Chapter 4

Within seconds, the messages disappeared from the chat, as if they'd been nothing but a

hallucination.

Aria stared at her phone, her hand trembling so violently she nearly dropped it. The realization hit her like a physical blow, driving the air from her lungs. The cold truth spread through her veins like

poison.

Everything-her "accident" at the pool, her fever, the “medicine"-had all been meticulously orchestrated as part of their sick game. The pills Lucas had so tenderly given her, pretending to care,

were specifically designed to intensify her suffering.

She'd known they were using her, had heard it with her own ears at the pack healer's, but experiencing it firsthand made the betrayal infinitely more devastating. The calculated cruelty of it all made her physically ill.

Her phone lit up with Lucas's name.

"Where the fuck are you?" His voice was sharp with urgency, almost angry. "Why aren't you at the

den?"

Aria took a deep, steadying breath, forcing herself to sound detached: "My fever got worse. I had to

go to the ER."

The line went dead silent before Lucas responded, his tone suddenly softer: "I'm coming over."

"Don't," she cut him off, her voice eerily calm. "They're just giving me fluids and keeping me overnight. You seem busy with your... other priorities. Don't let me interrupt."

Her controlled tone seemed to quiet something in him too. After several seconds of silence, he asked

carefully: "Did you check your phone at all?"

So that was it. He wasn't worried about her health-he was terrified she'd seen those messages, that their game was exposed.

"No," she lied, "The doctor said my temperature was dangerously high. I've been a little preoccupied with not dying to scroll through social media."

spoke, his voice

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Chapter 4

nothing bad will

hollow reassurance made her want to scream.

pain she'd experienced over the past three years

evening. Aria

a van screeched to a halt beside her. Before she could process what was happening, three rogues jumped out and grabbed her, one clamping a sweet-smelling cloth

nose.

before the darkness claimed her was a desperate prayer: Please let this just be random, not another

in a seedy motel room, wrists and ankles bound with zip ties. Four rough-looking men surrounded her, their

a finger down her cheek. "Lucas's

still clearing from her mind, "Who

the buttons on

take some pictures for your mate," a third one said, pulling out his phone. "Show him what a

fought desperately, twisting and kicking despite her restraints, but in her weakened state, she was no match

her clothes, tears streamed down her face. Despite everything, in that moment of pure terror, she still found herself desperately hoping Lucas would somehow find her-that he would burst

her thoughts, the door exploded inward, wood splintering from

FROM HER!" Lucas's voice was unrecognizable-a primal

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Chapter 4

like cockroaches, stumbling over each other in their haste to escape the

up at Lucas, what she saw stopped her heart-genuine fear in his eyes, raw panic, and something that looked dangerously close to devastation. For that brief moment, it was like seeing an entirely different person. "Aria..." He rushed to her side, his hands visibly shaking as he reached for her.

seemed genuine, but before she could process it, the room began to spin, black

back to awareness in what she recognized

she could open her eyes, she heard voices just outside her door-Lucas and his friends, speaking in hushed but

with rage. "Which one of you geniuses thought hiring rogues to sexually assault

just two more to go, then you're

sharply, making the others fall silent. "I never authorized anyone

thing about making her life hell?

something being violently overturned-followed by tense

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