Chapter 140: Being an Enigma
Leo
"You’re coming out?" I demanded.
I honestly thought I’d misheard him. Like, maybe the humming of the clinic equipment was messing with my ears, because there was no way in hell he actually planned on telling the world he was an Omega.
Not now. Not when everything was on the line. His future that he had built would end in the blink of the eye if he ever tried that.
Kayden just nodded. He didn’t blink. He just gave me this look that says that his mind was made up.
My eyes went wide.
I turned to face him so fast I completely forgot I was supposed to be heading to the lab for some urgent tests. "Are you insane?" I shouted. I didn’t mean to yell, but the words just burst out of me as I rushed over to him.
When I got to the edge of the bed, I lost it. I grabbed him by the collar—probably a bit too rough—and I practically screamed right into his face. "Do you have any idea what happens if you come out? It means you’re done. You’re finished. You could be forced to stop playing hockey for good. This society... they’ll never let an Omega on a professional ice rink. They’ll bench you before you can even lace up your skates," I reminded him. "Have you forgotten how many years it took you to get here?"
I felt my hands shaking, so I forced myself to let go and gently pushed his head back down onto the pillow.
I kept waiting for the punchline. I expected him to laugh or tell me he was just trying to get a rise out of me, but his face didn’t change.
He just stared blankly at the ceiling like his soul had already left the building and moved into the future he was dreaming about.
"Kayden, seriously... do you have any clue what you’re doing?"
He nodded again. Just a simple, quiet movemen and it was all needed to know that his mind was truly made up.
"Rhys forced you into this, didn’t he? He’s the Alpha, he’s the one calling the shots?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Then why? Why the hell would you risk your entire life by announcing this to the world? I know you’re in love. I get it. Love makes people do wild things. But you need to think about this... really think. Don’t be foolish, please. This move could ruin you. Everything you’ve spent years building, all the sweat and the hiding and the pain... it’ll all go down the drain in a single press conference." I felt the weight of it all hitting me, so I just slumped down on the bed right beside him.
"Kayden, look at me. Have you really thought this through? Do you truly think this is the right way to go? Or are you going to wake up in a month and realize you’ve made a decision you can’t ever take back?"
Kayden shook his head one more time and took a breath so deep it sounded like he was trying to swallow the whole room. "My mind is made up. I’m never changing how I feel about this. Omegas..." He stopped, his eyes snapping shut as he winced from a sudden spike of pain. "We’ve never had it easy, Leo. Why should we keep hiding? Especially when we’re just as talented as any Alpha or Beta out there. Why do we have to live in the shadows? Why are we just seen as... breeders? I don’t want that life anymore. I hope that coming out will give voices to all omegas who I are forced to give up their dreams because they let the society define them! We are much more than that!"
He was right. Honestly, he was right about every single bit of it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but neither Omegas nor Enigmas should be treated like they’re invisible or less than.
I thought about my own family. My mother’s side was full of people like me. Enigmas. We’re an anomaly, a tiny blip—less than ten percent of the population.
Alphas are terrified of us because we’re the only ones who can actually tame them, the only ones who can make them bend their knees. But because there are so few of us, the world has spent centuries keeping us under their thumb. That’s why I, and every other Enigma I know, have spent our lives playing "Beta." We hide because the world hates what it can’t control.
"I am..." Kayden’s voice was small, pulling me out of my head. "I’m just so tired of the lies. I’m tired of not being me. I’ve spent years playing this part, pretending to be an Alpha just to survive. But now? Now that it’s come to this, I want the acting to stop. I want the world to know that I... am an Omega. And it will be on the day that I win that cup so that’s why I have to play in the conference finals and the finals."
I reached out and took his hand, rubbing his knuckles gently. It was a rare moment of actual human connection for me.
"You’re brave, Kayden. Braver than I’ve ever been, I have to admit," I told him. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think you’d actually do this. I am... I’m truly proud of you."
Kayden’s eyes fluttered open. A single, lonely tear tracked down his face, disappearing into the pillow.
I couldn’t tell if it was because of what I’d said or if the pain was just becoming too much to handle.
I didn’t say anything else. I just held his hand for a second longer. "You don’t need that synthetic compound, Kayden. Not anymore." I stood up, letting go of his hand.
I walked over to the window and slammed it shut, then went to the door and turned the lock with a definitive click.
I walked back to him, feeling a strange surge of power. The one I have been hiding as an enigma. "My pheromones... they should be able to suppress the Omega instinct in you for a while. At least until you’re ready to do this on your own terms. It’s way more effective than any drug I could cook up in the lab, because this is me. This is the real thing. I haven’t let this out in years."
Kayden blinked, more tears spilling over.
"Why the hell are you crying? You’re acting like I’m doing something terrible to you," I said, trying to get back to my usual self to hide how nervous I actually was.
He sniffled, weakly reaching his hand toward me. "You..." He took a shaky breath. "You’d do all of this for me, Leo? You’re my savior and I... ugh!"
A loud, jagged scream ripped out of his throat. His whole body started convulsing, jumping on the bed like he was being electrocuted.
I knew the signs. The heat was done waiting; it was trying to tear its way out of him.
I grabbed his hand again, gripping it as tight as I could. I closed my eyes and reached deep inside, searching for that part of me I’d kept locked away behind for years.
"This is going to feel like you’re going under anesthesia, so don’t even think about practicing for the rest of the day," I warned him.
He groaned, but he couldn’t even form words. His body was thrashing so hard I had to use all my strength just to keep him on the bed. It wasn’t "Beta" strength anymore. It was my truth strength.
"I really do admire you, Kayden. I’m proud of what you’re capable of," I muttered.
I squeezed my eyes shut and finally, finally let go of the pheromones I’d been choking back for a lifetime.
The room transformed instantly. One second it was clean, and the next it was thick with the scent of bitter black ink and charred sandalwood. It was heavy, suffocating and I was actually worried someone in the hallway might smell it, which is exactly why I’d locked everything down.
As much as Kayden’s talk of bravery had pumped me up, I wasn’t quite ready to have a target on my back just yet. I had survived all these years as an enigma and not even his speech could change my mind.
"Calm down," I muttered, opening my eyes to look at him.
Kayden was fighting against my pheromones, his body rejecting it but I poured more and more of myself into him forcing his omega side into a corner.
He didn’t scream this time. He just gripped my hand, his nails digging into my skin until I felt the warm sting of blood running down my wrist.
But I didn’t stop.
I pinned his shoulder down and kept going until I felt the tension leave him.
He went limp. His hands flopped to his sides, and his eyes shut immediately.
I let out a long, shaky sigh and checked his forehead. The fever was receding, replaced by a cool, artificial calm. I’d done it. I’d actually done it for the first time without hiding what I was.
I sat there for a minute, just breathing in the scent of my pheromones for the first time since I was a kid.