WATCH OUT

Aylin's phone buzzed against her cheek, dragging her out of a restless sleep.

She fumbled for it with bleary eyes, expecting a spam text. 

Every trace of sleep and tiredness vanished the moment she read the message. 

“I'm sorry for what you went through tonight, my little omega. The world can be dangerous and full of surprises. 

Don't worry, I've taken care of those responsible, and you'll never have to worry about that kind of thing happening ever again once we’re finally together. See you soon.”

Aylin bolted upright on the sofa, her heart pounding with fear and confusion as she read it again.

It was a private contact, so there was no number she could call back. 

She swallowed hard and tried to breathe evenly so she wouldn't wake Zuri, but her hands would not stop shaking.

See her soon. The whole message looked like it was supposed to comfort her, but it was nothing but threatening to her.

A cold shiver crawled up her spine, feeling like she’ll never feel safe again. She had spent all her life living under the radar. But one night was enough to unravel everything. 

——

In the main room, Raff stared at Kyros as if he had grown a second head.

"You want to take her with us?" Raff repeated slowly, as if he couldn’t believe his ears. "To the pack?"

"She's not safe here," Kyros said flatly, his expression unreadable. 

“And how do you know she'll be safe with us?" Raff argued, keeping his voice low so it would not carry to the bedroom. "We don't even know if this whole thing is a coincidence. She could have been mistaken for someone else. There could be a simple explanation for all of it."

"There was another alpha in that warehouse, and he killed one of our men tonight," Kyros replied, his jaw tightening. "Something is wrong, Raff."

Raff studied his friend's face, and a strange unease settled in his gut. 

He had known Kyros since they were boys, and in all those years he had never once seen him act on impulse. 

His alpha was logical and calculating to a fault, so much so that the pack secretly called him The Machine. 

Tonight he had skipped the celebration for a deal worth hundreds of millions to drink alone in some dive bar, somehow ended up taking a bullet for a stranger, and now he wanted to bring her home. 

Indifference has always been Kyros’s flaw and gift. But looking into his eyes at the moment, he couldn’t recognize the man in front of him.

"Kyros, think about this," Raff pressed, dragging a hand through his hair. "We know nothing about her. Hell, this could be a setup, and she could be involved."

Kyros was barely listening. His wolf had been restless ever since he woke up on that tiny couch. And if he was honest with himself, it had been restless from the moment she crashed into him outside that bar. 

He couldn’t remember anything between when he had passed out in the car and waking up and seeing Raff standing in her apartment. 

Something about her pulled at him in a way he could not explain or ignore. It was more than mere attraction, and it felt wrong in a way he could not name.

"I don’t think so," he replied. "If she was involved, she wouldn't be shaking like that.”

He met Raff’s gaze. “And you know I’m never wrong when it comes to things like this.”

"Look, I get it. You feel bad for her,"  Raff said, his voice tight. "But bringing a stray omega into our pack? I can’t even smell any pack connection on her. What kind of omega moves around without the protection of a pack?”

His eyes narrowed. “And talking about scents. Why can I smell that she’s an omega but can’t sense her wolf at all?” he hissed, his voice rising despite himself. “That alone is suspicious."

Before Kyros could answer, the bedroom door creaked open, and Aylin stepped out.

"Did something happen?" Kyros asked, instantly on guard as he took in her pale face and the way she was clutching her phone in both hands. She smelled of fear.

Raff shot him a bewildered look, surprised at the softness of his alpha’s voice.

"I just got a message," Aylin whispered, her fingers twitching around the phone.

Raff tensed at once. "From who?"

"I don't know," Aylin said, shaking her head. "It was from a private number."

Kyros's eyes sharpened. "What did it say?"

She hesitated, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. If this was the same person who had been behind the attack, telling them might drag them into even more danger, and they had already done so much for her.

Kyros noticed and touched her arm gently. 

"Aylin,” Kyros called out, getting to his feet and walking over to her. “If someone is threatening you, we need to know.”

She let out a slow breath. “Read it,” she said, holding out her phone. “I don’t think I can again.”

Kyros took it and read the message aloud so Raff could hear. By the time he reached the last line, a low growl was rumbling in his chest.

"Taken care of those responsible?" Raff muttered, his face hardening. "That's not a warning. That's a damn threat."

"Do you know anybody who could have sent this?" Kyros asked, handing the phone back.

Aylin shook her head, biting her bottom lip.

"What about an alpha in this city?" Raff asked, watching her closely.

"An alpha?" Aylin repeated, looking up at him sharply. "I don't know any shifters. I cross paths with our kind sometimes, but I never talk to them. My parents forbade it."

“Your parents forbade it?” Raff repeated thoughtfully, looking at her. “What pack are your parents from? Where are they?”

“They are dead,” she replied, her eyes sad. “And I didn’t grow up with a pack. We lived among humans.”

Raff’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Then ho—”

"You need to come with us to our pack," Kyros cut in abruptly. 

Aylin's head snapped towards him. "What?"

"It's not safe for you here," Kyros said, holding her gaze. "Whoever sent that has obviously been watching you. And that last sentence tells us he is coming for you soon and won’t be taking no as an answer."

"I… I can't just leave," Aylin stammered, her pulse racing as she looked between them like a cornered animal. "I don't even know you."

"Then consider this your chance to get to know me," Kyros said steadily. “Or do you have anything tying you here?”

Raff huffed in disbelief, but Aylin barely heard him. 

Ever since her parents' accident just before her graduation, she had felt eyes on her everywhere she went, and she had spent years telling herself she was being paranoid. 

Now she finally had evidence. 

She had no lover, no close friends, a barista job she would not miss, and every street in this city reminded her of her parents. 

But a pack was something else entirely when she had spent her whole life being kept away from her own kind.

"Aylin, I know this is a lot," Kyros continued, softening his voice. "But I promise we won't let anything happen to you. It's only until we figure out what's going on. Think of it as a vacation."

"Besides, you could use the time to learn about yourself and your nature," Raff added unexpectedly.

Kyros glanced at him in surprise.

Raff avoided his eyes. He actually wanted to see where this went. 

He had never seen Kyros this impulsive and openly worried. And he was not about to waste such an opportunity.

Aylin curled her hands into fists at her sides. "I've always wanted to know more about my kind, but what about Zuri?" she asked, her voice wavering. "She's human. How will your pack treat her? I won't take her somewhere she'll be looked down on."

Before Kyros could reassure her, something on the television mounted on the wall caught his eye.

“Volume up,” he said loudly.

"We interrupt this program with breaking news,” the voice of the reporter blasted into the room, her voice grave. “A gruesome discovery had been made tonight in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town." 

"Oh, that was fast,” Raff muttered.

"Authorities have confirmed multiple bodies at the scene, many of them tortured and mutilated beyond recognition.” The reporter continued. “Police are urging anyone with information to come forward. Viewer discretion is advised."

An aerial shot of the warehouse filled the screen, followed by yellow police tape and officers moving in and out of the door. The camera panned across a blood-soaked concrete floor that had been blurred out.

Aylin's breath caught, and she turned to the two men. Both of their faces had gone stiff.

"I only injured to put them down, not kill," Kyros muttered, his voice tight. "The only one I killed was the wolf who tried to shoot her. This is carnage."

"You think it was that alpha?" Raff asked.

Before Kyros could answer, Aylin's phone vibrated in her hand so suddenly that she nearly dropped it. 

The screen showed an unknown number.

"Answer it," Kyros ordered, stepping closer to her side. “And put it on speaker.”

With shaking fingers, she pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?" 

"Miss Aylin Calloway?" a firm, professional voice asked.

Aylin stiffened. "Yes. Who is this?"

"This is Detective Roland with the city police department. “We need to speak with you regarding an ongoing investigation, and it's urgent. Can you come down to the station tomorrow?" 

Aylin's throat went dry. "What is this about?" 

There was a pause on the line. "It's about the warehouse incident," the detective replied, his voice grim. "We have reason to believe you were there tonight. Either you show up willingly, or a warrant would be placed out for your arrest."