If you are threatened by a man, sleep at night, if it is by a woman then stay awake.
- African Proverb
_____________________________
Mbali
"So, are you not going to tell us how the trip went?" Sanaa asked Mbali while the two of them and Nakia sat at one of the islands in the royal home. T'Challa, Erik, and M'Baku decides to have a training session before another dinner that Ramonda put together. She was always big in hosting and parties even when T'Chaka was alive; even though he wasn't really big on them. Mbali sat at the island and picked at the grapes that were put in her bowl, trying to avoid Sanaa and Nakia's eyes.
"I told you, we got the vibranium and met with his friends a few times. Nothing major." Mbali finally looked at them and shrugged. She told the girls about Y'lan and Sage— who she actually really loved. She even took it as far as keeping up with Sage regularly because she liked her crazy antics.
Now, did she plan on telling them everything that happened in New York? Not at all. She had no plans on telling them about what happened at the club, her killing someone, and especially not telling them about her and Erik sleeping together. The two of them still weren't talking about it, but the frustrations were building back up between the both of them.
Nakia looked at Mbali and squinted her eyes. Her skin had a special glow to it; it was a soft one that she never noticed before, and she was pretty sure Sanaa saw it too. She also noticed how her and Erik came in together and the way they would look at each other. Of all the years she's known Mbali she's never seen her look like she's stuck between her dominant personality and this new submissive side— that's when her eyes grew wide.
"Oh, I know what happened." Nakia smirked and looked at Sanaa who was still slightly confused. "They were intimate."
Sanaa slapped her hands on the table and her mouth fell open. Her eyes were wide as she looked back and forth between Nakia and Mbali. "I knew it was something! I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew it had to be something! You looked a little too vibrant when you two came back."
"I don't know what you two are talking about." Mbali shook her head.
"Look me in my eyes, Bast is watching and knows all. Did you sleep with him?" Sanaa smirked. Mbali looked at Nakia then her other friend. She knew not to play around with Bast. She wasn't the one to be played with. Mbali sighed and ran her hands over her face, making Sanaa scream. "Tell us everything!"
"No... don't tell me everything. I'm marrying into the family and I really don't want to look at my soon-to-be husbands cousin a certain way." Nakia shook her head and held up her hands. "Spare us certain details."
"Okay, spare her the details but don't leave anything out with me. I like stuff like this." Sanaa folded her hands together. "How did it happen?"
Mbali's leg started to shake nervously before giving in. "It was after we got the vibranium. We were on our way back and in the car things just got really... I don't know. It's like the atmosphere shifted and we were going through completely different moods than earlier. He kept touching me and it was like my skin was pretty much burning."
"Burning?" Sanaa and Nakia asked at the same time, making Mbali nod her head. "Like what type of burning?" Sanaa raised her brow.
"Hot skin, it felt like my throat was on fire, anytime he touched me it was like it would leave my skin burning— but I liked it."
"Kinky— Okay, Sorry." Sanaa started but Nakia nudged her arm and glared at her.
"Did anything happen afterwards? Did you two talk about it—"
"Or go again? Because men go like rabbits. They just don't stop."
Mbali rolled her eyes at Sanaa and chucked a grape at her head. "Shut up. You can't speak for the next few minutes. But no, we didn't do it again and we haven't really talked about it. I'd prefer to keep it that way—"
"Time to eat!" Ramonda popped her head into the kitchen with a smile before walking away. She was dressed in white and gold; since it was a dinner in the royal home, it was almost mandatory to look appropriate for dinners— she stressed specifically that on the third Friday of the month, everyone come dressed nicely. Hence, the long olive green dress that Mbali had on.
The three of them instantly stood and walked towards the large table that was in the opposite room. Ramonda at the head of the table and the seat where T'Chaka once sat still empty. The dora milaje came in and took their seats while Ramonda and Shuri came and did the same. "What's wrong Shuri?" Nakia asked, laughing at the irritated look on her face.
"This corset is very uncomfortable." She huffed. "How can I enjoy my food with this thing on, eh? Three bites of food and I'll pop out of it!" She ranted but stopped when Ramonda glared at her.
"You made the choice to it, Shuri."
"It was either this or that terrible dress with all the ruffles that'll make me look even more like a child— what's taking them so long?" She asked, referring to the men who were still missing from the table. And almost on cue, they came in dressed in their tribal colors: T'Challa in white, Erik in Blue, and M'Baku in brown.
"I'm glad you three came before Shuri could throw a fit." Nakia chuckled as T'Challa kisse her cheek and sat next to her. I looked over and saw Erik making his way to sit next to me, plopping down into his chair making Sanaa smirk at me. She really wasn't going to let me live anything down now. I looked around the room and noticed that one more face way missing.
"Where's Okoye?" I frowned and looked at T'Challa. His hands dropped the fork that he picked up and cleared his throat.
"She's currently spending time with W'Kabi. It's the only time she chooses to see him." He said to me and looked around at the food that was being brought to the table. "She eats with him and they talk."
"How's he been doing?" I asked and could feel Erik glaring at the side of my head like I was crazy.
"Why do you care?"
I turned and looked at him, sending him the same glare back. "Can I ask a question without you having a fit? I'm not showing him any sympathy. I'm asking because we've been gone and I don't know what's going on." I snapped back at him.
"You're asking about a nigga who tried to kill you—"
"Do you really want to start this here? Cause we can argue this in another room if you want to. If you want to get loud, we can definitely get loud." My eyes widened at him.
"I'm sure you know about getting loud." That smug ass smirk came on his face and my mouth instantly fell open while our food was placed in front of us.
He really liked embarrassing me.
Pick up the fork and stab him in the leg. He'll get his shit together then. I argued with myself before realizing that he might actually like it.
"Is there something I'm missing?" M'Baku frowned, making Sanaa laugh.
"Wow. This has been the most entertainment we've had at this table in a while. Please, someone continue to spill tea." Shuri leaned on the table and laughed, earning a pop on the temple by Ramonda.
"Let's save that for after dinner?" She looked at Erik before clearing her throat. He still had his eye on me when I turned back to look at him.
"You find this funny?"
"If I get to see you all shook up like that? Insanely." He picked up his fork.
I bit at the inside of my cheek and smirked. He wants to be funny... I can be petty. I looked down at the food that was in front of me and moved it around the plate with my fork before eating it while everyone else talked about whatever was going on in Wakanda and Shuri's new inventions. "I have something for you, cousin. I figured you liked your suit a little too much to just watch it go, so I figured I'd fix it up for you and add new tech to the necklace to keep it updated with T'Challas."
"When can I get it?" Erik asked after drinking the water in his glass.
"When it's done and it's not done yet. I figured you'd want to have it in case something happens. I'll let you know when it's done." Shuri shrugged and picked at the meat that was on her plate.
Everyone continued to talk at the table for the next few minutes, and Erik was distracted by the conversation that he was having with M'Baku and T'Challa, so I figured I'd get under his skin a little and make him uncomfortable.
While he kept talking and out his food into his mouth, I slipped my hand from the table and dropped it on his lap; directly on his member, making his eyebrow raise a little and he slyly looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
"What the fuck are you doing." He mumbled to me when the conversation split now between everyone at the large and crowded table, filled with other tribal leaders and elders. I didn't really know why they were invited anyway— they mainly came to criticize.
"Being hilarious." I smirked at him and ran my nails against the fabric of his pants, and I noted how his jaw clenched. I gripped him gently through the fabric and continued to eat my food, feeling him grow a little stiffer. "You wanna put me on the spot? I can put you on the spot." I hummed quietly.
He turned in his chair so that his lips were by my ear. "You better cut it out before I finish something you really don't wanna start."
"Everything okay?" Nakia asked me with a smirk.
"Amazing." I smiled and gripped him in my hand, a small growl coming from his mouth making me stop and look up at him. I didn't know if I should be excited about it or not.
"Did you just—"
"Let's move on to dessert. We've got something good." Ramonda spoke to the table as she got up to check on it. I looked back over to Erik and his eyes almost looked darker. He used his hand and grabbed the leg of my chair, dragging it across the floor so that I was right next to him. The sound of the chair scraping against the floor filled the room, but no one paid that much attention to the noise.
He brought his lips back towards my ear again and his dreads brushed against my face since he hasn't let me braid them back in the past few days. "I told you I'm not like these niggas in Wakanda and my restraint with you's been low lately. You wanna keep playing this game I'll have you regretting it. I went easy on you the first time, second time won't be." He chuckled and pulled away to look at me.
"Not intimidated one bit." I smiled at him. I was lying obviously because I remember the night in New York, and I remember waking up sore and still exhausted. But was I gonna tell him? No. He didn't need to know.
"Kwenene?" Really? His eyebrow raised and draped his arm around my chair.
"Mhmm." I hummed, not breaking eye contact with him while I took a sip from my glass and put it back on the table. "You don't intimidate me, N'Jadaka."
"You're lying; but I'll have you think whatever you want for the night."
"Should we all exit the room and give you two some time alone? The eye contact you both are giving each other is very... questionable." M'Baku pointed his fork between the both of us that still had a carrot attached to it.
"Nah, we good." Erik looked at me once more before turning back to the others.
________________
Omniscient
When the dinner was over, Mbali walked around the family's home, looking at all of the pictures on the wall before they would have to leave and go back to the Border tribe. N'Jadaka was somewhere with T'Challa going over ways to cover the perimeter and she didn't want to sit and listen for once.
"Somethings bothering you." T'Challa said to N'Jadaka when they finished discussing business and sat in his study to have drinks. He poured the brown liquor into his glass before doing the same for his cousin and sat on his desk. "What is it?"
N'Jadaka frowned at his cousin and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off my T'Challa. "I'm not stupid. You're a Udaku; we wear our emotions on our face— it's one of our flaws I guess. Talk to your older cousin—"
"Don't fucking make this awkward by throwing that in." N'Jadaka shook his head and frowned, making T'Challa laugh. He sighed before looking up at his older cousin and shrugged his shoulders.
"Shits been weird. I don't know..." He inhaled through his nose and shook his head. "I can't smell shit the same."
"Care to explain?"
"I can't smell shit the same. I can smell food and shit like that, but it's not as strong as it was before. It's almost like it starts to smell the same sometimes. And people just don't... have a smell." N'Jadaka spoke and walked around T'Challas study, swirling his drink around in its glass.
T'Challa looked up from his glass and frowned. "This happened recently?"
"Yeah. I just need answers. The only person who has a scent is Mbali. You know I took my ass into a candle shop with her just to see if my nose was fucked up from being in New York, and I still couldn't smell shit as strong as her?"
"How does she smell?"
"Can't explain it. It's a strong floral smell but it smells sweet. She smells like that a lot but some days it's stronger than the other days. And when it's that strong it's hard to focus around her. I need it explained." N'Jadaka looked to his cousin and crossed his arms.
"I don't mean to be... in your business. But, have you two been intimate?"
"Nope." He lied. He knew that he didn't want to say anything about it because he did promise Mbali not to open his mouth— despite his jokes.
Deep down, T'Challa already knew that N'Jadaka was lying, because the same thing happened to him. When him and Nakia were first intimate after finding out that they were mates, he could only smell her in a room full of people. She had the same floral but sweet smell that N'Jadaka described Mbali of having. He knew that her scent would always get stronger if her hormones were raging or if his were. Only the men of Wakanda could pick up on the scent of their women, but he didn't know how his cousin could be experiencing it without knowing the truth about Bast and how she binds soulmates.
It wasn't his place just yet to tell N'Jadaka about the changes that were going to happen to him and Mbali. The changes that she'd go through separately, the ones he'd go through separately, and the ones they'd go through together. When the time was right, he'd tell him.
"Hmm." T'Challa smirked and nodded his head. "If it continues, I could run some test if you'd like. All your choice."
"I'm not about to let you stick shit in me to figure it out. If it goes away, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't."
"You're really stubborn, you know that? Something else that runs in the family. Let's get back to the plans then, N'Jadaka. I have a feeling things are gonna need to be tightened up around here." T'Challa bit his lip. N'Jadaka finished off the rest of his drink and put the glass on the table near him.
"What makes you say that?"
___________________
"Well... look who turned down the wrong hall. Lost?" W'Kabi spoke to Mbali who was looking at him through the bars that he was behind while he sat on the floor.
"I'm not lost. I know my way around pretty well... just didn't think you'd be in this wing." Mbali rolled her eyes and tried to walk away. She really didn't think she's find W'Kabi in the wing that wasn't far from Shuri's lab. He still looked the same, just a little more irritated but that wasn't anything new.
"Leaving so soon? No words for me?" His eyebrow raised and he smirked at her, standing up from where he was on the floor.
Mbali stopped in her tracks and turned back to look at him. "What do you expect me to say, W'Kabi? You broke into the border tribe headquarters, turned your back on T'Challa and Wakanda not that long ago, and you tried to attack me." She frowned at him and walked closer to the bars, making him take the same steps forward towards her. "Turned your back on Okoye? Your own wife! For what?"
"Power, Mbali." He said simply. "I was tired of being over the border tribe. Tired of following directions from T'Challa—"
"King T'Challa. Your best friend." She corrected him.
"Friendship has a deadline and our met that. I'm not the type to follow orders and you know that. What N'Jadaka wanted was right, and as soon as he would've gotten the power that he had, I would've done the same to him. It's all about divide and conquer."
Her lips parted in anger and she chuckled. "So, you're saying that this entire time... your loyalty to T'Challa was shit, and that you had intentions on using him to take his place? Did you really think that would work, that you could even take on the Black Panther that's in his own blood right?!"
"My intentions toward T'Challa were genuine until he couldn't handle a simple task of bringing Klaue back here! So who did it? The exiled prince!"
"Watch your mouth." She hit her hand against the bars, watching the vibranium glow through them.
"Defensive over your master, huh? Cute."
"My master? No man fucking owns me. How could you do all of this? Okoye would never—"
"Okoye is blinded by all of this! She's let this family brainwash her and trick her." W'Kabi grew angrier at the sound of his wife's name. He never told her any of his plans because he knew that she'd shut him down and let her best friend, T'Challa know. Even when she would visit him and ask him why he caused all of this, he could never answer her.
"So what's your plan now? Hmm? You can't do much behind these bars. I guess your plan is done." Mbali leaned her back against the wall and crossed her legs.
"No... I have my ways. Everything I need is still in the border tribe headquarters and I'll get it one way or another, and when the time comes, all of this will be mine. A new world order and everything."
"It's not gonna happen. None of us will let it; especially not me."
He frowned and cocked his head at Mbali, now pacing the inside of his cell. "I remember one point in time where you and I were an unstoppable force for the border tribe— despite our differences and how annoying you were, we were always like fire and ice... you think I won't kill you also to get to what I want? You think I'd have an issue with watching your bleed out when all of this is done? Trust me when I tell you this Mbali: when I'm out of here and have what I need, I can promise you that T'Challa or N'Jadaka wont be who I save for last. It'll easily be you. That's a promise." He spoke to her with so much venom in his words and smiled.
One thing she hated was being threatened, and he knew that. And him threatening her life set off an alarm in her head. She quickly charged at his cell and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, twisting it in her hand so that he couldn't get away and wrapped her other hand around his throat.
"One thing you're not going to do is threaten me like I couldn't kill you where you're standing right now. Trust me, I wouldn't have a issue with wringing your throat and watching you take your last breath. I'm not the one you want to start throwing threats at because as soon as you even fucking try to do anything I'll always be ten steps ahead of you. Be lucky that you're Okoye's husband for now, if you weren't I'd take you right here."
"You think you put any fear into me?" He struggled to say since her hand was squeezing around his throat.
"I know how much fear I'm putting into you just by looking in your eyes." She smiled evilly. "I'll say this one more time before you pass out from lack of air: Im not the type to throw threats at. Okoye has restraint and quite frankly I fucking don't have much of it. You're dead to me." She hissed and watched his eyes start to flutter before letting him go and watching his body fall to the floor as he gasped for air. "Fucking pathetic." She huffed and turned to leave the headquarters that he was currently in.
Her brain was running at a thousand miles per hour and her adrenaline was pumping like crazy. It was almost scaring her. How could he just threaten her like that? As if she wasn't already a ticking time bomb?
"Fucking idiot." She mumbled to herself and felt her hands start to shake in anger, wanting to hit something so badly. Tears started to form in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. "I shouldn't killed him right there, he deserved it—" she continued to talk to herself till she felt her bump into a hard chest.
"What's up with you?" N'Jadaka frowned down at her. "Are you crying?" He inhaled her scent and looked down at her shaky hands.
"I'm ready to go." She said quickly and tried to walk away from him until he grabbed her hand and turned her back to face him.
"What happened, Mbali."
"I'm ready to go!" She yelled at him. He instantly frowned and looked down at her as he bit down on his lip. She instantly felt small under his eyes again although she was still pissed.
"Who the fuck are you yelling at? Huh?" He asked, backing her against the wall. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, saying nothing to him. "Watch that fucking attitude before I fix it for you right now." She glared up at him and crossed her arms to her chest. "Lost your damn mind."
She didn't know if she should be upset still or turned on, but he knew that she was more turned on than anything at the moment. Even though her eyes gave off the vibe of her being pissed, he knew the eyes that she was really giving him. The same eyes she gave him the night back in New York. He smirked at her submissiveness and cupped her chin.
"Now that you know who the hell you're talking to again, tell me what the problem is. Over here walking around like you wanna beat somebody's ass and what not. Or is your mind somewhere else right now?" He hummed. Mbali still said nothing. Her arms staying crossed against her chest as she bit at the inside of her cheek.
"Ndivile ndithetha nawe, mthandi." You hear me talking to you, sweetheart. He ran his tongue against his bottom lip. Now, her scent was strong and making his mouth water.
"W'Kabi usongela." W'Kabi threatened me. She mumbled, looking away from him.
"The fuck did you just say?"
"He threatened me. He told me about this big plan that he has and that when he gets out he's gonna make sure that he saves me for last—" He didn't even let her finish before he was walking back down to where she once was. "N'Jadaka!"
He stopped when he was W'Kabi leaning against the bed that he was provided. His eyes opened when he head the footsteps getting closer towards him. N'Jadaka squared down in front of the bars, and the sadistic smirk came back on his face as he looked at W'Kabi.
W'Kabi knew that smirk too well. It wasn't Erik, the American boy from Oakland, and it surely wasn't N'Jadaka, the Wakandan in him... his true self and identity— it was Killmonger. It wasn't like N'Jadaka was battling a split personality disorder or anything like that. It was simply N'Jadaka when he was angry, dark, and in that dark and sadistic place. The same Killmonger that happily threw his cousin off the cliff, the same Killmonger that stormed into the palace demanding the throne, and the same Kilmonger who killed Klaue and his pawn of a girlfriend.
"What's this I hear about you making threats? Is this what you wanna do?" He raised his eyebrow at W'Kabi.
He already had a feeling what was going on between the two just by watching Mbali's stance behind him. He smirked and chuckled. "Don't worry... when the time comes, I can let you watch me kill her."
That was the straw that broke Mbali's back. She lunged at the bars, trying to bend them in any way possible just to get a sliver of her body into the cell to end him. N'Jadaka quickly moved her behind him and grabbed W'Kabi by his throat.
"This again?" He huffed and tried to remove N'Jadaka's hands.
"You better be lucky I'm not letting her get to you right now cause she's seeing red at this point. Say some slick shit again about my first in command and I'll happily beat the shit outta you myself. I'm not a king so I could give zero fucks about how people view me." His grip tightened.
"N'Jadaka akafanelekanga. ndifuna ukuya Ekhaya." N'Jadaka he's not worth it. I want to go home. Mbali spike, grabbing his arm. He wouldn't let go. His grip was getting tighter and tighter by the second.
"Killmonger." Mbali whispered, and his head quickly turned to face her. "Ikhaya." Home. She gently traced her hand against his arm, moving to his hand that was choking W'Kabi and removed it. His eyes became less hard as he dropped him, moving his hand from the cell.
He quickly walked away with Mbali following behind him.
What's was that about? She thought to herself.
_______________________
Mbali
I sat on my bed after getting cleaned up for the night and looked at the tv that was on the wall. Y'lan and Sage sucked me into watching American reality tv; specifically: Love and Hip-Hop.
"This is crazy." I laughed and said softly to myself as the woman on the tv was mocking the other for 'shaking the table'. When we got back, N'Jadaka went straight to his room and didn't really say much. I could t blame him after the up and down night we had.
I was able to clear my mind from W'Kabk by just showering and relaxing, so my mind was cleared for the night, but I wouldn't forget what he said. I wondered if N'Jadaka was okay because when he spazzed, it was like it took him back to a darker him.
I took some of the water that I had in my glass and drank it, putting it back down on my nightstand and I heart a knock at my bedroom door. Groaning, I rolled out the bed and stretched my arms; I was watching g the tv show for a while now; I could get up and move around a little.
As soon as I got to the door and opened it, I felt two lips push against mine and push me back into my room. N'Jadaka's hand wrapped around my neck before pulling away to grab my legs, wrapping them around him as I kissed him back. It was unexpected, but his lips were full and soft enough to make you not care.
"Fuck, you smell so good." He growled and kissed down my neck as I tried to catch my breath from his lips being on mine. He pulled away from my neck and looked down at my attire, taking in the pink set that I was wearing. I quickly brought his lips back to mine, missing the full feeling of his moving in sync against mine. "I might have to tear this off you tonight. It's a distraction." He smirked and laid me back on the bed, finding space between my legs to make himself comfortable between as he kissed down the valley of my chest.
"A distraction for who? Who even said this was yours?" I tested him. A sensual chuckle came from his mouth when he bit down on my shoulder from my remarks.
His hand toyed with the straps on my top, popping it against my skin. "The last time I checked, when we were in New York and you agreed that this was mine the night that I put your ass to sleep? That's when it became mine. And I want it right now, and you do too. So it's either we both get what we want or you spend your time in here thinking of me doing this to you, your call— but I'd obviously rather be in you instead... I'm pretty sure you'd agree." He rested his forehead against mine. "Ndilungile?" Am I right? He smirked and pulled my bottom lip from my teeth. His other hand ran down the space in between my thighs.
I really went from watching American reality tv to this in less that two hours. How dare he just barge in here and throw off my peaceful mood and invade my space and atmosphere with his sexual deeds! And he had the nerve to put them on me and make me want him at this exact moment.
I should say no.
It's mine anyway, I can do with it what I Please. Even though in reality he's had me going since he raised his voice at me earlier. I was conflicted—
"Let me taste you."
I quickly snapped from my thoughts when he said those words and placed his hand on my hips, his lips touching every inch of skin on my chest and pulling down the straps of my top. "Cause you blacked out the first time, I wanna see if I can out you to sleep again like the second time." He teased me while he discovered my body all over again.
___________________
CHAPTER UNEDITED
___________________
that's the official mbali who's picture
is up there.
i'm not on my bs anymore y'all lol.
she's literally who i pictured
soo let's discuss t'challa and erik,
specifically t'challa knowing about
the scent and having a hunch about
erik and mbali 😏
then there's w'kabi lmao
what's happening next? 👀
Finally
I got DMs asking why the book is called SEASONS and if the book relates to the songs in anyway so yes it does lmao. It's the most underrated song on the soundtrack in my opinion so this whoooole thing is based off of that and the other songs that are on the playlist for the book.
| VOTE & COMENT! |