Page 22 of The Omega Accountant

MATTEO

The hall outsideLuca'sroom became my prison, every inch of polished marble a borderIcould not cross.Hisscent saturated the air, transformed into something devastating, something that called to the most primal part of me with a siren's destructive promise.

I'd been halfway across the city when his scent-bond had surged in my blood, when the molecular awareness that connected us even without a completed claiming had triggered warning signals impossible to ignore.Somethingwrong.Somethingdangerous.Somethingbiological overtaking what was mine.

I'd abandoned the meeting without explanation, leavingCarloto manage the fallout with theColombiansuppliers.Nothinghad mattered in that moment except reachingLuca, my claimed omega, whose distress signal had transmitted across miles of urban landscape with unmistakable urgency.

The security footage had confirmed the breach—a delivery person, properly vetted but compromised, accessingLuca'squarters with a food tray.Thecameras had caught her entering, leaving—but not what had transpired in the fifteen minutes between.Notthe sabotage.Notthe deliberate destruction of chemical barriers betweenLuca'sbiology and vulnerability.

NowIstood outside his door, each breath filling my lungs with particles of his distress, his need, his involuntary call to the alpha who had claimed him on paper but not yet in blood.Thescent of him had transformed completely—the subtle honey-citrus notes now a maelstrom of sweetness, urgency, and biological demand.

My vision sharpened with predatory focus, each element of the hallway rendered in hyper-detailed clarity despite the dimmed lighting.Mycanines throbbed with threatening extension, my muscles coiling with potential energy.Everycell in my body demandedIbreak down the door, claim what was mine, complete the bond biology was already screaming for.

"Go," he had begged, tears streaking down his flushed face. "Pleasego."

I had gone.Notfar enough.Neverfar enough.

With brutal effort,Iforced my right hand to unclench, to release the doorknobI'dbeen gripping with enough force to warp the metal.Myleft hand pressed against the wall beside the door, fingernails digging into the plaster until fine dust sifted down to the marble floor.

His scent continued its assault on my senses sharpening to something that cut through rational thought like a blade through silk.Beneathit all lay that distinctive undertone—warm rain on stone—now heated to steam that threatened to scald judgment entirely.

Mine, my alpha hindbrain insisted with increasing urgency.Suffering.Needing.Mine.

The wall seemed the safer focus, whereIcould direct my strength without harming what was mine.Theplaster continued crumbling under my grip, a poor substitute for the violence my body demanded—the claiming of vulnerable flesh, the sealing of biochemical bond through the exchange of blood and saliva and shared pleasure.

From beyond the door came a cry that pierced through all defenses—raw, desperate, my name embedded within the sound. "Matteo!"

I pressed my forehead against the cool wall, focusing on the sensation to ground myself as another wave of his scent washed over me.Myown biology had begun responding beyond conscious control—rut rising in answer to his heat, my scent sharpening with protective aggression, with possessive intent.

IfIclaimed him now, like this, it wouldn't be choice.Itwould be biology dictating terms both of us would have to live with forever.Thepaper claiming could be dissolved, could be reversed through legal mechanisms if necessary.Aclaiming bite—flesh yielding to teeth, exchanging biochemicals that would permanently alter us both—that was irrevocable.Thatwas forever.

He deserved better than an alpha unable to master his own biology.

He deserved choice within constraint, partnership within possession.

I would burn for him instead.

My muscles trembled with the effort of restraint, sweat beading along my hairline despite the cool air of the hallway.Thedoorknob remained within my reach, the barrier between us penetrable with minimal effort.Theinstinct to claim, to possess, to take what was already legally mine grew stronger with each pained sound that filtered through the wood.

"Matteo," he called again, my name fracturing into syllables of desperate need. "Please.Ican't—Ican't bear it."

My hand rose toward the doorknob once more beforeIforced it back to my side, nails digging crescents into my palm asIfought for control against the primal imperative now roaring through my system.

IfIentered that room, ifIallowed myself to taste his heat-scent directly rather than through the filter of wooden barriers, there would be no return.Thealpha already straining against civilized restraint would break free completely.Iwould claim him—not through mutual choice or partnership, but through biological inevitability neither of us could resist in our current states.

And he would hate me for it, once the heat receded.Onceclarity returned.Oncechoice had been stripped away by instinct neither could fully control.

The sound of his suffering continued filtering through the door, each moan and whimper striking my control like hammer blows to weakening metal.Myforehead pressed harder against the wall, the cool plaster offering momentary clarity through physical sensation as my body temperature continued rising with the onset of responsive rut.

Mine to protect.Mineto honor.Mineto respect through restraint rather than possession.

When theSouzasdiscovered they had created this vulnerability in what was mine, they would pay with blood and territory both.Everyperson involved in the sabotage—from whoever had turned our staff member to whoever had issued the original order—would disappear from existence.Theirfamilies would speak of them in past tense.Theirterritories would become mine.Theirlegacy would be erased from memory.

But first,Ihad to survive this night without betraying the trust of the omega suffering behind this door.Withoutallowing biology to override the choice that had to exist between us for any true partnership to form.

He had not chosen this heat.Hehad not chosen this moment.Hehad not asked for the biological vulnerability now being used against us both.

I would endure the fire in my blood, the ache in my jaw, the tension coiled through every muscle.Iwould stand guard while he suffered.Iwould protect what was mine from afar, offering security without taking advantage of vulnerability that would be so easy to exploit.

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