Billionaire Alpha's 99 Deadly Games

Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Luna. The title she should have held in life, not just in death.

"Aria..." Her name caught in his throat, tears falling before he could form another

word. Every memory of her smile, her laugh, the way she'd dance around their kitchen on Sunday mornings-all of it crashed over him in waves of regret so powerful they physically hurt.

He remained kneeling long after everyone had gone, the rain soaking through his

expensive suit, his body shivering violently though he felt nothing.

That night, having refused to leave her graveside until physically carried away by

his guards, Lucas collapsed with a dangerous fever.

In his delirium, Aria came to him.

The nightmare replayed that fateful night, but with one crucial difference-this time,

he hadn't left

her behind. In this version, he had recognized the danger, had grabbed her hand

and pulled the blindfold from her eyes.

"Run!" he shouted, gripping her fingers so tightly he feared he might hurt her, but

unable to loosen

his hold. "The whole place is going to blow!"

The heat was suffocating, smoke burning their lungs as they navigated through

hallways. Each step felt like salvation-he was saving her this time. He wouldn't fail

the labyrinthine

her again.

Just

Aria suddenly

stopped.

as the exit door appeared ahead, freedom visible through its glass panel,

No matter how he pulled, she remained rooted in place.

In the dream, the fire had already reached the gasoline containers, their metal

sides

bulging

ominously.

"Please!" he begged, terror making his voice crack. "We have to go NOW!"

Instead of responding, Aria looked at him with such profound sadness that his heart constricted.

Slowly, deliberately, she peeled his fingers from her wrist, one by one.

"You can't save me, Lucas," she said softly. "You're the one who killed me."

With those words hanging between them, she turned and walked deliberately

back into the heart of

the inferno.

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Chapter 11

"ARIA, NO!"

A blinding explosion engulfed her, erasing her from existence in a violent flash of

light and heat.

"ARIA!"

Lucas bolted upright in bed, gasping for air, his body drenched in cold sweat despite the fever ravaging his system. The dream had felt so real-for those few

precious moments, she had been alive again, within his reach.

He fumbled for his phone on the nightstand-a pathetic ritual he couldn't break,

checking for messages from a number that would never text again. Before he could unlock the screen, his bedroom door burst open, his guardian's face ashen with panic: "Alpha! There's an emergency at Luna Collins's crypt!" No one could have predicted Leila's complete psychological break-sneaking into

the cemetery with bribed groundskeepers, disinterring Aria's urn, and threatening to scatter her remains.

When Lucas arrived, the scene before him was something from a nightmare. Leila

stood in the rain, mascara streaming down her face, clutching Aria's urn like a

trophy.

Fighting through his fever-induced weakness, Lucas approached her slowly. "Put

it down, Leila," he commanded, his voice deadly quiet.

controlled tone only seemed to further unravel her fragile sanity. She threw

His

her head back in manic laughter.

"Fuck you!" she screeched, holding the urn tighter. "This worthless bitch stole

everything from me! First my ceremonial dancer position, now my Alpha mate!

Even in death, she gets to be Luna

Thornwood while I'm left with

Lucas froze at her next words.

"I should have killed her

NOTHING!"

years ago instead of just framing her for challenging me!

Would have saved us all this

trouble!"

The confession sliced through him-the original “crime” that had justified three

years of torment had been fabricated. He had destroyed Aria for nothing.

Pure rage gave him a surge of strength despite his illness. He lunged forward,

desperate to protect the only physical reminder of Aria he had left.

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Billionaire Alpha's 99 Deadly Games

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Chapter 11

His fever-weakened body betrayed him-as his fingers nearly reached the urn, his

legs buckled

beneath him.

Time seemed to slow as he collapsed forward. Leila, startled by his sudden

movement, stumbled backward, losing her grip on the urn.

The delicate ceramic container tumbled through the air in what felt like slow

motion before shattering against the marble floor with a sound that seemed to echo through Lucas's very soul.

The impact scattered Aria's ashes across the wet floor, the rain quickly dissolving

them into nothingness, washing away the last physical trace of her existence. Lucas stared in mute horror, a guttural sound escaping him before he violently coughed up blood.

"Aria..."

Her name on his lips was both prayer and apology-too late for either to matter. The Northern Alpine Pack.

territory buzzed with scandals

as

news of her

life.

breakdown

obsession with

an enigmatic smile and changed the

the past. The she-wolf who had loved Lucas Thornwood

that fire, exactly as

planned.

mother entered the sitting room, carrying a steaming cup of bitter

"Time for your

downing the dark liquid

daughter's face contort from

ginger. "Just a bit

we're

done."

be fully healed, and

Company

like

you've

always dreamed."

mother's eyes softened with pride as she gently brushed a strand of

Aria's face.

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E 101

Chapter 11

her legs, considering the price of her

had escaped the fire that night through careful

the additional gasoline containers that someone had stored in

abandoned

building.

caught her off guard as she fled,

her legs, nearly costing her the dancing career she

everything to protect.

But as her

comes at a price. Her legs

future bright with new possibilities. She had

and stepped into

the first time in years, she was

to)

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Chapter 11

by her Alpha father-people spoke to her

their voices, let alone

forward, perfectly manicured

face like talons!

effortlessly, shoving her

collapsed to the floor in

"Guards,"

voice ice-cold, "remove Miss Blackwood from the

Immediately."

"YOU

The

Leila's shrieks ricocheted off the

slammed shut, silencing

beneath a weeping sky-gentle rain

to mourn alongside the

Lucas carried her

gathered crowd.

his

it

marble

moment felt surreal,

he couldn't escape. This couldn't

burying the mate he had only just realized

was placed, the

had been genuinely beloved. Her radiance had

unimaginable grief, had retreated

face the ceremony that

permanent.

who had known

had served her daily coffee-had come to pay their

creating a symphony of

emanate

from the

earth itself.

before her tombstone, a broken Alpha rendered statue-like in his

traced the inscription he had insisted

Collins Thornwood, Beloved

Mate."

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Chapter 11

title she should have held in life, not

throat, tears falling before

word. Every

memory of her smile,

her

laugh,

the

dance

Sunday mornings-all of it crashed over him in

powerful they physically hurt.

long after everyone had gone, the rain

suit, his body shivering violently though he

night, having refused to leave her graveside until

collapsed with

delirium, Aria came

replayed that fateful night, but with one crucial

he hadn't left

had recognized the danger, had grabbed

the blindfold from

her fingers so tightly

unable to loosen

whole place is

suffocating, smoke burning their lungs as they

salvation-he was saving her this time. He wouldn't

ahead,

the labyrinthine

her again.

Just

Aria suddenly

stopped.

matter how he pulled,

had already reached the gasoline containers, their

sides

bulging

ominously.

making his voice crack.

with such profound sadness that his heart

peeled his fingers from her

Lucas," she said softly.

hanging between them, she

into the

the inferno.

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Chapter 11

"ARIA, NO!"

engulfed her, erasing her from existence in

light and heat.

"ARIA!"

in bed, gasping for

the fever ravaging his system. The dream had

she had been

fumbled for his

nightstand-a pathetic ritual

for messages from

that would

he could unlock the screen, his bedroom door burst open,

with panic: "Alpha! There's an emergency at

could have predicted Leila's

the

groundskeepers, disinterring Aria's urn,

to scatter her remains.

the scene before him was

streaming down her face,

trophy.

weakness, Lucas approached her

further unravel

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