An Omega?

Riven

Kael’s breath ghosted hot against my face as he leaned in closer, his voice low and strained.

“I'm going through rut right now.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to process the words. Rut? Like… an Alpha thing?

“So how is that my business?” I shot back, voice cracking a little. “Go home or something.”

“It’s all your fault, you bastard,” Kael breathed, the words rough and shaky.

My confusion deepened. Fault? How the hell was any of this my fault? I hadn’t done anything to him.

Kael smirked, but it looked strained, almost pained. He shook his head slowly. “Are you aware that you’re an Omega?”

My heart squeezed so hard it felt like someone had punched me in the chest. My throat closed up. My hands started trembling at my sides, and I pressed them flat against the cold lockers behind me to hide it. The room suddenly felt too small, too hot, the air too thick to breathe. My stomach twisted violently.

No. No fucking way.

There was no chance I was a damn Omega — the lowest in the hierarchy. Omegas weren’t even allowed to play hockey. They were considered too weak, too fragile, too easily overwhelmed for such a brutal, physical sport. Talent and power didn’t matter; the league counted them out “for their own safety.” If anyone found out, I’d be pulled from the team. Maybe even banned from playing altogether.

And I loved hockey. I loved the ice, the speed, the checks, the roar of the crowd, the bond with my teammates on the Bulls. It was the one thing that made sense in my life.

“You’re lying,” I whispered. My voice shook badly, and my eyes were already stinging, vision blurring with unshed tears. “You have to be lying.”

Kael let out a soft, tired laugh. “You think? Haven’t you noticed anything recently? I’m sure you’ve seen the signs.”

I swallowed hard. Because… yeah. I had noticed things. Small things I’d brushed off as stress or normal exhaustion.

The way I sometimes got randomly overheated during practice, even when everyone else was fine. The sudden mood swings that left me irritable one minute and weirdly emotional the next. The way certain smells in the locker room had started hitting me harder than before — sweat, adrenaline, even the faint metallic tang of blood from minor cuts. And those embarrassing moments in the shower where my body would produce a little slick out of nowhere, leaving me confused and scrubbing harder than necessary, telling myself it was just sweat or imagination.

I’d convinced myself it would pass. That it was nothing.

But now Kael was standing here, shaking with rut, eyes dark and intense, telling me it was all because of me.

My chest ached. My heart felt like it was cracking open. I was getting so sad it hurt — a heavy, crushing sadness that made my shoulders curl inward. If this was true… everything I’d worked for could be taken away. My place on the team. My identity as a strong, capable player. All of it gone because of something I couldn’t control.

Tears finally spilled over, hot and humiliating, sliding down my cheeks.

“I… I can’t be,” I choked out, my voice breaking completely. “I’m good at this. I’m powerful on the ice. Omegas aren’t… they’re not supposed to be like me.”

Kael’s expression softened just a fraction, but the heat and tension in his body didn’t ease. He was still pressed close, still breathing hard, still trembling with whatever rut was doing to him.

His breath came out shaky and hot against my face.

“Lately, I have been able to suppress my rut that I almost forgot I was some alpha… but ever since I found out that your blood pheromones hit hard, I couldn’t resist it anymore.”

“What the fuck are you saying?” I asked, my voice cracking as I instinctively pressed my hand tighter over the small bleeding scratch on my arm, trying to hide it.

“I’m saying I experience a hard, intense rut when you bleed.”

“What the fuck?” The words burst out of me. I shoved at his chest, panic rising fast. “Are you some nasty psychopath or what? Why the hell would you be turned on by my blood?”

Kael snarled and pushed me harder against the lockers, the metal digging into my back. “No, you tell me, since it’s your body, Omega.”

“Don’t call me that!” I warned, my voice shaking with anger and something sharper, more scared.

I didn’t know why I was even still standing here listening to this nonsense. I twisted toward the door, reaching for the handle. “I don’t know why I’m even staying here—”

But when I pulled, the door didn’t budge. I yanked harder. Nothing.

Kael’s body was leaning against it, solid and unmoving.

“See? You’re an Omega,” he said, breathing hard. “I didn’t even use my Alpha strength yet. You’re weak.”

Anger flared hot in my chest. I pulled again, putting all my weight into it, but the door stayed shut. My hands started trembling. My heart hammered so loudly I could hear it in my ears.

Kael breathed out slowly, trying to steady himself. “Ever experienced heat before?”

“Why would I?” I snapped. “I’m not a fucking Omega.” I added quickly, “No shade to them, by the way.”

Kael laughed softly, and tiredly. He shook his head. “But aren’t you one lucky dude? You’re an Omega, and you haven’t experienced heat… yet. While I, and probably other Alphas, might have to deal with rut because of the strong, weird pheromones in your blood.”

“What?” I muttered. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it might burst out of my chest. My palms were sweaty. My legs felt weak.

“Does it mean… when I bleed, an Alpha might not notice and go into rut?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Happened to me, so don’t find it weird.” Kael shrugged, still leaning against the door, eyes dark and intense.

My eyes widened. What if he was telling the truth? What if the few Alphas on my team, or anywhere else, had already noticed something strange about me? What if they’d smelled it too?

The thought made my stomach drop.

“What do I do now?” I said softly, the fight draining out of me all at once. A single tear rolled down my left cheek, hot and humiliating. I didn’t even bother wiping it away.

I felt exposed and small, like everything I’d built — my place on the Bulls, my reputation as a strong, talented player could crumble because of something I never asked for and didn’t understand.

Kael was still breathing hard, his body tense with whatever rut was doing to him, but his eyes softened just a fraction when he saw the tear.

I stood there, my back against the cold lockers, hand still pressed over the stupid little scratch on my arm, feeling more lost than I ever had in my life.