Zayden’s bedroom felt cozy and quiet.

Aylin was dozing next to him, breathing deeply and evenly. The sheets were all twisted around them, her bare back pressed against his chest while his arm wrapped around her waist.

But Zayden couldn’t sleep.

He hardly ever got good sleep these days; there were just too many enemies, too many dangers, and too much that could go wrong.

So, when his phone buzzed — the special one he kept tucked in the nightstand — he snapped awake.

That phone only buzzed when it was important.

It was for Shadow Network messages, which had encrypted in ways only a handful of people could access.

Zayden carefully pulled away from Aylin without waking her. She murmured something in her sleep and rolled over, but stayed out cold.

He quietly opened the drawer and grabbed the phone.

One new message.

Encrypted.

Zayden opened it, his eyes darting over the text.

Then a chill shot through him.

"Hazard King. Lunel," she read out loud. "I know who you two are. I see you working together. I know what you’ve done. I need your help. Alpha Dark has to be taken out. I’ve got information, resources, and a plan. But I can’t do this alone. I know Lunel is Aylin Alston. I have proof. I’ve got photos. If you ignore me, I’ll blow her cover. I’ll tell everyone looking for her. Meet with me. Just tell me when and where. You’ve got 48 hours to get back to me. Signed, – A."

Attached was a photo.

Aylin was stepping off a private jet onto U.S. soil, surrounded by security. The date said it was from when she arrived from Malaysia.

Somebody had been keeping an eye on her since she got into the country.

Somebody knew.

Zayden gripped the phone harder until his knuckles turned white.

"Who the hell are you?" he whispered. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

He tried to trace the message, figure out the location, IP address, anything that could give away who sent it.

Nothing.

The person who sent this was super skilled. They covered their tracks with layers of encryption that even Zayden couldn’t crack right away.

"Damn it," he muttered.

He glanced over at Aylin, who was still sleeping soundly.

Someone knew who she really was.

Someone was threatening to spill the beans on her.

Someone had managed to snap a photo of her without either of them realizing it.

Zayden’s mind was racing.

This could be Alpha. It could be Maksim, playing games. It might even be someone else he hadn’t thought of yet.

Whoever it was, they were in trouble.

And now they had put a target right on Aylin’s back.

"I need Aylin," Zayden thought, "and Leo. And Liam. With all of us together, we can crack this. We need to find out who sent it and where they are."

But it was the middle of the night.

He’d have to wait until morning.

Zayden set the phone down on the nightstand, looking at it like it was a ticking time bomb.

Forty-eight hours.

Two days to figure out who’s making threats.

Two days to decide if they were going to meet this person or take them out.

Two days to keep Aylin safe from whoever thought they could blackmail Hazard King.

Zayden carefully slid back into bed, pulling Aylin closer to him again.

She made a little sound and snuggled in tighter, still asleep.

"I won’t let anything happen to you," he whispered into her hair. "I don’t care who they are. I don’t care what they know. They will not harm you."

But even as he said this, a chill of fear settled in his chest.

Because whoever sent that message knew things they shouldn’t know.

And that meant somewhere, somehow, they’d made a mistake.

A mistake that could cost Aylin everything.

Zayden held her tighter and stared at the ceiling.

Sleep wasn’t happening tonight.

*****

The morning sunlight came pouring into Zayden’s office, throwing long shadows around the room. Breakfast was pretty quiet and a bit awkward. Everyone could tell something was off, even if they couldn’t quite figure out what.

Now, all of them were in the office: Zayden, Aylin, Leo, Liam, and Reyes. The door was locked, the security cameras were running, and Zayden’s special phone was on the desk between them like something ready to blow up.

Zayden grabbed the phone and opened the message.

"Check this out," he said, handing the phone to Aylin.

Aylin took the phone, her eyes flicking over the text. Her face changed from curious to shocked, and then she started thinking deep.

"Hazard King. Lunel," she read out loud. "I know who you two are. I see you working together. I know what you’ve done. I need your help. Alpha Dark has to be taken out. I’ve got information, resources, and a plan. But I can’t do this alone. I know Lunel is Aylin Alston. I have proof. I’ve got photos. If you ignore me, I’ll blow her cover. I’ll tell everyone looking for her. Meet with me. Just tell me when and where. You’ve got 48 hours to get back to me. Signed, – A."

The room fell silent.

Leo was the first to speak up. "Wow, that’s direct."

"There’s a photo," Zayden said. "Show it to them."

Aylin scrolled down, and her face lost color.

The picture showed her stepping off a private jet, surrounded by security, with U.S. ground beneath her feet. The date showed it was when she came in from Malaysia.

"Someone’s been tracking me since I got here," she said quietly.

Liam leaned forward. "Can you trace it back?"

"I tried," Zayden responded. "All night. It’s buried under a ton of encryption."

Aylin kept looking at the message. "Zayden, this is how Ghost Net talks. I can’t fully crack it or figure out where it’s coming from, but I know one thing: this encryption style and how the message is laid out, this is definitely Ghost Net. So, your sister Azalea is in on this."

Everyone stared at her in shock.