~ NYSSA

Alisa opened her mouth to speak then promptly closed it again.

"Did you forget how to speak?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. "From what I remember you always had a lot to say."

Her cheeks tinged pink. She knew exactly what was I referring to.

She made my life hell, and I was determined to make sure I returned the favor. After all, we were playing my game now.

"I want to talk to you alone," she said, her voice a bit shaky. "I don’t want the audience."

I thought about it for a moment before nodding. "You’re all excused... except you Eric, you stay here."

Eric grinned and made his way over to the couch. He plopped down onto it, crossing his legs with his arms spread behind him. He was the epitome of ease, but I didn’t miss the sharp awareness behind his eyes and the way he tracked Alisa’s movements, ready to strike if need be.

When the laugh nurse walked out, I turned back to her. "You have five minutes."

"Really, Nyssa?" she asked, her lips turned down into a frown. "You’re going to treat me like I’m some strange criminal. We have known each other for years."

My brows rose in shock and amusement. I knew she was manipulative, but never in my life did I think she would actually attempt to appeal to my kindness after all the shit that she put me through.

"We used to be friends, you know," she continued softly. "We let a man come between us and that never should have happened. I miss you, you know? I miss all the time we used to spend together. Do you remember when we used to play in that treehouse?"

I remembered very well.

Her parents built her an elaborate treehouse in their backyard. We used to go there after school every day to play until...

"I remember you pushing me out of it," I said coldly. "I was halfway down the ladder and you shoved me. I broke my arm and when your parents came over, you claimed I had just tripped."

The tips of her ears turned red. "I was just... we were kids."

"We were thirteen, Alisa. We weren’t kids. You were old enough to know what the fuck you were doing." I took a slow step towards her. "Or do you want to talk about when we were fourteen and you told everyone that I had a crush on Henry? Or when we were sixteen and you read my diary out in front of the whole school?"

"I didn’t—"

"You did. And there is a whole lot I haven’t even begun to touch on. If you want to go down memory lane, let’s fucking do it, but I promise it won’t end the way you want it to so why don’t we skip the bullshit and you tell me what I need to know."

Her façade dropped instantly.

Her smile fell to a deep frown and she exhaled deeply, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat up straight.

"Ian is a bitch is what happened," she murmured. "He wanted me to mate with him."

I stood there, waiting for her to tell me how that was supposed to be a problem.

"I’m not going to mate with him," she said firmly. "He was born a nobody."

"He is the Alpha now."

"I don’t give a fuck who he is now. It doesn’t change the fact that he was born into nothing. I told him no, and he told me that was my criteria for joining the pack again. He refused to take the oath with me. He even had the guards throw me out."

I sighed. "I’ll need you to get to the point quickly because you’re losing me."

"There has to be some law against it, right? I was hoping the king could help me. If he sees I have the support of the royals then..."

She trailed off with a sly smirk and I realized instantly that she had never changed. She was still the same power hungry, stuck up bitch I knew.

A loud bark of laughter escaped my lips. "I assure you that the King has more important things to do than to deal with this. You can either mate with him like he asked, become a rogue or find another pack to join. The option is yours."

Her jaw slacked. "Excuse me?"

I turned to Eric. "My job here is done. Let the doctors know that once she’s healed, she’s going back out where she was found. We don’t need her kind here."

She exclaimed; a sound of pure indignation but I ignored her and turned on my heels. I had enough of Alisa to last me a lifetime, and there was no way I was going to subject myself to anymore.

It was time to move on.

"You know who my father is!" she screamed. "He can give you anything you want! Money, support, you name it."

I ignored her and kept moving.

"I will do anything you want! If you want a public apology, I’ll give it." My fingers curled around the door knob when she said something that had me stopping in my tracks. "I have information about your parents!"

I paused.

I glanced over at Eric, silently wondering if turning was the right choice, but it didn’t matter because she had already seen my hesitation.

"My father knew them very well," she continued. "And when I was away, I spent time at one of our vacation homes and saw files on them—thick files. I can help you get them... if you help me."

I turned to her, my hands crossed over my chest. "Do you know what was in those files?"

She shook her head. "But I can have them brought here. All you have to do is say you’ll help with my Ian problem."

"We already have too much on our plate, Nyssa," Eric whispered to me. "You can’t afford to do this right now."

I looked between the two of them, the weight of the decision crashing into me.