Fuck.
My heart pounds so loudly it echoes in my ears. Surely she can hear it too, but she doesn’t move. She just stands there, her eyes drilling into me, unblinking and unnervingly still. The weight of her gaze presses down on me, a silent threat that tightens like a noose.
I don’t care about the room. The blood. The body. Whether it was real or some grotesque illusion. None of it matters now. All that matters is that I accidentally discovered her secret—a secret I want no part of.
Her head tilts slowly, lips curling into an eerie smile.
“Miss me?”
“I’m sorry. You must have me confused with someone else,” I rasp, though my voice betrays me.
She steps closer, deliberate and slow. “Where is your wolf mask?”
“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about. People mix things up here all the time. It’s a wild place,” I say, surprisingly calm this time.
The familiar scent of leather and perfume hits me—her unsettling signature smell I wish I could forget.
“You saw something you shouldn’t have.” Her voice is soft but laced with an unspoken threat. Her eyes lock onto mine, unwavering and sharp, stripping me bare in a way that feels more dangerous than her words.
She’s seen me—really seen me. And now I’m trapped in her twisted nightmare.
Either I take care of this problem, or she takes care of me.
“What do you want?” The words feel heavy on my tongue.
Her expression shifts, as if she’s entertaining a thought too crazy to say aloud. Then, the corner of her mouth curves upward. “I think I want you.”
Want me for what? To play with? To destroy? To turn me into something I can’t take back?
“I don’t want anything to do with you.”
She steps closer, her blue contacts pinning me in place like a predator to its prey.
“You weren’t supposed to be in that room. You weren’t supposed to see me or witness what happened but you did,” she whispers, her voice like velvet laced with danger. “And now, we have unfinished business.”
My pulse hammers in my ears. If she were an animal she would smell the fear coming out of my pores.
“We don’t have any business actually. And trust me, you don’t want to be anywhere near my circle. So run along before I change my mind,” I say, though the words feel weak, more like a plea than a threat.
I’m not in control here.
Not anymore.
She laughs, the sound low and cold, echoing through the woods. “Is that a threat?”
“No. Just a suggestion.”
She scoffs. “I think I’ll take my chances.”
Another step closer. One more and I could probably strangle her before she has a chance to react. Maybe I can buy some time, lure her to come closer.
“I didn’t enter that room on purpose. The door was unlocked and I was looking for…someone.”
She clicks her tongue against her mouth, briefly looking down at her red nails. “Yes, a slight oversight on my end. I meant to lock it.”
“Oh well. It doesn’t matter.”
The distance between us disappears in a heartbeat. I don’t even register her moving, but suddenly, she’s there—too close—her breath warm against my neck. My muscles tense, every instinct firing off at once, urging me to act, to take control, but I don’t move. Not yet.
