Kayden

​A hand touched my shoulder. I froze, then relaxed when I felt the familiar touch.

​Even through the haze of my own spiraling thoughts, I recognized the scent. It wasn’t the aggressive scent of an alpha or the sweet pull of an omega. It was a cologne that had a faint, musky scent that always felt like a calm morning on the ice.

​Soren. I still didn’t look at him, and he didn’t say anything at first. His hand was just resting on my shoulder, then he squeezed gently and spoke.

​"I knew I’d find you here."

​"If you’ve come to pity me, I don’t need it," I spat out, my voice raw from screaming. I pulled away slightly, staring at the oil stains on the ground. "Go back inside, Soren. Go."

​Soren let out a short, dry scoff that made me look up. He wasn’t looking at me with pity; he was looking off into the distance, his eyes dark with a memory I hadn’t expected.

​"Pity?" he repeated, his mouth twisting. "Well, the day you found me on that bridge, Kayden... the day I was ready to end it all... do you know why I was there? It wasn’t because I failed a jump on the ice. It was because Rio found out what I had been hiding."

​I froze but didn’t say anything. He had talked about a secret he was hiding, but I had never asked him about it.

​"My father," Soren continued, his voice tight. "They are alphas. A long line of figure skating alphas. They are prestigious, powerful, and surprisingly, I became the odd one out as I was the only omega born into that bloodline. To skate, I had to pretend to be an alpha. No matter how much better I was on the ice than my siblings, nobody cared. No matter how many gold medals I won, no one saw me. To them, I was a defect. A mistake."

​Soren let out a groan as he ran a hand over his face until his knuckles turned white.

​"I hid it for years. I lived on suppressants. I lied to the world, and when I finally found someone who cared about me, they found out. Rio found out the secret I had been hiding, and he was offended that I didn’t tell him. He felt betrayed, and he ended things right then and there."

​Soren looked down at me, his expression haunted. "Rio was my entire world, and when he walked away, I decided to end it. I thought there was no place for an omega like me on the ice."

​He leaned against the cold brick wall beside me. "So don’t talk to me about pity, Kayden. I’m not here because I’m sorry for you. I’m here because I know exactly how loud the silence feels when your secret finally catches up to you." He placed another hand on my shoulder.

​"I don’t know if what that man said is the truth, but if it is, I am just like you, Kayden. An omega who had to live in that same shadow. But I am done. I am planning on coming out officially to everyone."

​My eyes widened at the news, but still, I didn’t say anything because Soren looked like he wasn’t done.

​"Why should omegas be treated differently? Why should we be sidelined, Kayden? Tell me, what did we actually do wrong? We grew up in a world that told us our biology was a weakness, that we were meant to be handled, kept, and quieted. That we don’t deserve happiness. That we are only breeders. We were told the elite stages—the arenas, the podiums, the tracks—belonged to alphas by birthright. But look at the ice. Does the puck know who shot it? Does the blade care about the secondary gender of the person holding the edge? No."

​He heaved a deep sigh before he continued. "We have fought twice as hard just to stand on the same starting line. We’ve poisoned our bodies with chemicals and suffocated our souls with lies just to be allowed to play a game we are better at than most of them. It’s a sick cycle, Kayden. Who knows how many omegas have been sidelined like this? And I know why—because they are scared that if an omega stands at the top, their whole hierarchy falls apart. They don’t want to admit that the ’submissive’ ones are actually the ones with the most grit. We aren’t the problem. The system that demands we hide is the problem."

​He crouched in front of me, and before I could say anything, he hugged me.

​"I don’t know what to say about your father, but all I can say is don’t let this stop you, Kayden. Go back in there. Win that Cup. Use the victory to make a statement that they can’t ignore. Don’t win only for the fans or the league or even for your team. Win it so that the next kid who feels like they have to hide has a reason to keep breathing. Imagine how many omegas are hiding due to the rules. This can help them."

​Tears streamed down my face at Soren’s words. Everything he said was the truth. There were probably lots of omegas who were looking up to me, waiting to be noticed by the world.

​"Thank you, Soren," I muttered as I hugged him tightly.

​"I believe in you, Kayden, just as much as you did for me on that bridge," Soren whispered against my shoulder.

​When he pulled away, he tapped me gently on the back. "Now show the world that even omegas can be better than alphas."

​I smiled at him and nodded in response, clenching my fists together. "I will win the Stanley Cup," I declared.

​Soren stood up and stretched forth his hand for me to take. When I took it, he pulled me up.

​"Whatever happens Kayden, just know that I and the omegas who have to hide for years are proud of you."