~Carmine~No amount of scalding water could scrub the confusion from my mind. I had stood under the shower for what felt like hours, but it was doing nothing to clear my head. Whatever had happened back there, between us—it shouldn’t have. The moment it was over, I knew a line had been crossed, one that I needed to push her back behind. My wolf was growling in frustration, and I felt that familiar tug of losing control.I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my waist. The water hadn’t helped, and her scent hit me the moment I moved. The memory of how she felt beneath me flashed through my mind, making my body react instantly. The heat, the intensity—it all came rushing back, and it made my chest tighten in a way I wasn’t used to.Damn it. I clenched my jaw, trying to rein it in. What the hell was this? I was losing control, and I couldn't afford that. Not now. Not ever. There were threats circling me like vultures, waiting for me to slip. And this... whatever this was w
~Mel~I let out an irritated sigh as I exited what felt like the hundredth witch’s inn in the state. I’d never realized just how many of them lived among us. My mind briefly wandered, thinking about what other supernatural creatures might be lurking around that I didn’t know about, but I quickly pushed the thoughts away. This was not the time to be thinking about anything other than the fact that I needed to find that poison. That manifestation of evil in the form of a man—Carmine—had to die. I closed my eyes, trying to reach out to Hannah, but she refused to answer. I couldn't blame her; I had taken my frustration out on her after meeting yet another dead end two shops ago. So much for always being by my side.I was furious. Furious at Hannah for leading me on this wild goose chase all over the state, but even more furious at myself. How could I have been so stupid? Putting aside what Hannah had said about playing Carmine, manipulating him through sex, I had actually lost control in
Chapter Twenty Nine~Carmine~I had to give her credit for the thought. It was bold, reckless, but stupid. I already knew how it was going to play out. She would slip it into whatever she hoped I would drink until the solution to its effect was too late.The moment she left the estate last night, I knew. I always knew. My men were everywhere, trailing her every move, watching every step she took. The fact that she thought she could slip something past me—poison of all things—was almost comedic. The Noctisbane? Really? Did she think I hadn’t taken care of that long ago? I had rid the entire country of it because of how potent it was. Too dangerous to be floating around, especially with the number of enemies I had.I leaned back in my chair, watching her with amusement as she sat across from me, still as a statue. She wasn’t moving, barely breathing, her eyes wide with the knowledge that her little scheme had been exposed. It was almost amusing. Almost.Santos and Luther were watching h
~Mel~“You don’t value what you have until you lose it.”I don’t like to assume but I am sure out of a thousand people that would have just read that line, at least seventy of them have heard that, maybe even lived it. Unfortunately…I fall into that category of the latter and it all happened because of two reasons. One. I got infected with a virus. Some people call it love. Two. I didn’t listen to the one person who saw that virus for what it was at the very start. A vile infestation that was eating away at my brain, slowly destroying every ounce of sensibility that I had in me, until it led to this point.“Melody, do not walk away from me. I am talking to you.”The wooden flow creaked beneath my feet as I stomped through the house trying to get away from her but she just wouldn’t stop.“Melody!”I finally stopped turning back to face her, my eyes burning with anger, “What? What do you want me to say? That I agree with you? That I think he is wrong for me? Because I do not. I love
Three Years Later~Mel~I stared at myself in the mirror, particularly at the scar that would always be a reminder of a time in my life when I had trusted so blindly. No matter how many times I wished, hoped on the moon goddess that my life would have ended with Hannah’s that night, it never came true.“Hey. Hurry up in there.” I snapped back to reality, blinking away the tears that had become a daily routine for the last three years. Everything went black after that moment the silver bullet went straight into me. It was meant to kill me but instead, it ended up killing my wolf so here I was, half of me lost forever and the other half broken. Nothing was the same after that. My mother sent me away to my father in another country to continue schooling. In her words it was to protect me from going down the road I was on that would end with me getting killed.Well I was almost killed. I should be dead. I wanted to be dead.The loud banging came again making me remember where I was or w
~Mel~“No.”Every single head swiveled in my direction as the word left my mouth. I struggled to stand to my feet, taking in a deep breath while trying to steady the heavy pounding of my heart, I repeated, “No.”“I do not care what he did to you or whatever the fuck this is. No one is dying.”A look of surprise so faint crossed Carmine’s face that I would have missed it if I wasn’t staring dead straight into his eyes. He had gotten to his feet, turned his back on me and began to walk away after giving the death sentence.Now, his eyes were back on me. We stared at each other for a moment. I didn’t know what I was doing or where the courage had come from but I was just done. With everything. With everyone.“Melody,” Nathaniel’s faint voice filtered through the air, “Please stop.”I found myself instinctively backing away when I noticed that Carmine was working back towards me. One of his eyebrows rose, “No? You do not care?”His eyes went back to my father on the ground, then returned
~Mel~In a spiral of what felt like a second, everything changed.Carmine stared at my father with so much ice in his gaze that I shivered. “Count yourself lucky as the only man to ever experience mercy by my hand.” Then, without another glance in my direction, he walked away.My hands were yanked the moment he exited the door, and I was dragged away. There was no time for anything—no goodbyes, not that I had anything genuinely to say to Nathaniel. No time to take any of my personal belongings.Time seemed to blur after that. The numbness took over as the car sped through the city. My heart pounded as we drove through iron gates, revealing a mansion that looked like something out of a gothic fairytale. Tall, imposing, with dark, ivy-covered walls—it was less a house and more a fortress.My eyes widened in awe, but there was hardly any time to process just how magnificent the place was. The man who had threatened me yanked me out of the car, dragging me up the stone steps and through t
~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…”Car
Chapter Twenty Nine~Carmine~I had to give her credit for the thought. It was bold, reckless, but stupid. I already knew how it was going to play out. She would slip it into whatever she hoped I would drink until the solution to its effect was too late.The moment she left the estate last night, I knew. I always knew. My men were everywhere, trailing her every move, watching every step she took. The fact that she thought she could slip something past me—poison of all things—was almost comedic. The Noctisbane? Really? Did she think I hadn’t taken care of that long ago? I had rid the entire country of it because of how potent it was. Too dangerous to be floating around, especially with the number of enemies I had.I leaned back in my chair, watching her with amusement as she sat across from me, still as a statue. She wasn’t moving, barely breathing, her eyes wide with the knowledge that her little scheme had been exposed. It was almost amusing. Almost.Santos and Luther were watching h
~Mel~I let out an irritated sigh as I exited what felt like the hundredth witch’s inn in the state. I’d never realized just how many of them lived among us. My mind briefly wandered, thinking about what other supernatural creatures might be lurking around that I didn’t know about, but I quickly pushed the thoughts away. This was not the time to be thinking about anything other than the fact that I needed to find that poison. That manifestation of evil in the form of a man—Carmine—had to die. I closed my eyes, trying to reach out to Hannah, but she refused to answer. I couldn't blame her; I had taken my frustration out on her after meeting yet another dead end two shops ago. So much for always being by my side.I was furious. Furious at Hannah for leading me on this wild goose chase all over the state, but even more furious at myself. How could I have been so stupid? Putting aside what Hannah had said about playing Carmine, manipulating him through sex, I had actually lost control in
~Carmine~No amount of scalding water could scrub the confusion from my mind. I had stood under the shower for what felt like hours, but it was doing nothing to clear my head. Whatever had happened back there, between us—it shouldn’t have. The moment it was over, I knew a line had been crossed, one that I needed to push her back behind. My wolf was growling in frustration, and I felt that familiar tug of losing control.I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my waist. The water hadn’t helped, and her scent hit me the moment I moved. The memory of how she felt beneath me flashed through my mind, making my body react instantly. The heat, the intensity—it all came rushing back, and it made my chest tighten in a way I wasn’t used to.Damn it. I clenched my jaw, trying to rein it in. What the hell was this? I was losing control, and I couldn't afford that. Not now. Not ever. There were threats circling me like vultures, waiting for me to slip. And this... whatever this was w
~Mel~The moment his lips crashed onto mine, everything stopped.I gasped, the sound swallowed by the kiss, and he used that moment to deepen it, his mouth moving against mine with an intensity I hadn’t expected. It wasn’t like the first time he kissed me, that possessive, cruel gesture meant to mark me as his. This… this was different. Electrifying.A spark ignited between us, and I could feel it everywhere—his lips, his hands, the heat that rolled off him. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was kissing him back. My body responded without permission, betraying my mind’s constant war with him.His hands started to roam, moving with a slow, deliberate purpose, brushing over my waist, then my back, sending shivers through me with every touch. I felt my breathing quicken, and he must have sensed it because suddenly, his hands were cupping my face, holding me still while he plundered my mouth.I grabbed hold of him, my fingers digging into his shoulders, desperately clinging to him.
“Get out.”Ellie didn’t need to be told twice. The glass slipped from her hand, shattering as it hit the floor, but she didn’t care. Her legs moved like she was under a spell, her body responding to the command faster than her brain. She mouthed an apology, eyes wide with fear before she scurried past me like a scared animal. Smart girl.Melody, though, remained frozen, staring at me with that same blank expression, drink still in her hand. She hadn’t registered the weight of the situation yet. When she finally snapped out of it, she dropped the glass, and without missing a beat, started taking off her clothes. What the hell?I frowned, watching her drunkenly fumble with her shirt. “What are you doing?”“Taking off my clothes,” she slurred, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.I blinked, thrown off for a second. That wasn’t the response I expected. Her movements were sloppy, uncoordinated, as she tugged at her clothes, tossing each piece aside like it meant nothing. She
~Mel~I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Ellie’s voice. “Are you okay?” Her brow was furrowed as she leaned closer, concern etched across her features.Forcing a smile, I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied, waving it off like it was nothing. I hoped the smile would convince her, but Ellie wasn’t easily fooled.She eyed me skeptically for a moment before her signature smile returned. “Alright then, if you say so.” She launched back into whatever she had been talking about before, her words blending into the background as my mind wandered again.The mansion was still under construction after the explosion, and Santos had moved Ellie and me to another one of Carmine’s estates. It felt more like a prison than a safehouse, though. I was under constant surveillance—24/7, every move I made was watched. The worst part wasn’t the confinement, though. It was that Carmine had vanished. No one had seen him in days. The last time I had laid eyes on him, he didn’t just look angry. He looke
~Carmine~I snapped back to consciousness with a violent jolt, my wolf’s deep, guttural growl reverberating in my head, shaking me back into focus. My eyes flew open, and I was instantly on my feet, ignoring the sharp sting as shards of glass fell off my body, some still embedded in my skin. I pulled them out one by one, not caring about the blood or the pain. It was nothing compared to the rage simmering in my veins.Chaos surrounded me—screams, shouts, and the sound of people scrambling through the debris. I let out another low growl, my vision blurring with fury. Someone had dared to plant a bomb in my house. In my territory.Hell was about to break loose.“Carmine.” I heard Santos’s voice behind me, but I didn’t turn. My body was coiled tight, every muscle tense as I fought the urge to shift and tear something—or someone—apart. Finally, I turned to face him, my eyes narrowing as I took in the sight of him, unharmed.“We’re already checking the footage of everyone who’s been in an
~Mel~His eyes might have been warm, but I’d learned that monsters wore different masks. Luther could be just as dangerous as Carmine, regardless of how soft his gaze appeared. If he was even remotely associated with Carmine, it didn’t matter how much kindness he tried to project; he was a wildcard. And in my world, wildcards couldn’t be trusted.I didn’t respond to him. My body was rigid, every muscle tensed in silent defiance as I stared at him. His shoulders relaxed a little, as if he’d resigned himself to the fact that I wasn’t going to answer.His gaze flickered down, scanning me over, not in the leering way men often did, but like he was evaluating every inch of me, taking in the blood. “Are you hurt?”I stayed silent. I wasn’t about to let down my guard, not after what had just happened with Carmine. Whatever spark I might’ve felt when Luther and I first crossed paths had been extinguished, smothered by the revulsion now boiling inside me. I felt nothing but disdain for all of
~Mel~I stared at Hannah like she had grown a second head. “So, you’re telling me I have, like, superpowers now? Powers I got from you?”Hannah frowned, her eyes narrowing as she glared at me. “Stop with the tone.”“What tone?” I asked, feigning innocence.“The tone where you don’t believe me, but you’re trying to hide the sarcasm. Only, you want me to know you’re being sarcastic anyway.”It hit me right then. I don’t know why it took so long to sink in. Maybe it was the shock. Maybe I didn’t want to believe it, but it finally landed: this was really happening. It was really her. Without thinking, I lunged forward, wrapping my arms around her bloodied body. “I’m so, so sorry, Hans. I’m so sorry.”She tightened her grip on me, pulling me into a hug as if holding on would make everything right again. We stayed like that for a long moment, her blood seeping through my shirt, neither of us saying a word. When I finally pulled away, I stared at her. “It’s really you.”Hannah gave me a fain