Kayden

The moment I stepped inside the locker room, it went dead silent. My teammates were already there, scattered in a loose circle, but as my eyes met theirs, nobody spoke.

​There were no whispers, no pointed looks of disgust like I had expected. It was just heavy stillness.

​My heart started pounding hard in my chest as I feared the worst, but then Coach Reddick moved first. He stepped into my line of sight and pointed toward me.

​"Kayden," he said. "Are you fine? Can you play the third?"

​I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave him a sharp, single nod. "Yes, Coach, I can play, and I..." I opened my mouth, the words of an apology or an explanation sitting on the tip of my tongue, but before I could say anything, Coach Reddick held up a hand, cutting me off.

​"Save whatever you have to say. Save it until the third period is over and we have that Cup. Right now, we have a game to win."

​I nodded again, grateful for the reprieve.

​Before I could even find my seat, Leo, Miller, and Rhys were on me. They moved like a single unit, pushing through the crowd of players to reach me.

​My breath hitched when my eyes landed on Rhys. He was stripped out of his jersey, his shoulder wrapped in thick, rigid layers of white athletic tape that looked like a makeshift cage for his joint.

​"Rhys," I gasped, my voice cracking as I looked at the damage. "Your shoulder... it’s broken."

​Rhys stepped closer, ignoring the way his face paled with the movement. He reached out with his good hand and gripped my arm, his fingers digging in with a strength that didn’t surprise me. After all, he was a True Alpha.

​"I’m fine, Kayden. It’s just a subluxation. I’ve had worse. But what about you? Are you okay?"

​I took a shaky breath and looked from him to Miller’s worried face. "I am fine. I met Soren."

​"The figure skater?" Leo asked.

​I nodded.

​"He talked to me and made me understand that I shouldn’t let anything stop me from achieving what I had set my mind on. That’s exactly why I am going out there to play again."

​Leo let out a sharp, bitter huff. "That Rami Calder," he said through gritted teeth. "I swear, I wish he would suffer a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism followed by a spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage," he muttered. "It would save the world a lot of misery if his heart simply decided to undergo a permanent state of asystole right this second."

​Miller chuckled, but he held up a hand to stop Leo. "Enough."

​Rhys didn’t join in. He just continued looking at me, and when the horn sounded for the next period, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to a quiet corner of the locker room. He turned me to face him, his gaze searching mine with a terrifying intensity.

​"Kayden, tell me the truth. How are you? Truly?"

​I looked down at my boots and heaved a deep sigh. "I’m a mess, Rhys. But I’m a mess that’s going to win a Cup."

​"I am sorry, Kayden. All of this is happening because of me," he whispered. He leaned in until our foreheads were touching. "I had no idea this was the ’surprise’ that my grandfather had planned." He sniffled and pulled me into a fierce, one-armed hug. "I am so sorry. I am so sorry my family did this to you."

​I said nothing and buried my face in his neck for a split second, breathing in the familiar pine scent of him. Then I slowly whispered, "It wasn’t your fault, Rhys. It was never your fault. Winning the game is what matters most now. We have to finish this."

​I hugged him back, careful not to jostle his injury. "It’s time to win the Cup, Rhys."

​He nodded and tapped me on the shoulder. "I am unable to play for the third period, but I trust you, Kayden. I believe in you."

​I gave him a small smile before skating with the team toward the ice.

​As our team’s name was announced and we skated out, the silence was chilling. There were no cheers when my name was announced over the PA system. Instead, there was a heavy, suffocating murmur from the thousands of people in attendance.

​I didn’t care. I just wore my helmet and lowered my head. I wasn’t going to let anyone judge me.

​"And here they come, the Northern Avalanche, returning to the ice for the final twenty minutes. But the question on everyone’s mind isn’t the score," the first commentator said, his voice filled with a grim curiosity. "How will they play without their captain? And more importantly, how will Kayden Vale play? After a revelation like that—his father in prison, a hidden identity, and the shocking claim that he’s an omega—can a player even focus on the puck? This is a psychological minefield, and we are about to see if the rookie can still play." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

​I gripped my stick until my knuckles ached at those words. I took a deep breath and then skated forward.

​Damian Fernandez was opposite me across the line. He was smirking when our eyes met, looking at me like I was a toy he had already broken.

​He was wrong. They were all wrong. I wasn’t about to break; I was hardening, preparing for the final battle.

​The referee hovered over the center circle, holding the puck tightly in his hand. I heaved another deep sigh as I felt the eyes of thousands of people boring into my back.

​Philip, who was by my side, hit my stick with his. I turned toward him.

​"Everything is going to be fine, Kayden Vale."

​I gave him a smile and focused on the line again. Damian Fernandez was still grinning. He leaned closer to me, his visor nearly touching mine.

​"Does it hurt, Derek?" he hissed, the name coming out like a slur. "Knowing that everyone sees you for the lying little freak you are? I bet that prison cell is looking real cozy right about now. Maybe after we win this, I’ll send your old man a signed puck so he has something to remember your failure by. I don’t even know why the league isn’t removing you from this game when it was revealed that you’re an omega."

​I heard Miller growl at him from my other side. He looked like he was about to hit Damian with his stick, but I shook my head at him. This was my fight.

​"Damian," I called out, using the same tone he had used with me. "You talk a lot for someone who is already about to lose," I said, gripping my stick so tight that my injured knuckles started bleeding again. "Remember what I told you in the washroom? About fighting on the ice? Well, the cameras are rolling now, and I will make sure I make a fool out of you."

​Damian tried to respond, but the referee was already moving into action. He blew the whistle, but just before he dropped the puck, a scream sounded from the crowd. It was so loud that it drowned out the murmurs of everyone else.

​"You got this, son! Win it, Kayden!"

​I didn’t have to look up to know it was Rhoda. She and Gabriella were leaning over the glass, waving the banner with my face on it. To them, I wasn’t Derek, the convict’s son. I wasn’t an omega secret. I was theirs.

​The way she had said son hit me even harder. It fueled my spirit, making me more determined.

​The referee dropped the puck, and I was quick to act. I won the face-off and sent the puck flying to Miller. Before Damian could even react, I drove my chest into his, leveling him onto the ice with a hit that rattled his teeth.

​"Payback for what you asked your teammates to do to Rhys," I told him, before skating away to join the others.