Chapter 19

Lucas remained frozen, his hand rising slowly to touch his reddening cheek, stunned disbelief

written across his unshaven face.

"You're... real?" he whispered, staring at her as if she might evaporate.

Aria had reached her absolute limit with this absurd day. She laughed-a sharp, brittle sound utterly devoid of humor.

"Real? Sure. Apparently I'm trapped in a real-life horror movie where my supposed death wasn't enough to get you out of my life."

Without deigning to look at him again, she pivoted sharply toward the staircase.

"Aria, wait-please!"

Lucas lunged after her, alcohol and desperation making his movements clumsy. As he grabbed for her wrist, the combination of his unsteady state and her quick evasion created disaster-her foot slipped on the polished marble step.

"Look out!"

Despite his impaired reflexes, Lucas managed to pull her against him as they fell, positioning his body to take the impact.

Their bodies hit the marble stairs with a sickening thud that echoed through the foyer.

Cushioned by Lucas's intervention, Aria escaped with minor disorientation. Lucas, however, wasn't as fortunate-a crimson stain began spreading across the white marble beneath his head.

"Alpha!" Davis's horrified voice cut through the sudden stunned silence.

The household erupted into chaos. After fifteen minutes, both were being loaded into separate ambulances.

hospitalized, Aria decided it was finally time to execute

escape.

16-41

Chapter 19

entrance, only to find her

hardened into glacial

uncomfortable glances. "Luna, we have

premises without Alpha's

escaped her. "Are you seriously trying

choice."

a response, she attempted to push past them toward

doors.

a clearly unwilling woman, the guards hesitated to use force, instead

reconsider-Alpha Thornwood was

accelerated Aria's

with tinted windows glided to a stop directly in her path. The rear door swung open to reveal Lucas-pale and bandaged, but

emerged with an unsettling

that," she snapped, actual revulsion contorting her features.

The Thornwood Pack, Aria had meticulously prepared for an eventual confrontation with Lucas. She'd recognized the reality that neither she nor her family could match the Thornwood pack's resources or

they did encounter each other,

Her silence read as invitation.

she systematically ignored. When blocked, he'd

his orbit.

16:41

Chapter 19

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