Chapter fourteen

Two weeks later...

It had been two weeks since she had moved into the house, but Ndeye had still not managed to get rid of her fear of wolves. She systematically rejected any attempt to approach Mohamed and to avoid having to suffer this from one of his fellow-creatures, she had made her room her refuge, her world which she did not want to leave under any circumstances. The only people who could enter her world were Ma'Fatou, Fa'Bintou, and Bass, whom she had found difficult to accept.

After three days of not trying to see her, Mohamed decided to try his luck for the umpteenth time. He waited until the afternoon, when she was alone, to go to her room. After knocking without response, he went inside when the door was open to finding Ndeye asleep in the fetal position on her bed, her hair scattered around her head, a pillow in her hands soothed. This cute, delicate, and innocent image of her touched Mohamed to the point where, unable to control himself, he somehow found himself on the bed gently and tenderly stroking her hair. After a moment, she sighed with relief before speaking while still asleep.

_ Mum!

He gasped as he removed his hand from her hair, feeling cruelly guilty for making her think she had her mother, who had been gone to heaven for years, by her side. But Ndeye came and laid her head on his thighs, holding him close.

_ Don't go away again, Mommy! Stay with me! Please!

Mohamed felt even worse for her, who must have missed her mother, but also for himself, who would have liked to hear her even once, even if it was in his dreams, expressing her need and desire to have him by her side, her soul mate. He then undid himself as gently as possible from her embrace before undertaking to move his head from her thighs, which unfortunately for him had the effect of waking her. When she saw him, she screamed at the top of her lungs before throwing all the pillows she could get her hands on, causing him to fall to the ground head first.

What the hell does she have to like dropping him like he's as light as a feather?

And damn it, it hurt like hell every time!

_ What are you doing in my room? On my bed? she asked him in a panic and on the verge of tears.

_ I... I just came to see you and when the door wasn't locked, I came in, said, Mohamed.

_ Liar! What were you doing on my bed?

_ I... I was...

_ You wanted to take advantage of me, didn't you? You monster! You monster! You pig!

She immediately jumped on top of him without giving him time to answer or just to place one and started to hit him without him bothering to defend himself, too hurt by the fact that she thought he would stoop to trying to abuse her as Khadim had done. She could blame him for not having been able to protect her, for being jealous, for not being patient, and many other things, but to call him a rapist was more than an insult to his person, it was an insult to his values and principles, an insult that had reached the depths of his soul. He let her do this until Fa'Bintou and their mother, alerted by the noise, came to pull Ndeye off him. He got up slowly and gave her a look of sadness before leaving the room without a word. He went to his room where he could inspect his body to see some superficial wounds on his face and arms that had been left by Ndeye's blows.

His Luna hates him more than anything else!

Him, her soul mate!

Would they ever get to know each other at this rate?

Love each other?

Be together?

Start a family?

He didn't know, and that made it even more painful for him and Aras. He left the latter, who wanted to let off steam, before exploding control. Aras ran then through the forest until he could no longer feel his paws before bringing them home, far too tired, shortly after sunset. Mohamed then took control and went to take a shower and change his clothes before going to the terrace to avoid seeing even the reflection of Ndeye. After a moment alone contemplating the sky, he felt a presence at his back, a presence he recognized as that of his parents.

_ I don't know what to do anymore, Daddy, Mommy. She just won't let me get close to her or listen to me, he said.

_ It's normal. She's still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that you're her soul mate and not like that monster who hurt her so much, said his father.

_ But that's what I've been trying to get her to understand. If she'd let me get close to her like Mom and Sis, she'd know.

_ Let me tell you something. It's easier for her to let us approach her because there were hardly any women among her torturers. So you don't have to be jealous, son, said his mother.

_ I'm not jealous, I'm just hurt by the constant rejection of my soul mate. Aras is even more hurt and he makes me feel it.

_ Listen to me, son, if you haven't succeeded in getting anywhere with her by a direct approach, then you must do something else, said his father.

_ But how? By doing what? I'm lost!

_ I wish I could tell you, but if you manage to finally approach her with my advice, you'll lose her when the time comes to act on your own. And believe me, if you lose her, you'll have almost no chance of getting her again, said her father.

_ So what? How will I find a way to get to her?

_ Look inside yourself, my son! Look inside yourself! And you will find it, said his father.