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

NICHOLAS’S POV

I waited until I was certain Jayden was gone before I moved. The silence outside the room had lasted long enough that I couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore, and whatever conversation he’d been having earlier had also stopped.

Maybe he had actually left.

I didn’t know where he’d gone, but I knew I couldn’t sit there waiting for him to return. My wrists were still sore from the rope, and my body felt weak, but when I pulled against the knot again, I noticed it had loosened slightly. I worked at it carefully, twisting my hands and forcing my fingers into the gap until the rope finally slipped from one wrist.

Finally.

I immediately freed the other and stood, nearly losing my balance when my legs failed to support me properly.

I grabbed the table and waited for the dizziness to pass.

There was no time to search the room. I didn’t even bother looking for the things I’d left behind. I went straight for the door, opened it slowly and stepped outside.

Oh fuck. There were just trees that stretched for miles long.

I didn’t know where I was, but I knew I needed to put as much distance between myself and the warehouse as possible so I ran.

Branches caught against my clothes as I pushed through them, and the uneven ground made every step difficult, but I didn’t stop. I kept looking back, expecting Jayden to appear at any moment, but nothing happened. The warehouse disappeared behind the trees, and after several minutes, I couldn’t see it anymore.

I started to believe I might actually make it.

Then I heard footsteps and I turned.

Jayden was running toward me.

Oh fuck.

My stomach dropped. I immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction, but I was already exhausted, and Jayden was much faster. I could hear him gaining on me until something struck the back of my leg and sent me crashing to the ground.

I barely had time to push myself up before Jayden grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me upright.

"You really did it again," he said, his voice shaking with anger. "After everything that happened, after I moved you because of your last little escape attempt, you still decided you were going to run from me."

"Let me go!" I tried pulling away, but he shoved me hard enough to send me against a tree.

"You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore." He growled.

I pushed myself away from the tree and tried to run again, but Jayden caught me by the arm and dragged me back. I swung at him instinctively, but he blocked it and struck me across the face and my head snapped sideways.

"You’re making this worse for yourself," he said.

I stared at him, breathing hard. "Then kill me."

He froze for half a second.

I continued, "You’ve been threatening me since you took me. You’ve told me more times than I can remember that I’m going to die, so stop talking about it and do it. If that’s really what you were ordered to do, then finish it."

Jayden grabbed my jaw and forced me to look at him.. "You want to know what I was ordered to do?"

"Yes."

His expression twisted.. "My brother told me to kill you."

I stared at him. "Your brother?"

He released my face with a shove. "Yes. My brother. The same person whose instructions I should have followed from the beginning."

"Who is he?"

Jayden turned away but I grabbed his arm before he could move. "Who is your brother?"

He spun around and shoved me to the ground.. "You don’t need his name."

I tried to struggle. "I do if he’s the one who wants me dead."

"You won’t be doing anything with the information." He laughed, the sound filled with annoyance.

"I still deserve to know."

Jayden crouched down and grabbed the front of my clothes. "You don’t deserve anything from me." He shoved me backward, then struck me again when I tried to get up. "You’re the reason I have people searching for me. You’re the reason I had to move locations. You’re the reason I had to abandon a perfectly good route because you decided to run from the filling station. Do you have any idea how much attention you’ve brought down on me?"

I spat out blood. "I didn’t ask you to kidnap me."

He hit me again. "That’s not the point."

"Then what is?" I grunted.

"The point is that I should have killed you when I had the chance." He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me upright. "My brother warned me that keeping you alive would become a problem, but I didn’t listen because I thought I could handle you. I thought keeping you around would be more interesting than simply getting rid of you."

I winced as his grip tightened. "You said your brother wanted me dead. Why?"

Jayden laughed. "Still asking questions?"

"Because none of this makes sense."

He shook his head. "It doesn’t have to make sense."

"It does to me."

Jayden stared at me for a moment before shoving me down again. "You’ve spent your whole life pretending you don’t know what you are, and now you’re surprised someone else has decided it matters. Filthy thing."

I looked up at him. "You’re an Omega too."

His face immediately hardened. "Don’t."

"You are." I reminded him. "You’re not much different."

"I said don’t." He warned.

"You hate what you are so much that you’re willing to hurt another Omega because your brother told you to." I hissed

Jayden’s hand tightened. "Shut up."

I laughed. "Is that why you follow him? Because he makes you feel like you’re different from everyone else?"

He struck me. "Shut your mouth."

I tried to crawl backward, but he caught my ankle and dragged me toward him.

"You’re not better than me," I said, forcing the words out. "You’re not some exception. You’re exactly what you keep calling me."

He kicked me aside and stared down at me. "You have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Then explain it."

"There is nothing to explain." He growled.

"Yes, there is. If your brother hates Omegas so much, why are you helping him? You’re one too. What happens when he decides you’re a problem?"

Jayden’s expression changed and for the first time, I saw something behind the anger.

Fear. But it disappeared almost immediately. "Don’t bring him into this."

"You already did." I reminded him.

Jayden grabbed me again. "I said don’t."

"You told me he ordered you to kill me. You told me he thinks Omegas are a threat. You told me he warned you about me before any of this happened. So tell me what he knows about me."

Jayden stared at me. "You really think you’re important enough for me to explain all of that?"

My lips wobbled. "I must be if he wants me dead."

That angered him again.

He shoved me against the ground and stood over me. "You became important when you entered the wrong place and started asking questions you weren’t supposed to ask. You became important when people realized what you were. You became important when your existence started interfering with things that had nothing to do with you."

"What things?" I pressed.

"You don’t get to know."

"Who is he?" I continued. "Fucking tell me, coward!"

Jayden grabbed my shirt and pulled me up. "Stop asking me about him."

"Who is your brother?"

Jayden punched me. I stumbled backward, and he followed immediately, grabbing me before I could fall completely. "You’re going to keep asking until I tell you?"

"Yes." I spat out more blood.

"Then you’re going to die without hearing it." He hit me again.

I could barely keep myself upright, but I forced myself to look at him. "You’re scared of him."

Jayden stopped.

I continued before he could react. "That’s why you won’t say his name. You’re not protecting him because you’re loyal. You’re protecting yourself because you’re afraid of what he’ll do if you betray him."

His expression became furious. "You don’t know what you’re saying."

"You’ve been talking about him this entire time without even realizing you’ve already told me enough." My lips hurt as they twisted into a smile.

Jayden grabbed me by the collar. "You think you’re clever?"

"No." I swallowed. "I think you’re angry because I’m right."

He shoved me hard. I fell to the ground, and Jayden stood over me, breathing heavily. "You really don’t know when to stop."

"I don’t have anything left to lose." That made him pause as I pushed myself upright despite the pain. "You keep telling me I’m nobody because I’m an Omega, but you’re standing here beating another Omega because your brother ordered you to. If I’m a nobody, then what does that make you?"

His face twisted with rage. "Don’t compare yourself to me. Because you’re nothing like me."

"We’re the same."

He shook his head. "No, you’re an Omega."

"So are you."

Jayden stepped toward me but I didn’t move.

"Go ahead," I said, my voice shaking. "Hit me again. That’s all you’ve been doing since you found me. Maybe that’s all you know how to do."

Jayden grabbed me and slammed me back against the tree. "You’re really trying to make me kill you."

"Maybe you should."

He lifted his hand again when suddenly, a voice cut through the woods.

"Stop!"

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