99 Times for Alpha’s Bestie novel Chapter 161

Steven’s body tensed like a beast ready to strike, his gaze locked on Lucien and the wheelchair.

For me, though-shock, fear, and struggle all dissolved the instant I saw my Grandmother’s face.

My tears surged, unstoppable. The fragile woman before me was a shadow of the warm, full-figured elder I remembered. Her skin is pale from prolonged illness, and the years of misery and age have taken their toll. Her once-bright eyes now clouded, struggling to focus.

But then, finally-Grandma’s gaze found me. Her withered lips trembled, and a hand thin as a brittle branch lifted weakly toward me in desperation and disbelief.

“Moonbeam-is that my tiny Moonbeam?”

“Grandma!”

My voice broke. A cry torn from the depths of my heart as I stumbled forward, sobbing.

Nearby, I heard Liyah gasp. “Wha-how did Lucien even-? He brought Claire’s grandma here? That’s- incredible!”

Liam was struck dumb, muttering more so to himself, “How does Lucien know so much about Claire’s past, yet I know next to nothing? He even knew that her Grandmother was still alive? I-I never even knew

she had one.”

His voice was laced with a crushing sense of failure.

Steven, who was standing there livid, finally dropped all pretense.

“Alpha Thorne! You had no right to bring my mother here without the Reese family’s permission! If anything happens to her, can you bear the consequences?”

Lucien’s gaze swept the hall, cold and contemptuous, finally settling on Steven. A razor-sharp smile curved his lips.

“Oh, my apologies then. I was merely passing through the outskirts of Calgary and stopped at a rundown, shabby farmhouse for water.” His voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried to every corner of the hall.

“And what did I see, Mr. Reese? A group of disgraceful servants were shoving this elderly woman from her wheelchair. Worse-they forced her to crawl on the ground, picking up spilled rice one grain at a time to eat. I couldn’t imagine anyone treating an elder that way, much less a member of my family. Could you? Unless, of course, you permit this abuse of your mother.”

Every word was a slap across Steven’s face.

Lucien took this stunned silence from Steven to continue.

like invisible whips.

Steven and his sons flushed and then paled, their faces morphing between rage and sheer panic.

Humiliated beyond endurance, Steven slammed the table with a thunderous bang in a desperate attempt to drown out the uproar.

“That is complete nonsense!” he roared. “How dare you, Alpha Thorne, come into my city and smear my family’s good name with such blatant lies? Every caretaker I assigned has served this family faithfully for decades. The idea that they would commit such atrocities behind my back is utterly laughable! I will bring this slanderous matter to the Council, and your pack shall suffer the consequences. I trust that you are aware of the rules regarding neutral territories.”

His voice cracked with a forced bravado, using volume to mask his growing terror.

Lucien’s lips curled into an arctic smile. His piercing gaze, alive with cold amusement, pinned Steven in place.

“Mr. Reese,” Lucien growled low, his tone deceptively calm, “I deal exclusively in hard evidence, not fairytales. Your desperate denials only make me wonder if I should broadcast that incriminating footage globally and let the world judge for themselves.”

The word “footage” visibly struck Steven like a dagger. His face turned a sickly shade of pea soup.