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."

silence before Lucas spoke, his voice carrying

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Chapter 4

"As long as I'm around, nothing

reassurance made her want to scream. A bitter laugh

of pain she'd experienced over the past three years could be traced directly back to him. He wasn't her protector-he

that evening.

sidewalk to call an Uber, a van screeched to a halt beside her. Before she could process

nose.

prayer: Please let this just be random, not another one of

room, wrists and ankles bound with zip ties. Four rough-looking men surrounded her,

running a finger down her cheek. "Lucas's little pet, all wrapped

whimpered, the fog still clearing from her mind, "Who are you?

the buttons on her blouse. "That alpha heir's been hogging you

third one said, pulling out his phone. "Show him what

in her weakened state, she was no

in that moment of pure terror, she still found herself desperately hoping Lucas

by her thoughts, the door

FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" Lucas's voice was unrecognizable-a primal roar of pure rage that made even Aria

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Chapter 4

scattered like cockroaches, stumbling over each other in their

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

black spots dancing across her vision. The combination of medication, trauma and exhaustion finally overtook her, and she slipped back

time later, Aria drifted back to awareness in what

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 her

up. Ninety-seven down, just two more to go, then you're free to claim Leila as

the others fall

what's the big deal? Isn't this whole thing about making her life hell? Why are you suddenly so precious about how we

was a crash-like something being violently overturned-followed by

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