Chapter Four

~Mel~

I could still feel the remnants of fear gripping my throat, squeezing every breath out of me. My heart pounded like a drum in my chest, and I was struggling to catch my breath when his voice sliced through the air again, cold and unforgiving.

“When I ask a question, I expect an answer.” 

Carmine’s words hit me like a slap, sharp and icy, forcing me to meet his eyes as they moved from the blood on the floor to my face. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My mind was still trapped in the horror of what I had just witnessed, and my body was frozen in place.

“Melody,” he growled, his voice dark and low, pulling me back to the present with brutal force. “If I have to ask one more time, you will regret it.”

I scrambled to my feet, wiping the tears I hadn’t even realized were streaming down my face. My entire body trembled as I tried to form the words, my voice weak and shaky. “My… my dead best friend appeared to me. She was real, and… and the blood, it kept dripping off her…”

Carmine’s eyes narrowed, his gaze boring into me with deadly intensity. “Do you think I’m here for jokes?”

“No, I—” 

Before I could finish, he crossed the room in two strides, his hand wrapping around my throat in a tight, merciless grip. The force of it made my vision blur, and my legs buckled beneath me. 

“I let you live because, for a fleeting moment, you intrigued me,” he hissed, his voice as lethal as the hold he had on me. “But make no mistake, I do not tolerate lies or insolence. If you don’t tell me the truth right now, I will not hesitate to rip your head from your body.”

His eyes had turned black, a sign that his wolf was in control, and I could feel my consciousness slipping away as I gasped for air but I didn’t fight him. 

I couldn’t. 

A part of me welcomed the end. Maybe if I died, I could finally escape this nightmare. Maybe I could go to the other side and demand answers from Hannah—ask her why she was haunting me.

Just when I thought I was about to pass out, he released me. I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, landing right on top of the blood that had stained the floor. I wanted nothing more than to curl up and disappear, to wallow in the misery that was now my life but Carmine’s shadow loomed over me, and I could feel his eyes on me as I tried in vain to stop the tears that kept falling without permission.

“Get up,” he commanded, his tone so powerful that my body moved on autopilot. With shaky legs, I forced myself to stand, doing my best to hold his gaze even though it felt like his eyes were stripping me bare. In that moment, two thoughts raced through my mind:

One—Why hadn’t I just let him kill me?

Two—How could someone so evil be so beautiful?

The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating, until finally, he broke the stare and backed away. For a moment, I thought he was going to leave, and a small part of me felt relieved. But instead, he walked over to a corner of the room and sat down on the sofa, crossing his legs, his eyes never leaving me.

“Why are you here, Melody?” he asked, his voice low and dangerously calm.

The sound of my name on his lips made my heart stutter. 

It felt both right and wrong at the same time. His eyes narrowed, and I realized I hadn’t answered his question. The words rushed out of me before I could stop them. “Because we made a deal. I’m to be your… your pet for one year.”

His expression shifted slightly, and for the briefest second, I thought I saw his lips twitch as if he was about to smile. It was gone in an instant, and I was left wondering if I had imagined it. 

His voice cut through the air again, sharp as a blade. “Do you know what being my pet entails?”

I stumbled over my words, the truth making my stomach churn. “It means… it means I do whatever you want me to do.”

This time, the smile actually appeared, but there was no warmth in it, no humor. It was cold, predatory. “That’s only half of it,” he said, leaning back slightly, his gaze never wavering. “Being my pet means you do whatever I want, whenever I want. And I will fuck you whenever and however I please.”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Deep down, I knew what I had signed up for, but hearing it spoken so plainly… so cruelly… it made everything so much more real. The smile on his face broadened, as if he could sense the turmoil in my mind, and he asked with a twisted hint of amusement, “Is there a problem?”

I could only shake my head, another wave of tears threatening to spill over, unfortunately before I could even process what was happening, his next question cut through the silence like a knife. “Are you a virgin?”

The blood drained from my face, and I felt my entire body go rigid. I wiped at the first tear that escaped, my hands trembling as I slowly nodded. 

His eyes flickered with something—surprise, maybe?—but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by that same cold, calculating gaze. 

He stood up, his movements smooth and predatory, and I instinctively took a step back. My heart pounded in my chest, and I saw the briefest flicker of amusement in his eyes, like he enjoyed the fear radiating off me. 

His lips curved into that cold, cruel smile again. “In two hours, at exactly 9 p.m.,” he said, his voice low and filled with dark promise, “I will send someone to prepare you.”

The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Prepare me for what?”

His eyes darkened, and his smile widened, sending a shiver down my spine. “By 9:30 p.m., you’ll understand what it means to be my pet.”

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. 

The weight of his words pressed down on me, suffocating. My mind was reeling, trying to process the nightmare that was my reality, but Carmine didn’t give me the luxury of time to think. He moved away, walking with that arrogant grace, like the world owed him something just for existing.

When he reached the door, he stopped and turned back to face me. His eyes were cold, emotionless, as they locked onto mine. “I’m going to find out what happened here and when I do, there will be dire consequences for you for lying to me.”

Then, without another word, he slammed the door behind him, leaving me alone in the room with the dreadful realization that hit me like a ton of bricks. 

Not only did I have to deal with the terror of my dead best friend appearing to me, but now I was also going to lose my virginity at 9:30 p.m…

To a monster.