Page 78 of Stream Heat
Reid took the phone from my hands, careful as if it might explode. He scrolled, his face hardening with every swipe. "This is illegal. Medical records are private."
"Doesn’t matter," I said, hollow. "It’s out now. It’s everywhere." I didn’t even need to say it, the phone started buzzing again, so fast there was no point trying to catch up. My texts, a dozen group chats blowing up. My inbox, too. Notifications rolling in so fast it felt like drowning.
Theo took one look at his phone and whistled. "It’s going viral. Over fifty thousand retweets already."
Jace, quiet and precise, "She uploaded the prescription details for the military suppressants. Dosages, administrations, everything."
Malik spat the truth like a bullet, "She wants to destroy you. Permanently. No recovery, no second chance."
I felt like I was watching myself from outside my body. Twenty minutes ago, the world had felt different. I’d started tohope. Now? Now nothing had changed at all. Stella hadn’t just come for my career, she was coming for my whole life.
"She’s calling me a drug addict," I whispered. Down the thread, Stella had highlighted the suppressant use, big and bold. "She says I cheated. That I used military chemicals to enhance performance."
Reid’s growl was all teeth. "That’s bullshit. Suppressants slow you down, they don’t boost anything."
I gave a little laugh, because what else was there. "Truth doesn’t matter. Only what people choose to believe."
The phone rang. Victoria Smith. I rejected the call, not ready to listen to her bullshit right now.
"We need to hit back," Ash said, voice flat, all business. "If we don’t respond, Stella controls the whole story."
"With what?" I shot back. My hands were trembling and I didn’t even try to hide it. "Stella isn’t lying! She posted real records. I did all of that. I lied. I took illegal substances. I built my entire career on pretending to be someone I wasn’t."
"That’s not all it is," Reid said. "Context. Motivation. Pressures. Those matter, even if it doesn’t feel like it now."
"Not to the Internet," I said. I tapped the screen, scrolling through the replies. Each one burned.
Always thought she was kinda off. No woman plays like that unless she’s juiced
Wait so she’s a druggie? Strip her titles her records ALL OF IT
lying about being Beta is one thing, but MILITARY SUPPRESSANTS? That’s jail time
lmaooo now it makes sense. Classic omega, always a messy liar
I’d survived the last disaster by pretending none of it mattered. This time, it was like reading my own execution, line by line. Everything I’d worked for, every record, every round won, it was all twisted, erased, replaced with disgusting stereotypes. I dropped the phone like it physically hurt.
"I can’t do this," I said, so soft I hardly recognized the voice as my own. "It’s over. She won."
"No," Reid said. I didn’t want to look at him, but his voice was pure Alpha, no room for argument. "It’s not over unless we walk away."
"You don’t get it." I shoved up off the couch, anger sparking through the numbness. "They’re going to blacklist me! This isn’t just about being outed as Omega anymore. It’s about drugs, fraud, lying to sponsors. Nobody will touch me."
"Then we fight," Theo announced, thumbs already flying across his phone. "If she wants a war, let’s give her a goddamn war."
"With what?" My laugh was half-crazed. "Anything we give them, they’ll just use against me. That’s how this works."
"Not if we set the story," Malik said, voice low. "Give them the why. The pressure, the threats behind closed doors."
"The public doesn’t want nuance," I said. I scrolled again, half-obsessed. "They want a villain. Someone to feed to the wolves."
Jace, quiet as ever, "Then we become the wolf."
The phone rang again. Platform exec, this time. My mouth was dry. I answered, hands shaking, and hit speaker.
"Kara," he began, no greeting, just a sharp, chilly voice. "We’re aware of the situation."
"I know," I said. I tried for strong, but it landed more exhausted.
