Ch 10: An encounter to remember

'This could get dangerous for me. I am far from any sign of civilization, so I doubt I will be able to get any help in time. Shit! What is the fastest way to knock someone out? Why is my mind blanking on it now?'

Lisa had no formal training to protect herself, but she had learned enough from all the brawls she had taken and the people she had talked with.

She had trained herself enough to be able to protect herself in times of emergencies.

So, Lisa was naturally strong enough to stand for a while, even with the injury she had sustained.

Blood dripped out of her arm, but Lisa paid no attention. All her focus was centered around the female who was out to kill her.

No amount of persuading was going to help Lisa out of this situation. She had no choice but to fight for her life.

Lisa had sharp enough nails to keep for specific incidents such as these. She dug her nails into the surprisingly hard skin of the female she was fighting.

One of Lisa's nails broke, but it was a decent price to pay for getting her attacker to drop her knife.

"H-How did you-"

The shock of seeing herself bleeding was enough for the female to drop her guard down, and Lisa was able to hold the other female down by forcing her onto the ground.

Lisa held her down by her neck and also positioned her hands behind her back.

"Stop moving! If you are here for Kai, I already told you I had nothing to do with him. Now stop struggling before I am forced to knock you out."

That threat was false. Lisa had no reliable way to knock the other female out, but she did not let it show on her face. 

Body language and confidence go a long way toward making a bluff believable, which Lisa also counted on here.

The female she was holding down thrashed like a wild animal, and Lisa could swear that she was hearing inhuman noises coming out of her throat as well.

And maybe…just maybe, Lisa's mind played tricks on her, but she swore the arm she held down did not feel human-like. The muscles under her hand felt too defined.

The thrashing was distracting, but Lisa's instincts told her to look behind her. They were warning her that a predator was nearing her, and she needed to run.

It was a common rule of the right never to look away from your opponent. However, Lisa made the mistake of ignoring it because her instincts played tricks on her.

Lisa looked behind her, expecting to see a flash of red. But her moment gave her attacker enough room to break Lisa's hold and counterattack.

Something sharp cut a shallow mark across Lisa's cheeks. It should have been humanly impossible for her attacker. But Lisa's cheek cut said otherwise.

'No, that was not a knife that grazed my cheek. It was something else. Her hand, is that a claw?'

There were moments in people's lives that could make them question everything they knew. Lisa never expected such a moment to happen to her.

But currently, looking at the inhuman hand her attacker had made Liza question whether this was real life or if she was dreaming.

The inhuman growling coming out of her attacker's mouth only solidified her belief that this was all a dream.

"You…filthy…human! It is…all…your…fault…my mate…"

Lisa's attacker was speaking, but it was a mixture of human speech and growl. Her body also seemed to be turning more and more wolf-like every second.

Even the words that sounded humanoid a few seconds ago now sounded wolfish.

"Good pup! Don't come toward me, and we won't have a problem. Why don't you back away slowly and-"

The half-wolf had no intention of listening to Lisa, and it leaped at her.

Lisa's brain instinctively made her jump out of the way, and the wolf-like hybrid crashed into the wall.

But instead of taking damage, the attacking female managed to brace her hand on the wall and recover within seconds.

That was how Lisa ended up in a cat-and-mouse game, where she was the prey and was being chased by something that should not exist in this world.

Lisa continued to run around. Stopping would mean Lisa's death, and she did not want to die.

Lisa's only advantage over her chaser was her superior knowledge of these streets. She needed to use it to get to someplace where she would not be attacked.

So Lisa ran as fast as her feet would allow her. Her lungs burned, but she could hear how close her chaser was to catching her.

Lisa was not paying attention to where she was going and crashed into something solid.

"Hey, take it easy!"

The cold yet familiar voice soothed Lisa's worries. She did not know why, but running into Emma felt like a miracle.

Lisa opened her mouth to question Emma, but the taller female was not looking at Lisa.

Instead, she seemed to be looking behind Lisa toward the alley where Lisa had emerged from.

Slowly, the pressure Lisa was feeling due to those non-human eyes went away slowly. 

Lisa felt relieved, and her breathing eased. Her knees also gave up, and Lisa leaned against Emma's shoulder.

"It is fine! You can let go of your fears and worries. Just depend on me, and it will be fine."

Emma's hand closed around Lisa as a pseudo-hug, but her fingers never touched Lisa's skin.

She also did not look at Lisa but continued to glare at the alley from which she had exited until she felt ready to let go.

Lisa would have seen a satisfied smirk on the taller female's face at the situation's outcome if she looked up.

Emma held Lisa in that loose embrace and did not make a move.

It felt calming and familiar (even though Lisa had not known Emma before today.) that smiling face was a cause for concern, but Lisa did not want to look too closely.

She felt a little scared to know what secrets Emma's smile hid.