Billionaire Alpha's 99 Deadly Games

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."

weighted silence before Lucas spoke, his voice carrying an emotion she

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as I'm around, nothing bad

made her want to scream. A

was around? Every ounce of pain she'd experienced over the past three years could be

evening. Aria was

the sidewalk to call an Uber, 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 over her

nose.

last coherent thought before the darkness claimed her was a desperate prayer: Please let

room, wrists and ankles

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

her mind, "Who

when she's scared," another one laughed, reaching for the buttons on her blouse. "That alpha heir's been hogging you

after we're done, we'll take some pictures for your mate," a third one said, pulling out his phone. "Show him what a slut his

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

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

her thoughts, the door exploded inward,

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

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Chapter 4

each other in their haste

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 an entirely different person. "Aria..." He rushed to her side, his hands visibly shaking as he reached for her. But the trauma was too fresh. She flinched away instinctively, a broken sob escaping her

that flashed across his face 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 exhaustion finally overtook her, and she slipped back into

Aria drifted back to awareness in what she recognized as a

her eyes, she heard voices just outside her door-Lucas and his friends, speaking

voice was barely controlled, trembling with rage. "Which one of you geniuses

wanted to speed things up. Ninety-seven down, just two more to go, then you're free to claim Leila as your Luna. We were doing you

raped?" Lucas's voice rose sharply, making the others fall silent. "I never authorized anyone to fucking touch her

genuinely confused: "Dude, what's the big deal? Isn't this whole thing about making her life hell? Why are you suddenly so precious about

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