The signal came like a spark on dry kindling.
Lucas's jaw tightened as the vibration pulsed once, twice, three times in his earpiece. The time had come.
Jax leaned his shoulder against the wall outside the club, smirking as he cocked his gun. "About damn time. Thought I'd die of boredom out here."
Rowan's eyes glinted in the dim light. "Save the talk. Let's go."
Their spies had already slipped into the club's security earlier in the night, blending seamlessly with Ash Fang's guards. At the signal, those double agents struck, silenced pistols spitting death into their comrades. By the time Lucas, Jax, and Rowan approached, the front doors were unguarded, the bodies already dragged out of sight.
"Cameras are looped," Milo's voice came steady through the comms. "No one inside has a clue you're coming."
"Backstage corridor located," Tobi followed, tapping rapidly at keys. "South side, behind the stage. Two doors, heavy guards. Rowan, that's your route."
Rowan's lips curved. "Good." He broke away into the shadows.
Lucas and Jax pressed forward. Guns low, eyes sharp, they slipped through the corridors like wolves hunting prey. Two guards spotted them, but a pair of muffled shots dropped them before the alarm could spread.
Inside the hall, Damien—Lucas's scarred lieutenant—and Rico—Jax's hotheaded right-hand—were already waiting, having taken position during the infiltration.
"Boss," Damien greeted, loading another clip.
"Hall's ripe for the taking," Rico added with a grin.
Together, they pushed through the double doors.
The auction shattered.
The moment Lucas's team stormed the hall, chaos erupted. Bullets cracked the air, guards scrambled to defend the stage, and panicked guests screamed behind their masks. Suri, Kanji, Kade, and Talon burst in from another entrance at the same time, their coordinated attack pinning the Ash Fang in place.
Kael's presence at the back of the room was a storm unto itself, his aura commanding the battlefield. Yet even as he laid down fire, his eyes kept flicking to one corner of the hall—where Rin stood.
Rin's gaze swept the room with calculated coldness, even as gunfire raged around him. But when his eyes fell on the line of guards dragging the chained omegas away, something in him snapped.
"Not happening," he growled under his breath.
He moved with brutal precision, shots dropping guards one by one until he was close enough to tackle another to the ground. Blood smeared across his knuckles as he slammed the butt of his pistol into the man's skull. The omegas were trembling, dazed from drugs, but Rin's men surged in to shield them and drag them toward safety.
Across the hall, Kane saw.
For a moment, his fury eclipsed the pandemonium. The auction he had built, the order Silas demanded—shattered in front of his eyes. He raised his gun and advanced, firing at Rin. Bullets sparked off the wall as Rin dove for cover, then returned fire.
Their battle cut through the hall, two predators zeroing in on each other. Rin's shots were precise, his movements sharp, but each pull of the trigger drained him further. The pheromone-thick air made every breath burn. His suppressants were fraying, the heat clawing at the edges of his control.
Kael saw him falter, pale under the dim lights. He tried to push through the bodies between them, but Ash Fang soldiers pinned him down with relentless fire. His growl thundered, his bullets answering back, but Rin was already in Kane's sights.
Then, suddenly, Kane's earpiece crackled.
Silas's voice. Cold, commanding.
"Retreat. Protect the guests. Forget the omegas."
Kane snarled, rage twisting his features, but he obeyed. With a sharp hand signal, Ash Fang soldiers began pulling back.
Rin's heart pounded.
Without hesitation, he broke from cover and sprinted after Kane, slipping through the collapsing firefight and into the corridor outside the hall.
The noise dulled behind him. The corridor stretched long and dim, lit only by flickering overhead lights. Here, there were no panicked guests. No allies. Just him and Kane.
Kane whipped around, his gun barking. Rin dove sideways, the bullet grazing his arm. Pain flared, but he didn't slow. He fired back, forcing Kane into cover.
The duel became brutal and close. When their clips emptied, they didn't reload—they collided. Guns became clubs, fists, and knees crashing in vicious rhythm. Kane's brute strength rattled Rin, but Rin's speed and precision kept him in the fight.
Still, his body screamed. The pheromones from the hall clung to him, seeping into his lungs, and his suppressants were slipping. Each strike cost him twice the effort. Blood from his side wound soaked his shirt, the sting sharp and unrelenting.
Kane caught him with a blow to the ribs that made Rin stagger. The corridor spun for a heartbeat.
"Pathetic," Kane sneered, wiping blood from his lip. "All that fire, and you're still going to burn out."
Rin's jaw clenched. He lunged again, fury carrying him, his elbow cracking against Kane's jaw. For a moment, Kane reeled—but Rin knew he couldn't last much longer.
And then—the heat slammed into him.
It was sudden, merciless. His suppressants broke entirely, the dam shattered. Rin's omega scent flooded the corridor, rich, intoxicating, impossible to mistake. His knees nearly buckled, his chest heaving as the full weight of his heat consumed him.
Rin forced himself upright.
But his body betrayed him—trembling, breath ragged, skin burning.
Fortunately, the heavy pheromones of the omegas in the hall clung to both Kane and Rin, masking any irregularities in Rin's own scent. Kane didn't think much of it, raising his weapon as he prepared to strike Rin again. But before he could pull the trigger, a gunshot rang out. Thanks to his sharp reflexes, Kane twisted aside just in time—the bullet missed its mark but still grazed his arm, tearing through flesh. He hissed in pain, his eyes snapping toward the direction of the shot. There, in the dim corridor light, a figure stood with a smoking gun aimed steadily at him.
Kael.
Rage twisted Kane's face, but he obeyed Silas's retreat order, vanishing into the shadows.
Kael advanced, his gaze snapping to Rin. He stopped dead in his tracks.
Then it hit him.
The scent.
Sweet. Fiery. A ascent unique to Omegas only.
Rin leaned against the wall, pale and trembling, his gun slack at his side. He looked defiant even now, but the truth was undeniable—his scent filled the corridor, curling around Kael like fire and smoke.
Kael's grip on his gun faltered for the first time all night.
"...Rin," he breathed.
The corridor, once filled with gunfire, now echoed with the silence of revelation.