Page 108 of The Price of Ice

Betrayed himself in the worst way imaginable.

That he didn’t even trust himself not to do it again. So how could he ask for justice? And the only answer he could come up with was that it wasn’t just him, and he could do something for those young omega kids who loved sports and were going to be herded into a path that would chew them up and spit up whatever was left, merciless to the end.

“Do you think it’s my responsibility to tell people what happened to me?”

His father didn’t answer for long enough that Kallen risked a glance.

“Responsibility?” he asked at long last. “Who do you think you are responsible for, son?”

He shrugged a little, stepping to the side until he could take hold of the barbell for support. “Dunno, omega kids?”

“All omega kids?” His father shook his head. “That’s... I mean, as a society, we should look out for them, for sure. But why wouldyoube responsible for them?”

“Because I... I can tell. It happened to me, so...”

The huff made him flinch a little, but then he felt his dad’s hand on his elbow. “Let’s go up, get you a cuppa,” he instructed as he turned Kallen towards the stairs. “You look like you need it.”

HE WASN’T SO SURE HE’Dneeded the amount of honey his father had put in his tea, but it made him smile a little anyway. Levy would have told him honey had antioxidants and that made it healthy despite all the glucose.

“Let’s get back to basics,” his father said. He’d taken the sofa next to Kallen’s armchair, as if he’d remembered Kallen’s preference. “Do you want to tell the press what happened to you?”

Kallen couldn’t speak for a moment, then he took a long gulp of his tea, taking even longer to swallow. It felt a bit like a miracle that his dad didn’t push. “Not really, but—”

“Stop,” his father cut in. “You don’t want to. That’s what I asked, and that’s what matters.”

“It’s notallthat matters, is it? I have to do plenty of shit I don’t want to do. Like, remember when I didn’t want to brush my teeth?”

His father snorted. “Yes, took us ages to figure out it was the new toothpaste. So why don’t you want to, this time?”

He drank some more, trying to think. Why didn’t he want everyone to know he’d been raped?

Because even in his head it was too much. He hadn’t been able to tell histherapist, for God’s sake.

“I don’t know if I— I don’t know if Ican.”

“Then don’t.”

Kallen glared at him. “Just like that?”

“Lad,” his father said pointedly. “Weren’t you saying how I pushed you to keep going when I shouldn’t have? If—” His teeth clicked together. He’d gone stiff all over. “If I was in your shoes, I don’t know I could have gone to the cops.”

“What?”

“You think I didn’t see your face after you walked out?” his father demanded. “If that didn’t take more guts than I got...” He cut his gaze to the side, but Kallen could have sworn his eyes were damp.

It had taken nearly more courage thanKallenhad. He might not have done it at all if Mr Evans hadn’t told him it was the only way to move forward with the case.

But he had done it.

Only if he stopped, it wouldn’t be enough. “But if I don’t talk about it, then nothing will change, right? And then—”

“Some ego there,” his dad cut him off at the pass. “You gonna win the game all by yourself, are you, lad?”

“No, but...” He licked his lips. “I guess, I gotta do my part, right?”

His father was already nodding. “You have, Kallen. More than anyone has any right to ask you for. And I get what you are saying, I remember being off the ice. And for me, it was no one’s fault, but I remember feeling like there was no reason to get up in the morning.”

Kallen stared at him. His father had injured himself not long after marrying his mum, practically in another lifetime as far as Kallen was concerned. He’d told Kallen and his brothers about previous lesions to teach them patience with their own, but he never spoke of the one that had ended it all.

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