I sit on the edge of the bed, keeping what I think is a safe distance. "What is it? What's wrong with you?"
Micah takes a shaky breath, his eyes fixed on the water glass. "I'm going into heat."
The words stop me cold. My brain goes blank, unable to process what he's just said.
"But—" I start, then stop. "Your heat isn't due for weeks. You said—"
"I know." Micah's knuckles are white around the glass. "It's unexpected. A breakthrough heat. Amara confirmed it at the restaurant."
"How is that possible? You're on suppressants."
Micah's face flushes deeper, and he still won't meet my eyes. "Sometimes it happens. When an omega is around a particularly...compatible alpha for an extended period."
Understanding dawns, heavy and immediate. Compatible alpha. Extended period. He's talking about me. My scent, my presence somehow I triggered this.
"Are you saying—" I can't even finish the sentence.
"My body is responding to you," Micah says, the words tumbling out in a rush. "On a biological level. That's why my heat is starting early, why it's breaking through the suppressants."
I stand up abruptly, needing to move, to process. "But that doesn't make sense. Why would this happen now?"
Micah finally looks up at me, his hazel eyes fever-bright and desperate. "I don't know. Amara said sometimes it takes time, or changes in circumstances, or—" He cuts himself off, looking away again. "It doesn't matter why. The point is, it's happening, and I need to leave."
"Leave?" I turn back to him, and possessive heat flares in my chest, hot and fierce and completely foreign. "You can barely stand."
But even as the word comes out, panic starts to creep in. This is exactly what Dad would have done—acted on impulse,let biology drive his decisions. The thought makes my stomach twist with familiar disgust.
"I know, but I can't stay here." Micah sets the water glass on the nightstand with a shaking hand. "My heat will fully hit in a few hours, and I can't…I can't put you in that position."
The rational part of my brain knows he's right. This is dangerous territory, the kind of situation where alphas make terrible decisions they can't take back. Where good men become the kind of selfish bastards who abandon their families for the first omega who triggers their instincts.
But the thought of Micah leaving, of him going through this alone, makes fury rise in my throat.
"You're not going anywhere," I say, and I barely recognize my own voice. Deeper, more commanding than I've ever heard it.
Christ. I sound exactly like him. Like my father when he decided he wanted something.
Micah's eyes widen, and I see his throat work as he swallows. "Nick, you don't understand. When my heat hits for real, it's going to be intense. More intense than normal because it's breaking through suppressants. I'll need—" He stops, color flooding his face. "I'll need help."
Help. He means sex. He means an alpha to help him through his heat.
The thought should repulse me. Make me uncomfortable at the very least. I've only ever been with female omegas. I've never even considered being with a man. What the hell would I even do? How would that even work?
And beyond that, what happens after? When his heat breaks and I have to look at myself in the mirror, knowing I acted exactly like the man I've spent my entire adult life trying not to become?
"I can't," I say, the words scraping out of me. "Micah, I can't. You don't understand what you're asking."
Pain flashes across his features. "I know it's not what you want—"
"It's not about what I want. It's about what happens when I lose control. When I stop thinking and start acting on instinct. I've seen what that leads to."
Micah's expression falters. "This isn't the same thing—"
"Isn't it?" The words come out harsher than I intended. "My dad thought his biology was more important than his commitments too. Thought following his impulses was more important than the people who depended on him."
"Nick," Micah says softly, and there's understanding in his voice that makes my chest ache. "You're not your father."
"How do you know?" I demand. "How do you know I won't do exactly what he did, act on impulse and then regret it later? How do you know I won't hurt you?"