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

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Chapter 4

around, nothing bad will happen to you.

made her want to scream. A bitter laugh caught

the past three years could be traced directly back to him. He wasn't

that evening. Aria

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.

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

wrists and ankles bound with zip ties. Four rough-looking men

a finger down her cheek. "Lucas's little

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

even hotter when she's scared," another one laughed, reaching for the

some pictures for your mate," a third one said,

but in her weakened state, she was

moment of pure terror, she

summoned by her thoughts, the door exploded inward, wood splintering

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

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Chapter 4

other in their haste

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

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

time later, Aria drifted back to awareness in what she recognized as a

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

thought you wanted to speed things up. Ninety-seven down, just two more to go,

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

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

being violently overturned-followed by tense

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