34. Benjamin

Istep into the house, and the scent all around me hits me like a train at full speed. It's thick, heady, and I know right off that Zara's in heat, even if I hadn't received the message from Henry that sent us careening back here like our asses were on fire.

My gut twists in a knot of unease. I quickly glance at Liam, who stands beside me with a tight jaw and fierce, dark eyes.

"Finally," Henry greets us. "I've done what I can with Mia. She's okay for now—fed, changed, sleeping."

I nod, not sure what to say, my mind is too full of Zara's scent and the anxiety knotting up tighter inside me.

Liam's growl is low, almost lost beneath the sound of our breathing. I cast him a sidelong look, seeing the strain on his face, the way he's fighting himself. It's like we're both on the edge, ready to tumble over, and it's all because of Zara.

"Right, I'll go and check on her," I trail off, unsure where to put myself. I can feel the pull, that undeniable urge drawing me towards her, and I know Liam feels it, too. He's barely holding it in, his fingers curling into fists at his sides.

I quickly race up the stairs, holding my breath as if that's going to help, and push my way into Mia's nursery, closing the door quietly and exhaling loudly. I did not expect an omega's heat to affect me in any way whatsoever. This was not a thing I was concerned about by having an omega nanny in my house.

But it's like trying to hold on to water; the urge to go to Zara, to soothe her, to claim her, is overwhelming and earth-shattering—as in, the ground drops away beneath me at this realisation.

"Shh, little one," I whisper to Mia, even though she's not the one needing reassurance. It's me. I'm the one on the razor's edge, fighting every natural impulse that screams at me to be the alpha I am. But Mia needs me now. My duty, my role—it's here, ensuring this little girl is safe and secure, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Mia's eyes flutter open, and her little fingers curl around mine for a moment before she yawns, her eyes closing again. I take her temperature and it's dropping again.

Relief floods me she is on the mend from whatever caused her fever.

"Night, love," I whisper. There's a mobile of stars and moons above her cot; I give it a gentle tap, and it starts to turn, twinkling softly. The lullaby that tinkles out is soothing, maybe for both of us, because right now, I need all the calm I can get.

Stepping out of the nursery, I close the door with a quiet click and pause, pressing my back to the cool hallway wall. It's time to face what I've been dodging since stepping through the front door. Zara's room is just steps away.

Her scent is everywhere: thick in the air, sweet and spicy and utterly intoxicating. It's like it seeps straight into my veins, setting them alight with this heat, this craving that's so foreign yet so potent.

But then the mating bite gives me a complete bitch slap, pulsing and bleeding so much, I can feel it sticking to my shirt collar. My guts turn over, and I make it back into my bedroom to lean over the toilet to throw up the entire contents of my stomach, sweating and rasping for breath.

"Fuck. You!" I choke out as I slump to the bathroom floor and reach up to flush the toilet.

After a few moments of just breathing, I manage to haul myself up. The reflection staring back at me from the bathroom mirror looks like a wild man, with dishevelled hair and eyes that look more beast than human. I splash cold water on my face, trying to wash away the urge that's clawing at my insides. Pulling at my tie and loosening my collar, I peel the ruined white cotton away from my neck with a grimace.

But then something inside me snaps. Literally.

There's a loud crack that I feel down to my soul, and I stumble back, tripping over my own feet and hitting the deck hard as I land on my ass, half in, half out of the bathroom.

"Jesus," I groan and lie back, putting my hands over my face. "It's gone."

Gone.

Removed.

Broken.

Whatever word you want to use to describe the mating bond I had with Nicole, use it because I'm fucking free.

"I hope that hurt you as much as it did me, you bitch," I spit out and turn over onto my side to curl up as the pain, the dull ache that has been heavy on every cell in my body, finally lets up.

I lie there for a moment, taking deep breaths, trying to process this new reality. My head is spinning; it's like I'm relieved and empty all at the same time. Suddenly, the scent of Zara becomes even more potent, filling the absence where that painful connection to Nicole used to be.

"Fucking hell," I mutter as I slowly push myself up from the floor. There's a part of me that wants to stay here on the cold tile, away from everything else. But that's not me. I'm done hiding.

As I stand up, every muscle in my body screams at me to go to Zara. It feels right – natural even. It's scary how quickly the pull has shifted, how it's no longer a bond but an instinct that tells me where I need to be.

But something stops me.

Zara.

She has no idea what has just happened to me. She has no idea how I feel about her and how I know with every inch of my soul that her heat has snapped the bond like it was nothing. If I go to her now, I'm putting her in a situation she isn't expecting and isn't ready for.

So, I strip off, knowing the shirt is ruined, but chuck it in the laundry basket anyway, and turn on the shower, letting it run cool before I step in and try to douse the alpha instincts in me to go to the omega in heat only two rooms away and make her take my knot until she can't think of anything else.