AN OMEGA'S CYCLE: TRAPPED IN HEAT WITH MY FOUR STEPBROTHERS.

NICHOLAS’S POV

"Just go, Jayden." I muttered under my breath, my heart racing.

Roman wanted trouble. He was going to cause trouble. The last thing I needed was to drag Jayden into it.

Jayden looked at me, then at Roman, who was still standing a few steps away with his attention fixed entirely on us. His expression had become harder, and I could tell he wasn’t comfortable leaving me alone with him. I understood why. Roman hadn’t even bothered to hide how suspicious he was, and the way he’d questioned me made it obvious that he already knew something about Jayden.

"I’ll call you when I get home," Jayden said quietly.

I nodded. "Do that."

He hesitated for another moment before finally turning around. I watched him walk through the gate and down the road, refusing to look back even though I could feel Roman watching me.

Once Jayden was far enough away, Roman spoke again. "Who was he?"

I ignored him and walked toward the house. "Nicholas."

Still nothing.

Roman barely gave me enough time to turn toward the house before his hand caught the back of my arm.

I stumbled backward from the sudden force, and before I could regain my balance, my back struck the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of me. I stared at him in shock, one hand immediately going to the wall beside me as I tried to steady myself.

Roman stood directly in front of me, his expression completely different from the one he’d worn outside. There was no casual irritation in his face now. He looked furious, and the anger in his eyes made me realize that his questions at the gate had not been simple curiosity. "I am going to ask you one last fucking time. Who was that?"

I swallowed and pushed myself away from the wall, but he caught my shoulder and held me there. "I asked you a question."

"Let go of me." I hissed.

"Not until you answer." His voice was low, but the grip on my shoulder was firm enough to make it clear that he wasn’t interested in an argument.

I glared at him despite the nervousness building in my chest. "I don’t have to tell you anything."

"You do when the person you’re standing with may be connected to the person who nearly got you killed."

My eyes widened and Roman noticed immediately. "So you know exactly what I’m talking about."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Don’t lie to me." He growled.

"I said I don’t know."

His jaw tightened. He leaned closer, forcing me to keep my back against the wall. "That hoodie didn’t end up around you by accident. We found out what was on it. We know the scent matched the one from the intruder, and now I come home to find you standing at the gate with someone you refuse to identify. You expect me to believe that’s a coincidence?"

"Jayden has nothing to do with any of that." The words came out before I could stop them and Roman went completely still.

"Jayden." He hissed the name like it was something bitter.

I realized my mistake as his eyes narrowed. "So that’s his name."

I cursed under my breath.

"You just said you weren’t going to answer me." He scowled.

"I didn’t say anything about him being involved. Don’t put words into my mouth."

"You didn’t have to." Roman released my shoulder only to grab the front of my shirt and pull me forward slightly before letting me go again. I immediately stepped away from him, but he blocked my path. "How long have you known him?"

"That’s none of your business." I scowled.

"How did you meet?" He pressed.

I turned to him, annoyance blazing in my eyes. "I said it’s none of your business."

"Does he know about the stalker?" He ignored the look on my face and I didn’t answer. "Does he know about the messages?"

"Leave him out of this."

Roman stared at me for several seconds. "You’re protecting him."

I leveled him with a glare. "I’m protecting myself."

"From what?" He scoffed.

"From you."

That clearly angered him again, but instead of grabbing me, he stepped back and looked at me with an expression I couldn’t understand. "You have no idea what you’re doing."

That made me angry. "And you do? You don’t know anything about my life."

"I know you nearly got hurt because you trusted something you shouldn’t have. I know someone has been inside this house. I know the person responsible left behind a scent that matched the one connected to that hoodie, and now you’re refusing to tell me why you’re spending time with a person who may have some connection to all of it."

That made me roll my eyes. "You’re making a connection because you want there to be one."

Roman threw his hands up in frustration. "Then prove me wrong."

"I don’t owe you proof." I forced through gritted teeth.

Roman laughed once, without any humor. "That’s the problem with you. You think everyone asking questions is trying to control you."

"Because you are. Are you gonna stand here and tell me that everything you did today was not you trying to control me like usual? I’m not a fucking kid!"

"No. I’m trying to keep you alive." He jabbed a finger in my direction as his voice hardened. "You think because everyone in this house has been giving you space that you can do whatever you want without anyone noticing. You disappear for hours, you refuse to tell anyone where you’re going, you spend the day with someone we know nothing about, and when I ask you who he is, you tell me to stay out of your business."

I shrugged. "Because it is my business."

"Not when your decisions can put everyone else in danger."

A frown pulled at my lips. "How does Jayden put anyone in danger?"

"You don’t know that he doesn’t."

"I trust him." I snapped.

Roman’s expression changed. That seemed to be the answer he had been waiting for. "You trust him."

"Yes." I didn’t back down.

"How long have you known him?"

I hesitated. "Long enough."

Roman didn’t find that funny. "That’s not an answer."

"Well, have fun with it because it’s the answer you’re getting." I shrugged.

He stared at me, then stepped aside. For a moment, I thought the confrontation was over and I started walking toward the staircase.

"Fine." He suddenly called out.

I stopped as Roman’s voice came from behind me. "I don’t care anymore."

I slowly turned around. He looked completely detached now, as though he’d already decided I wasn’t worth the argument. "If you want to trust someone you barely know, that’s your choice. If you want to ignore every warning you’ve been given, that’s your choice too. I’m not going to chase you around this house begging you to make sensible decisions."

I didn’t respond and he continued toward the staircase. "Just don’t come running to me when it goes wrong."

I watched him climb several steps before speaking. "I wasn’t going to."

Roman stopped but he didn’t turn around. "Good." He continued upstairs.

I stood in the entrance hall, my heart still beating quickly from the confrontation, but I refused to let him see how much he’d shaken me.

A few seconds later, Cassian appeared on the upper landing. He looked from Roman to me, clearly having heard enough to know something had happened. "What was that about?"

Roman didn’t even stop walking. "Nothing you need to involve yourself in."

Cassian frowned. "Roman, you’re both clearly angry."

"I said leave it."

"What happened outside?" Cassian pressed.

Roman finally turned his head. "Apparently our little Omega has decided he doesn’t need anyone."

I looked away as Cassian’s gaze moved toward me.

For a second, I expected him to ask what had happened. I expected him to come downstairs, or at least say something that would show he cared.

Instead, Roman continued up the stairs, and Cassian remained where he was. Neither of them stopped me when I went to my room.

I shut the door behind me, locked it and sat down on the edge of my bed.

My hands were still shaking and I hated that.

I hated that Roman had managed to frighten me without even raising his voice. I hated that I had given him Jayden’s name. And most of all, I hated that I was beginning to understand why everyone kept telling me to be careful.

I picked up my phone and before I could do anything else, I opened Jayden’s chat.

"Did you get home?" I typed out and sent the message.

His reply came a few minutes later. "Almost. What happened?"

I stared at the message. There was too much to explain, so I simply typed that Roman had confronted me about him and that I hadn’t told Roman anything beyond his name.

Jayden immediately asked whether I was alright and I told him I was.

He didn’t completely believe me, but he didn’t force me to continue.

We talked for a while, and eventually my attention returned to the stalker’s messages and I opened the conversation again.

This time, I wasn’t going to leave it on read.

I typed slowly. "Who are you?"

The response came almost immediately. "It’s too early for you to know."

My stomach tightened and I sent another message. "Then what do you want?"

There was barely any delay before the next message came in. "You."

I stared at the screen in shock when another message appeared. "I’ll get you."

My fingers went numb.

I dropped the phone onto the mattress and stood up so quickly that the chair beside my desk scraped against the floor. I walked toward the window, then turned around and walked back again, unable to settle. The message remained on the screen, three simple words that made it clear the person behind everything wasn’t interested in frightening me for entertainment.

They wanted something from me — they wanted me.

I picked up the phone again and stared at the conversation.

The brothers had their own reasons for keeping an eye on me. Roman clearly thought I was incapable of making decisions for myself. Elijah was still angry and guilty about what happened at school. I didn’t know what Cassian and Adrian were thinking anymore, but I couldn’t depend on them.

If I told them about the latest message, they’d probably try to take over everything. They’d start asking questions, restricting where I went and deciding who I was allowed to see. I didn’t want that.

I needed to know who was behind this before anyone else knew I was investigating.

Jayden was the only person I was willing to trust.

I opened a blank note on my phone and began writing down everything I remembered: when I’d first noticed the stalker, the messages, the photographs, the hoodie, the break-in and every strange detail that might connect them.

And I would find the stalker myself.

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