Aylin stared at the screens, with six of them showing different views of the auction hall.
Suddenly, chaos broke out. Gunshots rang out, and bodies were strewn across the floor.
There was Alexander, lying at the bottom of the stage stairs, blood pooling around him, completely still.
Beside her, Liam was just as shocked, watching in disbelief.
"No," Aylin whispered. "No, no, no—"
On the screen, Kade rushed over to Alexander. He checked for a pulse and then started yelling orders.
Two guards showed up, helping to lift Alexander and carry him to the exit, blood dripping and leaving a red trail.
Aylin’s hands were shaking. "He wasn’t supposed to get hurt. That was the whole plan: keep Alexander safe, keep Selina safe, protect everyone else."
Liam’s jaw was tight. "Stray bullets. We couldn’t predict everything."
"We should have!" Aylin’s voice grew louder in frustration. "We planned out every little detail! How did we miss—"
"We didn’t miss anything," Liam cut in. "This is war. People get hurt. We did everything we could."
Aylin looked at him. "Did we?"
Silence filled the air until Liam softly said, "Emma."
That na hit Aylin hard.
Emma, Alexander’s daughter, who had no clue any of this was happening.
Who thought her dad was safe at ho?
Who was going to wake up tomorrow and find out.....
What?
That her dad had been shot?
That he might not make it?
That he had been working against the trafficking ring the whole ti?
That everything she believed was actually a lie?
Aylin felt sick to her stomach.
"What are we going to tell her?" she asked.
Liam didn’t say anything.
Because there really wasn’t a good answer.
On the screen, Kade and the guards were putting Alexander into an SUV.
The doors slamd shut, and the tires screeched as the vehicle took off from the parking lot.
They were racing to the hospital.
Racing against the clock.
Aylin watched it disappear from the cara, feeling helpless and lost.
She was supposed to be in charge, supposed to have all the info, supposed to see everything.
But she hadn’t seen this.
She hadn’t predicted it.
She hadn’t stopped it.
Liam reached out and took her hand. "He’s still alive. Kade will get him to the hospital. They’ll save him."
"You can’t know that," she said, shaking her head.
"I’m choosing to believe it. Because thinking otherwise—" His voice cracked for a second. "The other option is just not okay."
Aylin held his hand tighter, took a shaky breath, and forced herself to focus.
They still had work to do.
The war was far from over.
She glanced back at the monitors, looking through the feeds.
Zayden was in the parking lot, phone pressed to his ear, talking to soone.
Inside the auction hall....
Aylin froze.
Sothing felt off.
She leaned closer to the screen, checking Cara Three, which was focused on the stage.
Alpha was down on his knees, hurt, surrounded by guards.
Maksim was right next to him, also banged up.
Both were secured, but....
Aylin’s eyes widened.
Alpha’s hand was moving.
Slowly. Discreetly.
He was reaching behind him toward a guard who’d been shot and was lying dead nearby.
He was going for the guard’s weapon.
"No," Aylin whispered.
Her fingers raced across the keyboard as she switched angles and zood in.
Yes.
Alpha had a gun.
He was hiding it against his leg.
The guards hadn’t spotted it; they were too busy rounding up the other guests and managing the scene.
They weren’t paying attention to Alpha.
Because he looked hurt. Vulnerable.
Or at least, that’s what they thought.
Aylin grabbed the comm unit. "Azalea! Azalea, Alpha’s got a weapon! Check out cara three! He’s—"
On the screen, Alpha was moving fast. He raised the gun.
He aid at Azalea, who had her back turned to him.
He fired.
The shot echoed loudly through the speakers.
Azalea turned around, clutched her shoulder, and went down.
Aylin yelled, "NO!"
Alpha was already scrambling to his feet despite his wounded shoulder.
He started firing wildly at the guards.
Two went down. Then four. Then six.
The rest of the guards dove for cover.
Alpha bolted toward the side exit.
He was limping and bleeding, but he kept going.
Desperate.
Aylin switched caras to keep an eye on him.
He was heading for the front door Zayden had used—the broken doors still wide open.
Aylin hit the comm again. "Zayden! Zayden, Alpha’s making a run for it! He shot Azalea! He’s shooting—guards are down! He’s headed for the front door!"
On the cara, Zayden’s phone fell from his hand.
He took off sprinting toward the auction hall entrance, weapon ready and mask still on.
But Aylin could see the blood; his shirt was soaked through on the right side.
He shouldn’t be running.
He shouldn’t be fighting.
He should be in a hospital.
But he kept running anyway.
Because Azalea had been shot.
Because Alpha was trying to escape.
Aylin watched Zayden disappear through the entrance and switched to the inside caras.
She saw Zayden burst into the main hall.
Across the room, she spotted Alpha at the opposite exit, gun raised.
He was aiming.
Aiming at Zayden.
Alpha fired.
Zayden dove to the left, taking cover behind a marble column.
The bullet hit where he had just been standing.
He barely dodged.
Aylin breathed out, but her relief was short-lived.
Alpha was running again, out the front door and into the night.
Zayden erged from his hiding spot, chasing him.
But he was slower now.
The blood loss was catching up with him.
Aylin’s voice crackled through the comm. "Zayden, he’s heading toward the front door. There are no guards there. He’s getting away!"
Zayden did not reply.
He just kept running.
Aylin switched to the exterior caras and watched as Alpha stumbled out onto the front side of the auction hall. Monts later, Zayden followed.
They were outside now, exposed, and Aylin lost sight of them.
The exterior caras didn’t cover that angle.
"Damn it!" she exclaid, slamming her fist on the console.
Liam was trying to reroute the feed. "I’m attempting to get a satellite view—"
"There’s no ti!" Aylin interrupted.
She made a quick decision, stood up, and grabbed her weapon from under the console.
She checked the magazine, fifteen rounds.
Liam looked up, concerned. "Aylin, what are you...?"
"I’m going out there," she announced.
"No. Absolutely not. You need to stay here. You’re in command; you can’t—"
"Liam." She locked eyes with him. "Zayden is bleeding out. Azalea is shot. Alpha is ard and desperate. I refuse to sit in this van while they die."
Liam wanted to argue; she could see it.
But he understood her resolve. He knew that once she made up her mind, nothing could change it.
He nodded. "Just be safe."
"You too. Keep monitoring and feed intel through the comm."
"I will."
Aylin opened the van door and stepped out into the night.
The auction hall was a hundred ters away, lights flashing and smoke curling through the air.
She took off running.
*****
Aylin turned the corner of the building, her weapon ready, checking out her surroundings.
She spotted Zayden up ahead, about thirty ters away, moving slowly and cautiously, looking for Alpha.
Aylin was about to shout for him when she caught a glimpse of movent on her right, hiding behind a concrete pillar.
Alpha was there, waiting with his gun aid right at Aylin.
He’d seen her coming, let Zayden get by, and was now set for a clear shot—and now he had it.
Alpha grinned and pulled the trigger.
Aylin watched in shock as everything happened: she saw the gun, noticed his finger tighten, and then the muzzle flash. She couldn’t react quickly enough.
Then Zayden turned around. He had spotted Alpha and realized the gun was pointed at Aylin, and without thinking, he took off running.
He grabbed Aylin’s arm, yanked her sideways, and pushed her against the wall, putting himself in front of her to take the bullet.
The shot hit him right in the chest.
He staggered and fell.
Aylin shouted, "ZAYDEN!"
The sound burst from her, raw, broken, desperate.
She caught him as he went down, and they both fell to the ground together.
Zayden lay on his back while Aylin knelt next to him.
There was blood, so much blood, spreading across his chest, soaking through his tactical vest and shirt, and onto her hands.
"No, no, no—" Aylin pressed her hands against the wound, trying like crazy to stop the bleeding. "Zayden, hang in there! Just stay with !"
She couldn’t see his face because of his mask, but she could hear him gasping for air.
Alpha laughed.
Aylin looked up. Alpha stood over them, gun aid straight at their heads.
Not like this.
Not after everything.
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