~NYSSA
My heart hammered violently against my chest.
My limbs turned frozen with fear, and there was a large lump of panic rapidly growing in my chest.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper as I tried, but failed, to keep my voice from shaking.
The attacker leaned closer until whoever it was whispering into my ears. "My identity is none of your business. What you need to know, is that I could kill you right now and get it over with. Your body wouldn't even be found until later, and by then, you would have started to decompose. Nobody will know."
A shiver ran down my spine at those words. Tears filled my eyes, and I could not even raise my hands to wipe the tears away.
"Please…please don't kill me. I…I am sorry. I don't know who you are or why you think I have to die but I…I don't want to die," I whimpered.
The attacker said nothing for a while, and with each passing moment, my fear grew. My vision turned blurry, and there was a loud, repetitive ringing in my ears that won't stop.
After several minutes of waiting for something — anything — to happen, the attacker took a step back.
The knife slowly made its way away from me, and I heaved a deep breath. Then the person spoke.
"Turn around."
My heart was rattling hard against my chest now, as if it was just mere seconds away from falling at my feet. I did as the attacked asked, and turned around.
The moment my face fell on the person though, my jaw dropped open. Incredulity slammed into me so hard that I saw stars, and my entire body started to tremble with rage.
Turns out that my attacker wasn't a man. It was someone I had known all along, and at the smug smile on her face, I felt an insane urge to slap her.
"What the fuck, Alisa? Are you out of your goddamn mind?" I snapped, my voice hard and cold with the force of my anger.
Henry's new girlfriend and my ex best friend smirked at me, and there was a strange gleam in her eyes as she stepped closer to me.
"Come on. Don't be such a bore. I was just messing with you."
My face turned red, and my hands curled into fists at how blithe she sounded. "You fucking held a knife to my neck. What kind of sick joke is that?!" I snapped.
Alisa's smile fell away and her expression turned cold. She crossed her arms over her chest as she held my gaze, and something like fear made its way down my spine.
She was suddenly giving off an ominous feel, but I held my ground. I would not be caught shaking in fear because of her.
"You know, for a moment, I actually consider killing you. Just to get you out of the equation. No one would have suspected me, and even if, by chance, you survive the attack, which I highly doubt you would, you would obviously have told everyone that it was a man that attacked you."
My stomach dropped at how serious she was.
"What did I ever do to you for you to want me dead? You already have all I want!" was all I managed to say.
Alisa smiled then, and I was suddenly hit in the chest with a realisation. I never really knew this woman. I thought I used to, but I never did. She was a stranger to me.
"I can't stand the sight of you," was all she said. I was about to respond when she turned around to leave.
"Bye, Nyssa. Take care. And watch your back. That knife might as well find a home in you very soon," she stated very casually as she walked away.
I stared at her retreating figure like she was a phantom. What the hell?
Did Alisa just…threaten to kill me?
My mind struggled to believe what just happened, and I had to pinch myself several times just to be sure that this wasn't a dream.
When I eventually managed to pull myself together, I made a mental note to stay the fuck away from that girl. She was crazy, and I didn't want anyone to just kill me when I didn't do anything.
By the time I made it to the council hall, Henry and the rest of the council members were already there for an emergency meeting.
I didn't meet Henry's gaze as I made my way towards them. He said nothing to me too, the attack too fresh and too brutal for him to pay me any attention.
"What are the casualty numbers?" I asked. I might have been rejected by Henry, but I was still a very high ranking member of the Pack's council. After all, I was still the former Beta's daughter, and my fighting skills, apart from Henry's, was the best in the entire pack.
Although I certainly didn't feel like a fighter when Alisa held a knife to my neck. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but I pushed it away. There was no time to think about that now.
"A lot. Over fifty pack members are injured. And ten people are dead."
My hands curled into fists. That was a lot, and the Pack wasn't financially stable enough to fund our hospital. There was a shortage of healers and doctors alike.
If we did nothing now, a lot of people would die.
I didn't have to say what I was thinking. Everyone in the room knew it too, and there was a grim look on Henry's face.
"Our defenses have been weakened too. Significantly. We are not going to survive another attack," another member stated.
Tense silence filled the room as everyone waited for Henry to speak. And after what felt like forever, he eventually did.
"We have no choice. We need to ask for help from the King's pack."
Everyone reacted at his words.
"We can't…"
"He's not going to…"
"The king hates us. He is not going to help without taking something from us."
I gritted my teeth as I spoke. "Don't be stupid, Henry. You know going over there to ask for help is a terrible idea. We have to find another way."
My ex boyfriend held my gaze as he responded.
"My mind is made up. I'll make the trip once it's daybreak. And Nyssa is coming with me."