Chapter 78: You belong to me
Kayden
The Ride back to Rhys’s penthouse was filled with a hollow, echoing silence.
We had waited until the last of the reporters and fans had cleared out before making our escape, but the quiet of the car felt even more suffocating than the noise of the crowd and we had left Starlight with Leo to babysit. I couldn’t help myself. I pulled out my phone and began to scroll.
The notification shade was a mess of alerts. We were trending, of course we were.
I scrolled through the headlines, the Perfect Duo tags competing with a name that made my stomach turn. #Who is Elian?
When I clicked the link, the video where Elian had lied popped up on my screen.
As soon as Elian’s voice sounded on my phone, I heard Rhys groan.
I stole a glance toward him and saw him clenching his jaw so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. I knew he was pissed about Elian’s sudden appearance, but I couldn’t tell if he was mad about me being the cause of the press conference or because his family was using the moment as a gotcha to introduce Elian to the public.
"Don’t look at that trash," Rhys growled. He didn’t even look at me as he stared out the window. "I don’t want to hear that annoying brat’s lies."
"The whole world is looking at it, Rhys," I whispered, closing the app. "They probably—"
"I don’t care," he cut me off before I could finish. "That idiot is nothing and only acting on my grandfather’s request. He is a puppet my grandfather is used to pulling strings with, and you should stop worrying about him and start worrying about what’s waiting for you inside this house."
I swallowed hard, my hands shaking at what he meant.
Rhys had already made sure he took all the data regarding me from Leo to monitor me both on the ice and at home.
"What do you mean? I..." I didn’t know why my voice was shaking, but I feared what he was planning because when we had left Leo’s office, he had looked like he already had several plans up his sleeve.
"You’ll find out soon," he replied turning back to facing his side of window.
When the car finally stopped at the gate, Rhys was the first to get out and walked away without saying a word. I paid the driver with trembling fingers and followed behind slowly, making sure to keep my distance as we entered.
The house was dark when I stepped inside, and I thought he wasn’t close enough for me to be noticed. I figured I could escape to my room.
I heaved a sigh of relief and hurried toward it, but suddenly the lights came on and I froze in place, letting out a light chuckle as I turned around.
Rhys stood there, staring at me with icy blue eyes that had darkened like a predator eyeing its prey.
He took one step, then another, both calculated, and pointed at me. "And where the hell do you think you are going?" he asked, scoffing, before raising his hand. "I’ve been with you since last night. Don’t you think you should compensate me?"
"Com..." I frowned, confused by what he meant. "Compensate you how?"
He took another step, closing the distance as I took one step backward. "What do you think I mean, Kayden? Your Omega brain can’t comprehend what I mean?"
He slammed one hand against the wall, making me jump. "Look at me," he whispered at first, and when I didn’t respond, he grabbed my chin and forced my face up. "When I tell you to look at me, Kayden, you do. Because right now, you belong to me."
I slapped his hand away. "I don’t belong to you," I said. "I didn’t agree to your demands, Rhys. You can’t tell me what to—"
"Do?" he finished before I could. "Well, I know what you are now, Kayden. I’ve done so much for you in the span of two days. I found out your secret, protected you from everyone, and even got dragged into a scandal. And as if that wasn’t enough, I stayed with you all night, pouring my cooling pheromones into you so you wouldn’t die." He lifted my chin again, forcing me to meet his gaze.
"I attended that stupid conference because of you. Shouldn’t you be grateful that I did all of that for you?"
I scoffed and folded my arms over my chest. "You did all of that not because you cared. Your words toward me made that obvious."
Rhys let out a deep chuckle that vibrated through him, down to the hand still resting on my chin, and it sent shivers down my spine, sparking something beneath my skin.
Don’t stay too close to him.
Leo’s words echoed in my head, and I immediately stepped back, but there was nowhere to run. My back hit the wall, and Rhys blocked me in, his hand braced beside my head.
"We’ve got to sleep early tonight. We have practice tomorrow for the games because today was—"
"Whose fault is that?" Rhys interrupted in a sultry tone that made my legs go weak. "Whose fault is it that we didn’t practice today? It’s because of you, Omega."
"Can you stop calling me that?" I snapped.
Rhys chuckled. "Why? Isn’t that what you are? Why are you making it sound like a slur word, Kayden? I’m not the one pretending to be an Alpha. That’s you."
I groaned, exhausted from him constantly getting under my skin. "What the hell do you even want from me? Today was already long with the—" I paused and rubbed my face.
"So soft," Rhys murmured as he caressed my cheek, then raised his hand again. "Like I said, I own you now, Kayden, and you will do exactly as I say."
I groaned but said nothing.
"So," he lifted his bandaged hand. "We start with you preparing me something to eat. As you can see, I can’t raise my hand properly, so prepare something for me to eat. I’ve spent so much energy on you that I can barely see straight."
I frowned, confused by his behavior. After everything he had said and his reaction to fully finding out I was an Omega, I had expected him to set strict rules and isolate me the moment we got home. Instead, he was acting completely differently.
"Why are you like this?" I asked, curiosity slipping into my voice. His actions felt suspicious.
Rhys didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his chest. "And how should I act, softie?" he chuckled, leaning down to whisper into my ear. "When I say I own you, Kayden, it means you do what I ask and don’t question it."
He blew warm air into my ear, and I shuddered as the sensation traveled down my spine, my heart racing in response.
"Go ahead," he murmured. "I’m not done with you, Kayden. Once we’re done eating, then we’ll talk about us."