't you ever wonder who they were?"

   I shrug.  "I used to when I was little.  But then I realized, they never came looking for me.  Never reported me missing.  So, I stopped thinking of them, probably like they stopped thinking about me."

   Another moment of silence as Agent Ross thinks.  He turns to me again.  "Why are you so hostile to me?"

   I look down at my hands, shaking my head.  "I'm sorry," I say with a gentle breath.  "I don't mean to be so hostile.  I just kind of have trust issues with people I don't know.  People in general, to be honest.  Growing up in a little nation like Wakanda, you get to know everybody, so meeting you put my defenses up."

   Agent Ross nods his head in understanding.  He turns to me again.  "Okay, explain to me how you ended up being Shuri's bodyguard."

   I let out a laugh as I lean back into the sofa.  "Well to explain that, I also have to explain the White Wolf."  Agent Ross nods, encouraging me on.  "Well just to let you know, I'm not the first white child to wander into Wakanda.  And I probably won't be the last."

   "Really?"  He asks, shocked.

   "Really.  Before me, there were three other White Wolves." I begin to explain as I see the confused look on his face.  "White Wolf is the traditional name given to a white person seeking shelter in Wakanda, but there have been very few of those.  It is believed the spirit of the original White Wolf guided us to Wakanda because he saw great strength in us.  I don't know.  But like the Black Panther protects Wakanda from the world, the White Wolf protects Wakanda from itself.  All three White Wolves before me have stopped some form of assassination, civil war, or unworthy hair heading to the throne."

   "So, does that mean I'm a White Wolf?"

   "No, you're a colonizer.  When all this is over, you will be heading back to America."

   He hums to himself before asking, "So you're the White Wolf now?"  He gestures to me.

   "Yep, since the day I was adopted," I say, nodding my head.

   "So, how did you become..."

   "Well, when I was twelve-years-old I started my White Wolf training.  I was trained with the Dora Milaje."  I pause chuckling to myself.  "But no one explained this to Shuri.  She was convinced I was joining the Dora.  After a couple of years, she realized that I was spending less and less time with her.  And she did not like that."

   "But you weren't joining the Dora Milaje."  Agent Ross clarifies.

   I continue chuckling to myself, the memory of it all coming back to me.  "No, I wasn't, but no one told Shuri that.  So, she came up with this hilarious plan.  She tried convincing Father that there was an assassination attempt on her life."

   "What?"

   "Yep."  I continue, laughing harder.  "She insisted that she needed a personal bodyguard and it had to be me.  Well, Father would not have it.  He lasted three months."  I shake my head, still laughing.  "Shuri rigged a bunch of little bombs around the palace.  Made it look like someone was trying to attack her in her chambers.  Practically destroyed everything in the palace.  Oh, Mother was furious."

   I pause trying to catch my breath, I'm laughing so hard.  Agent Ross next to me joins in, chuckling softly along.  "Father caved in, assigned me to be her bodyguard.  She was twelve-years-old.  But what's funny is she still doesn't know I was just training to be the White Wolf."

   Agent Ross whips away a tear, still laughing.  "Wow, that's-" He's cut off as Nakia throws open the door to the office, a cloak wrapped around her shoulders.  We both hop up at the same time.  "What's wrong?"  Agent Ross asks, seeing the pained expression on her face.  No.

   "The King is dead," Nakia announces, throwing a cloak at him.  She steps toward me, handing me a cloak.  Sympathy in her eyes.

   No.  T'Challa can't be dead.  He can't!  Not T'Challa.

   "We need to leave now unless you want to end up at the bottom of the river," Nakia says to Agent Ross, rushing out of the office.

   I can't move, I'm frozen in place.  T'Challa can't be dead.  This is just some sick joke.  He will come out any minute know, laughing at us.  Just like when we were little. 

   Ross throws his cloak on over his head before wrapping an arm around my shoulders, pushing me forward.