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

5.0%

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.

Pack in southern territory buzzed with scandals and

far as the Northern

news of

life.

of Lucas's breakdown

obsession with

an enigmatic smile and

past was the past. The she-wolf who had loved

that fire, exactly as

planned.

carrying a

"Time for your

the

from the bitterness, her mother

a bit longer. Two more weeks of

we're

done."

be fully healed, and you can

Company

like

you've

always dreamed."

with pride as she gently brushed a strand of

Aria's face.

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E 101

Chapter 11

down at her legs, considering

the fire that night through

gasoline containers that someone had stored

abandoned

building.

had caught her off guard as she fled, a falling

legs, nearly costing her the dancing career she

everything to protect.

But as her

liked to say, freedom always comes at a price. Her

future bright with new possibilities. She had escaped the beautiful

her past life and stepped into a painful but honest new

time in years, she was truly

to)

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Chapter 11

been pampered her entire life by her Alpha father-people spoke to

tones, never raising their voices, let

rage, she lunged forward, perfectly manicured

face like talons!

effortlessly, shoving her backward

collapsed to the floor in

"Guards,"

ice-cold, "remove Miss Blackwood from

Immediately."

"YOU

The

shrieks ricocheted off the marble

slammed shut, silencing

of Aria's funeral arrived beneath a

to mourn alongside the

Lucas carried her

gathered crowd.

with trembling hands, his

it

marble

surreal, as

dream he couldn't escape. This

the mate he had only just realized

stone was placed, the collective sobs behind him

beloved. Her radiance

shattered by unimaginable grief, had retreated to

to face the ceremony

permanent.

known

had served her daily coffee-had come to pay

the rain, creating a symphony of sorrow

emanate

from the

earth itself.

before her tombstone, a broken Alpha rendered

fingers repeatedly traced the inscription he had insisted upon: "Luna

Collins Thornwood, Beloved

Mate."

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Chapter 11

The title she should have held in life, not just

name caught in his throat, tears falling

word. Every

memory of her smile,

her

laugh,

the

she'd dance around

crashed over him

powerful they physically hurt.

kneeling long after everyone had gone, the

body shivering violently though

her graveside until physically carried away

collapsed

delirium, Aria came to

fateful night, but

he hadn't left

this version, he had recognized the danger,

pulled the blindfold from her

tightly he feared he might hurt her,

unable to loosen

place is going to

heat was suffocating, smoke burning their lungs

like salvation-he was saving her this

door appeared ahead, freedom visible

the labyrinthine

her again.

Just

Aria suddenly

stopped.

he pulled, she

the dream, the fire had already reached the gasoline containers,

sides

bulging

ominously.

voice crack.

him with such profound sadness that his

she peeled his fingers

me, Lucas," she said

between them, she turned

the heart

the inferno.

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Chapter 11

"ARIA, NO!"

explosion engulfed her, erasing her from

light and heat.

"ARIA!"

bed, gasping for air, his body

The dream had felt so real-for those

moments, she had been alive

for his

ritual

for messages from

that would

the screen, his bedroom

panic: "Alpha! There's an emergency at Luna Collins's

predicted Leila's complete psychological

the

groundskeepers, disinterring Aria's

to scatter her remains.

arrived, the scene before him was something from a

streaming down her

trophy.

fever-induced weakness, Lucas approached her slowly.

to further unravel her fragile sanity. She

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