All Chapters of Bound to the Demon Wolf: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

~Carmine~The door slammed open with a deafening crash.I was sitting on the cold marble floor of my father’s estate. My mother was in the kitchen, humming softly, and my little sister was playing with her dolls beside me. I remember reaching for one of the toys when the air shifted, and then the sound hit. Heavy boots thudded against the floor, their echo bouncing off the tall ceilings. Men—strangers—stormed in, guns in hand, their faces masked by fury and something darker.My father wasn’t home. He should have been. He always told me he’d protect us, that nothing would ever harm us as long as he was there. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t there.“Get down!” My mother’s scream was the first sound that pierced the silence. Her voice cracked, desperate and terrified. I looked up at her, saw the fear in her eyes. The kind of fear that doesn’t go away.A gunshot rang out.My ears rang from the explosion of sound, and my body froze in place. My sister dropped her doll. I couldn’t move. All I cou

~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 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

~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.

~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