Billionaire Alpha's 99 Deadly Games

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.
The Thornwood Pack in southern territory buzzed with scandals and tragedies,
their whispers reaching even as far as the Northern territory, where Aria quietly
followed the news of her former
life.
Whenever reports of Lucas's breakdown reached her-his violent revenge against
his former friends' packs, his obsession with her "remains," his collapse at her
memorial-she simply offered an enigmatic smile and changed the subject.
The past was the past. The she-wolf who had loved Lucas Thornwood had died in
that fire, exactly as
planned.
Her mother entered the sitting room, carrying a steaming cup of bitter herbal
medicine. "Time for your treatment, darling."

Aria obediently accepted it, downing the dark liquid in one determined gulp.
Seeing her daughter's face contort from the bitterness, her mother quickly offered
a piece of candied ginger. "Just a bit longer. Two more weeks of treatment and
we're
done."
"Then your legs will be fully healed, and you can audition for the Alpine Dance
Company
like
you've

always dreamed."
Her mother's eyes softened with pride as she gently brushed a strand of hair from
Aria's face.
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E 101
Chapter 11
Aria glanced down at her legs, considering the price of her freedom.
She had escaped the fire that night through careful planning, but hadn't
anticipated the additional gasoline containers that someone had stored in the
abandoned
building.

The unexpected explosions had caught her off guard as she fled, a falling beam
pinning her legs, nearly costing her the dancing career she had sacrificed
everything to protect.
But as her
mother liked to say, freedom always comes at a price. Her legs were
healing, her future bright with new possibilities. She had escaped the beautiful lie
of her past life and stepped into a painful but honest new beginning.
For the first time in years, she was truly free.
to)
16:39
Chapter 11
Leila had been pampered her entire life by her Alpha father-people spoke to her in
reverent tones, never raising their voices, let alone shouting at her.
Blind with rage, she lunged forward, perfectly manicured nails aimed at Lucas's
face like talons!
Lucas deflected her attack effortlessly, shoving her backward until she stumbled
and collapsed to the floor in an undignified heap.
"Guards,"
he called, voice ice-cold, "remove Miss Blackwood from the pack.
Immediately."

"YOU
The
BASTARD!" Leila's shrieks ricocheted off the marble floors.
massive oak doors slammed shut, silencing her hysteria mid-scream.
The day of Aria's funeral arrived beneath a weeping sky-gentle rain that seemed
to mourn alongside the
Lucas carried her
gathered crowd.
urn with trembling hands, his movements painfully deliberate as
he placed it into the
marble
crypt. Every moment felt surreal, as if he were trapped
in some horrific dream he couldn't escape. This couldn't be happening-he couldn't
be burying the mate he had only just realized he loved.
As the final stone was placed, the collective sobs behind him crescendoed.
Aria had been genuinely beloved. Her radiance had touched countless lives.
Her parents, shattered by unimaginable grief, had retreated to the Northern Alpine
Pack, unable to face the ceremony that would make their daughter's absence
permanent.
But everyone else who had known Aria-from childhood friends to pack members,

even the barista who had served her daily coffee-had come to pay their respects.
Their grief mingled with the rain, creating a symphony of sorrow that seemed to
emanate
from the
earth itself.
Lucas knelt before her tombstone, a broken Alpha rendered statue-like in his grief.
His fingers repeatedly traced the inscription he had insisted upon: "Luna Aria
Collins Thornwood, Beloved
Mate."
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Billionaire Alpha's 99 Deadly Games
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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
as the exit door appeared ahead, freedom visible through its glass panel,
the labyrinthine
her again.

Just
Aria suddenly
stopped.
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.
16.20
1.9%
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
controlled tone only seemed to further unravel her fragile sanity. She threw

it down, Leila," he commanded, his voice deadly quiet.
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
Thornwood while I'm left
be
Luna
with
NOTHING!"
Lucas froze at her next words.
"I should have killed her
Would have saved us
years ago instead of just framing her for challenging me!
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.
16.39
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.
The Thornwood Pack in southern territory buzzed with scandals and tragedies,
their whispers reaching even as far as the Northern territory, where Aria quietly
followed the news of her former
life.
Whenever reports of Lucas's breakdown reached her-his violent revenge against
his former friends' packs, his obsession with her "remains," his collapse at her
The
past
memorial-she simply offered an enigmatic smile and changed the subject.
was the past. The she-wolf who had loved
Lucas Thornwood had died in
that fire, exactly as
planned.
Her mother entered the sitting room, carrying a steaming cup of bitter herbal
medicine. "Time for your treatment, darling."
Aria obediently accepted it, downing the dark liquid in one determined gulp.
Seeing her daughter's face contort from the bitterness, her mother quickly offered

a piece of candied ginger. “Just a bit longer. Two more weeks of treatment and
your legs will be fully healed, and you can audition for the Alpine Dance
we're
done."
"Then
Company like you've always dreamed."
Her mother's eyes softened with pride as she gently brushed a strand of hair from
Aria's face.
16.39
E 101
Chapter 11
Aria glanced down at her legs, considering the price of her freedom.
She had escaped the fire that night through careful planning, but hadn't
anticipated the additional gasoline containers that someone had stored in the
abandoned
building.
The unexpected explosions had caught her off guard as she fled, a falling beam
pinning her legs, nearly costing her the dancing career she had sacrificed
everything to protect.
But as her mother liked to say, freedom always comes at a price. Her legs were

healing, her future bright with new possibilities. She had escaped the beautiful lie
of her past life and stepped into a painful but honest new beginning.
For the first time in years, she was truly free.
I to)
16:39
16:39
the additional gasoline containers that someone had stored in the abandoned
building.
The unexpected explosions had caught her off guard as she fled, a falling beam
pinning her legs, nearly costing her the dancing career she had sacrificed
everything to protect.
But as her mother liked to say, freedom
healing, her future bright with new
of her past life and stepped into
always comes at a price. Her legs were
possibilities. She had escaped the beautiful lie
a painful but honest new beginning.
For the first time in years, she was truly
free.
to)

16:39