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."

Lucas spoke, his voice carrying an emotion

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Chapter 4

"As long as I'm around, nothing bad will happen to you.

reassurance made her want to scream. A bitter laugh

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

evening. Aria was

Uber, a van screeched to a halt beside her. Before she could process what was happening, three

nose.

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

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

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

her mind, "Who are

one laughed, reaching for the buttons on her blouse. "That alpha heir's been hogging

we'll take some pictures for your mate," a third one said,

fought desperately, twisting and kicking despite her restraints, but in her weakened state, she was no match for them. They laughed at her struggles,

that moment of pure terror, she still found herself desperately

summoned by her thoughts, the door exploded inward,

primal roar of pure rage that made

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Chapter 4

like cockroaches, stumbling over each other in their haste to

violent tremors wracking her body. When she looked 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

seemed genuine, but before she could process it, the room began to spin, black spots dancing across her vision. The combination of medication, trauma and

Aria drifted back to awareness in

voices just outside her

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

voice was dismissive. "We thought you wanted to speed things up. Ninety-seven down, just two more to go, then you're free to claim

others fall silent. "I never authorized anyone to fucking

what's the big deal? Isn't this whole thing about making her life hell? Why are

crash-like something being violently overturned-followed

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