~NYSSA
How do I stop this aching in my chest? How do I reach into my body, pull my heart out, and tell it to stop hurting this bad?
I want to take this sadness in my chest, put it in a bottle, and throw it so far away I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.
But that was impossible. My heart has a mind of its own, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the pain to stop.
So I ran, without paying any attention to where I was going.
I reject you.
My heels dug painfully into my feet, and my vision blurred.
I will not be your mate, Nyssa Fang. Nor will you be mine.
A strong arm grabbed my wrist and yanked me into a stop.
"For fuck's sake, stop running away and look at me," a familiar voice snapped, and my heart stopped in my chest. I turned back to meet Henry's gaze.
He let go of my wrist and smoothly slid his hands back into his pocket.
"Come on, Nys. You need to stop overreacting. There's no such thing as a peaceful rejection. I had to do it like that, because, well, in the history of people who rejected their mates, not once had it ever been done politely. Rejection is nasty business," he stated, and his words were so ridiculous that it put me at a loss for words.
The man who used to be my best friend went on, not giving a shit about how I felt.
"I probably should have given you a heads up, but you just sprang the entire situation about your wolf on me. I felt cornered, and it made me…react like that. I'm sorry. Really. I didn't mean to…you know, hurt you. We're still friends though, right?" he asked.
A stunned sound slipped past my throat. Henry had just turned me into the subject of mockery, hell, he literally just ruined my life, and he still wanted to be friends?
Before I could stop myself, I slapped him.
Then I slapped him again.
"How dare you? How could you have done that to me? We have been in a relationship for years, and all of a sudden you want to get married to someone else? You make a fool of me before the entire pack and you expect me to remain friends with you? Have you lost your fucking mind?"
Henry's expression shuttered at my words, and his eyes grew cold as his face hardened. He took a step closer to me.
"If you ever lay a finger on me again, I am going to have your hand cut off. How can you act like this and expect anyone to love you?" he spat at me, then turned around to leave as if he hadn't just delivered the most devastating statement anyone could ever say to me.
I watched him leave, my feet rooted to the ground. There was no point in running, because no matter how hard I try, I would never be able to run from myself.
When Henry was out of sight, I turned around and slowly started to make my way back home. Removing the heels, I willed myself to take step after step, growing numb the farther away from him I got.
By the time I pushed the door to my room open, my heart has gotten completely numb, and I felt nothing as I climbed into my bed. I didn't bother to undress, I had no energy to do anything.
So I laid on my bed, and stared at the wall.
Henry hated me.
Henry was going to get married to Alisa, the girl who used to be my best friend but was now nothing more than an acquaintance.
Henry had humiliated me publicly and then ran after me to ask if we were going to remain friends.
I closed my eyes as I tried to ward off those thoughts, but nothing worked. My mind replayed everything over and over until it was all I could think about.
It made no sense though. I spent the entire day yesterday with Henry, and there had been no indication that something was wrong. The switch from the man I knew and the man he was today was insane, and a part of me still…
My thoughts were rudely interrupted by loud bangs.
My brows furrowed into a frown as I sat up. The bangs sounded suspiciously like gunshots.
Was something going on?
I listened hard for the sound again, wondering if I should be scared or not. But when I heard nothing after a few minutes, I attributed it to a trick of the mind.
I probably imagined the whole thing.
Laying back on my bed, I was about to venture back into the rabbit hole of Henry rejecting me when I heard the sounds again.
Only this time, they didn't stop.
The gunshots were rapid, and I heard the distant sound of people screaming and crying for help. I scrambled out of my bed, fear slithering in my blood.
Something was going on. It sounded as though the pack was under attack.
I wanted to go outside to figure out what was going on, but I could not. Not when the guns were still going off.
My heart was racing against my chest at this point. If we were under attack, which was the most logical explanation for all the noise going on outside, it made no sense.
Who was attacking us?
Our Pack was that second strongest, and everyone knew it. Henry might have turned out to be a jerk, but he was a good Alpha, and he always did the right thing for the Pack.
But tonight, he probably had his guard down. Tonight, everyone was at the party. How fast would Henry be able to protect the rest of the pack members?
By the time the gunshots stopped, it was close to dawn. I slowly made my way outside, fear clamping its cold hands around my neck.
I took a step outside, and was about to take another when someone clamped their hand over my mouth.
"Say a word, and I will slit your throat."