Chapter 73: What survival costs
Rhys
I stared at Kayden, expecting him to say something, but he did not. For a moment, there was only a heavy, suffocating silence between us.
Kayden leaned on Leo’s desk, his hands trembling as he stroked Starlight. The kitten purred, blissfully oblivious to the fact that her owner was a liar.
"You are still here," I said after a long moment. I could not hold it back anymore, seeing him acting so nonchalant after what he had done.
He was standing fine now, despite looking like he was going to die last night. I wanted to ask how he was feeling.
My instinct, the Alpha part of me that had spent the night shielding him, was screaming at me to check his pulse, to make sure he was alright.
But I did not. I felt like I should not ask because Kayden did not deserve my concern.
Still, a part of me was glad to see him standing perfectly fine. Glad to see the color returning to his face.
"I am going to tell the Coach," I continued when he remained silent. "I am calling the agency, and you will be going out there to tell the press exactly what you are. A liar, Kayden. One who has made a mockery of the league, the team, and me."
Kayden shifted against the table, his eyes meeting mine, flashing with desperation. "Why are you so bent on me telling everyone? I am fine now and I—"
"Fine? Because you do not have your orchid pheromones filling the room? How long do you think you can keep hiding before the world finds out who you truly are? Would you keep pumping in chemicals just to play?" I scoffed. "If you do, then I have to admit that you are truly stupid."
"You have no idea!" he screamed, his voice cracking. "You have no idea what I had to do! What I had to sacrifice to be here! To be what I want to be! Is it so wrong that I want to be on the ice? I am an Omega, Rhys. Does that mean I cannot play hockey?"
"What you want to be is an Alpha!" I shot back, sliding off the bed, not caring that I was half-naked. I needed him to see me closely, to see how much this hurt. "But you are not. You are an Omega who played us all for fools. You let me knot you, care for you, and you are just—"
"SHUT UP!" Kayden screamed, his face turning a deep shade of red. "You have no idea what I had to face to get here! You are a natural Alpha, Rhys. The world was built for you! You did not have to hide who you were just to get a chance to lace up your skates. Omegas do not have a place in this country, in this world!"
I scoffed, unable to believe what he was saying. I moved closer, towering over him, and slammed my hands beside him on the table.
Starlight hissed and jumped from his arms to the floor from the impact.
"You think the world was built for me?" I slammed my hand against the desk again. "You knew about my family, Kayden. You have seen the scars. You know how they treated me and how I struggled to survive. Do you think I was handed this life? Yes, Omegas are treated badly, but do not invalidate my feelings or the fact that I had to work my ass off to get here. This world was not built for me!"
"Of course it was built for you," Kayden laughed bitterly as he shoved my chest. "You came from money! You came with a name! Even if your family is a nightmare, you walked into every room as an Alpha and nobody questioned your right to breathe the air! I had to poison myself every morning just to be allowed in the building! That is the difference between us, Rhys."
I scoffed. "You would not survive my life, Kayden. You would not survive the abuse I had to face. Yes, my family comes from a long history of hockey players, but to them, I am not a son—I am an asset. You saw everything last night, did you not?" I yelled, clenching my jaw so hard it ached. "I spent my entire childhood being molded into a weapon for a name I hate. I did not get to choose who I was any more than you did! You think being an Alpha made it easy? It just meant they had higher expectations for the monster they wanted us to become. The world was not built for me; it was built on me, and the rest of the Alphas!"
Kayden let out another annoying laugh that made my blood boil. He jabbed a finger into my chest and screamed again. "You are not the one who had to lie! And what the hell is this? Are you blackmailing me? Acting like the victim here, Rhys? Because you are not. I said this before and I will say it again: you came from money, I came from dirt. I had to eat trash to survive until I met Leo. He saved me. You had your family, and even if they were messed up, even if your father abused you, you had everything! Just because you had a past does not mean I do not!" He shoved my chest again before continuing.
"I mean, you had a safety net of millions of dollars while I was scraping by until I became a big star. Every day was spent terrified that one missed pill would end my life! You were born with the ’right’ biology according to the world. My trauma does not make your arrogance okay!" He pushed me again, and this time I stumbled backward.
"Do not stand there and act like I have committed a crime when my only crime was wanting to play the game I love without being shoved into a cage because I am an Omega! I am sorry I chose a different life!" He tried to push me again, but I grabbed his hand.
"Enough! You are the liar here, yet you are acting like I am the one who made the rules, like I am—"
Kayden yanked his hand angrily out of mine and whispered as he leaned closer to me. "You are so obsessed with yourself, thinking everyone else is wrong. But look at you. You are just like your family, Rhys. You use your status to act like you are mighty, especially toward those who do not fit your perfect little image. You are just another Alpha enjoying the view while you crush the people beneath you. It makes you the same as those who set the rules."
I felt the air leave my lungs. I recoiled as if he had physically struck me across the face. How could he compare me to my family?
My entire life had been an exhausting race to be anything but the man who had raised me, and with one sentence, Kayden had told me I failed.
"That is low, Kayden," I whispered, my voice thick with a sudden, agonizing hurt. "Even for you. To compare me to my father? After everything I did to protect you on the ice... and last night?"
Before Kayden could reply, the door burst open and Miller entered with Leo. "Uhm... what is going on here?" He looked from me to Kayden, then waved it off. "Get dressed. The Coach just called me and he wants to see both of you right now. And Rhys, the Coach is not alone. Some of the Board members are with him; everyone is in the meeting room. They have seen the reports on social media."
I heaved a deep sigh and ran a hand through my hair, knowing it was bad, especially since the CEO was involved. I cast a look at Kayden, pointed a finger toward him, and whispered, "This is not over."