The 99th Prank: The Alpha’s Dead Luna

They played ninety-nine pranks on me to break my brother. For the ninety-ninth, I gave them a corpse.

For three years, I was the secret girlfriend of Damien, heir to the Bloodmoon Pack and my brother’s sworn enemy. For three years, I was his hidden toy, and I sat through ninety-eight cruel “pranks” without ever knowing they were pranks.

When they planned the last one, locking me alone in a condemned tower overnight, I finally woke up.

I faked my death. I let him find the ruins. I let him hear the words that would destroy him: “She was three months pregnant.”

Then I disappeared to London and started over.

When Damien finally found me, he had already destroyed everyone who ever hurt me. He had handed my brother land his family had fought over for three generations. And he was on his knees, begging me to come home.

But the dead don’t come back. And neither does my love.

————

My brother, Ethan Vance, was Alpha of the Silverpine Pack. Damien was heir to the Bloodmoon Pack, Silverpine’s oldest enemy, and the only man I had ever loved.

I was the only wolf in my family who had never been able to shift. Without a wolf, I got sick like a human, healed like a human, and could be broken like one. Ethan had spent his whole life protecting me because of it. I repaid him by spending three years hiding Damien from him.

I gave Damien my whole heart. It took me three years to learn I had only ever been his weapon.

To find his family’s heirloom brooch, I searched through the snow for five hours with a 104-degree fever.

When I finally found it, all I wanted was to give it back to him and go to sleep. But through the half-open door of the lounge, I watched Damien drop the brooch straight into the trash and laugh along with his friends.

“Damien, you’re ruthless! Toying with Ethan’s little sister just to get under his skin. When Ethan finds out, he’s going to lose his mind!”

“Aria is so pathetic. Ninety-something pranks, and she still follows him around like a puppy. She has no idea Chloe’s the one that got away.”

“Who cares? Once we finish the ninety-ninth prank, we send every video to Ethan. That’ll wreck him.”

...

When I heard that, my heart stopped for two full seconds.

I pressed my hand over my mouth, swallowed my tears, and kept listening.

“It’s a free brooch that came with a gift set. We tell her it’s a family heirloom, and she spends five hours digging through a blizzard for it. You’ve got to admire the commitment.”

“That’s ninety-seven, right? Two more, and you can dump her and be with Chloe. And we get to wreck Ethan in the process. Win-win.”

“She has no clue we’re the reason she gave up that study-abroad spot. Or why the ceiling came down at her piano recital. Or why her dress split open at the gala. Hahaha!”

By the time they finished, my heart had turned to ash.

Three years ago, Damien had told me he loved me. I had been secretly in love with him long before that. I hid us from my brother because I thought I had found the real thing.

On the other side of that door, Damien lounged on the sofa, his eyes cold and bored. He didn’t even blink when they talked about me.

“Enough. Don’t get cocky,” he said. “We’ve still got two to go.”

“The sooner this is over, the sooner I can get rid of her. Chloe’s already giving me a hard time about it.”

All the tenderness he used to show me was gone. In its place was nothing but impatience, as if every minute he had spent with me had made his skin crawl.

I couldn’t listen to another word. I broke down and ran for the stairs.

The fever was still burning through me. I crouched on the curb outside and cried until I couldn’t breathe.

Then my phone rang. It was Ethan. I forced myself to calm down, wiped my face, and answered.

“Aria, are you sure you won’t come to London with me? I’m leaving Marcus in charge of the pack for a few years while I set up the European side of the business. And you’ll never reach your full potential as an artist if you stay here.”

He sounded disappointed. I had already turned him down more than once.

“No, Ethan. I mean yes. I’ll come with you.”

“That’s great! But what about that mystery boyfriend of yours? I thought you were head over heels for him.”

I let out a cold laugh.

“We broke up. And I need a favor, Ethan. I need a death certificate.”

Damien loved playing games with me. Fine. On his precious ninety-ninth prank, I would play one on him.

I went home and slept like the dead. When I woke up, a pair of warm hands was resting on my face.

“You’re still burning up. Sit up and take some medicine.”

He looked at me so gently, as if he truly loved me. If I hadn’t seen who he really was, I would have believed him.

I pulled away from his hands and took the pills on my own. “I can do it myself,” I said coldly.

Damien wrapped his arms around me from behind. “What’s wrong? Mad I didn’t get back sooner? Why are you so grumpy, baby?”

His hands started to slide under my shirt. For three years, I had given him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it, and I had told myself that was how he showed me he loved me.

Now I knew better. To him, I was just something to use.