Leo

It was as if Miller was deliberately trying to avoid getting too close to me. After all, he was a true alpha, and alphas naturally craved control just as much as enigmas did. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

I had been wanting to sit down with him and ask what was really going through his mind, how we could move our relationship forward to the next level, but we simply hadn’t found the right time for a proper, honest discussion.

"Anything going through your mind?" Miller suddenly questioned, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts when he noticed I had been staring at him for too long. "You’ve been watching me for a while now. Is everything alright?"

I shook my head quietly in response. Deep down, I had so much I wanted to say, so many questions burning inside me, but now definitely wasn’t the time.

It could wait until we were alone.

"Guys!" I called out, raising my voice slightly to get everyone’s attention as I looked away from Miller.

Kayden and Rhys turned around to face me, both wearing questioning expressions.

"There is something I should tell all of you. I haven’t told Miller anything about it yet," I announced clearly.

Miller eyed me with visible confusion etched across his face. For a fleeting moment, a look of genuine betrayal flashed in his eyes, and if I had kept staring at him, the guilt would have overwhelmed me.

"What is it?" Kayden asked as he and Rhys walked back into the living area. He glanced between me and Miller, blinking as he sensed the rising tension, then focused on me again. "So Leo? What is happening?"

I stood up slowly and began explaining. "So I spoke to my uncle a few days ago. I went on a trip to Langose for that," I added, looking directly at Miller because I had lied to him about simply visiting my parents. "He and his husband are making serious, formal offers to the board of Northern Avalanche."

"What does this mean?" Rhys demanded immediately, the clear impatience ringing in his tone.

"It means that Northern Avalanche might soon have a new owner, which in turn means Kayden wouldn’t be dropped or traded off," I responded, offering a small hopeful smile while expecting to finally see excitement light up their faces. Instead, I was met with deep frowns from Rhys, Miller glaring at me with obvious hurt, and Kayden simply looking skeptical, as if he couldn’t quite believe the news.

"Come on, guys," I continued earnestly. "My uncle’s husband has powerful connections everywhere — including the council and the government — and he is actively working to transform Northern Avalanche into the first hockey team that openly welcomes and supports omegas. That will help Kayden alot and other omegas who are trying to join the league.’’

That statement made Kayden’s expression shift noticeably. He gave me a thoughtful, questioning look and stepped closer. "And how is the progress? Any solid news yet?"

I shook my head honestly.

Kayden’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"But I know exactly how influential my uncle and his husband are. They will surely make it work. And as for Damien Fernandez being traded to Northern Avalanche, I am confident it won’t negatively affect Kayden at all in the long run. He might not even join the team and about the negative medias, that could change immediately once nothern avalanche have a new owner.’’

"I hope it works out well," Rhys said, his voice gaining a spark of excitement as he clapped his hands together and looked at me warmly. "I told you nothing will go wrong."

A bright, genuine smile finally broke across Kayden’s face as he pulled me into a tight, grateful hug. "Thank you, Leo. You are always helping me.’’

Miller heaved a deep sigh and then let out a loud, bitter chuckle that carried clear hurt. "So you knew all about this, planned everything without telling me first? We’ve been together for days and I’m only hearing about it now. We spent hours in that helicopter and you kept it from me the entire time. You told me you were only going to see your mothers but instead you had something else in mind.’’

"That was the original plan!" I retorted, my voice rising immediately even though I desperately didn’t want it to.

Miller’s eyes widened in surprise before he sighed heavily. "Now you’re raising your voice at me."

I groaned in frustration and grabbed a handful of my own hair. "You know I don’t want to sound like this. It’s because of what..." I paused and rubbed my face tiredly. "Look, I am sorry I lied to you and didn’t tell you sooner, but I wanted everything to actually work out first before sharing the news."

"And now that it hasn’t worked out yet?" Miller demanded, his tone sharpening. "You hid it from me because my opinion didn’t matter, right? After all, this..."

"Oh goodness!" I let out a heavy groan. "Can you stop being so controlling, Miller?" I nearly yelled but managed to keep my voice as low as possible, fighting hard to suppress my enigma side from surfacing. "I already told you that..." I stopped mid-sentence when I noticed all three of them staring at me intently. "I can’t deal with this right now!"

I rushed out of the spacious open-plan living area of the villa, my heart pounding violently against my chest as the warm island air hit my face.

I was starting to lose control. My enigma side was pushing aggressively to the surface, demanding to break free. It shouldn’t be happening like this. I had managed to keep the violent, demanding nature of it under tight control for so long — until that night when Miller had begun showing clear dominance.

It hated the feeling. I hated it too, because it painfully reminded me of what my father had become in his final days before he died.

I didn’t want to end up like him. That was why I had pretended to be a beta all along.