It’s been hours, and I can’t focus. Max is out there—alone and fucking in heat! Dammit! Why did I let him leave? I should have followed him immediately after he left. He could be anywhere by now…and with anyone.

“I’ve got to get out of here.” I pass by Naheed without sparing him a parting glace. “I need to find him.”

“Call if you need help. I’ll be done here in an hour or so.”

I flick my wrist in an acknowledging wave but don’t respond. Now that I’ve come to terms with the fact that what I felt with Max was more than just interest and lust…I can’t stop thinking about him. I need him. Desperately.

Without a clue as to where I’m heading, I jump in my car and start to drive. At first, the turns and straights seem aimless, but after about fifteen minutes, I realize I can feel Max. Not in a tangible way, but as if there’s an invisible string between us and he’s guiding me to him.

Giving complete control over to my biology, I follow my instincts until they tell me to park near a cluster of abandoned buildings.

Fuck, Max, I hope you’re okay.

As soon as I’m outside of the car, I can smell him. The scent is faint and heavily diluted, but it’s already ingrained in my memory. Something I’ll never forget for as long as I live. Once again, allowing my body to take me where I need to be, I start jogging through the dark encampment of homeless omegas.

Some seem frightened to see me while others are hopeful I’ll choose them as the one I want to rescue from this shithole. Even though I feel sorry for every sad, hungry face I pass, I’m on a mission that can’t be stopped. Not until I know Max is safe will I be able to fully breathe again.

In a dark corner of the long parking lot, I see two people talking. One seems to be crowding the other and reaches for him. When the smaller of the two men turns toward me, I know it’s Max. And he knows I’m here.

I pick up my pace, running at full-speed to make sure my mate is okay. My mate. Just the significance of the word makes my legs pump harder. I will protect my mate.

The man standing with Max appears to be a beta, based on his size and stature. Like a horror movie playing out in front of me, the man wraps both arms around Max’s waist and lifts him up, lugging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he tries to run off in the other direction.

“Stop.” I run faster, desperate to get to them.

“Curtis, help me.” Max calls out to me and my blood sings at his acceptance. Whether he cares for me or not, at least he trusts me to save him.

An additional shot of adrenaline gives me the boost I need to close the gap between me and my mate. A strange sensation of contentment and relief washes over me as a pull Max out of the other mans’ arms and into mine. “Are you okay?” I take a deep whiff, letting his pheromones seep into my lungs and settle deep within me. “Did he hurt you?”

Max shakes his head and gently pulls out of my grasp. “Thank you,” he whispers. His gaze locks on something over my shoulder so I turn to look.

The man who tried to take him is fumbling with his keys to get into an older Toyota. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t hurt him.” Max reaches for my arm and holds me in place. “He was just confused. He wasn’t really trying to hurt me.”

The decision to stay with Max instead of chasing down the beta who touched him isn’t easy. I want to make sure that man knows Max is mine. But he isn’t. Not yet, anyway.

I want so desperately to hold him, but we’re not ready for that yet. “Will you come to my place so we can talk?”

Max looks around as if trying to find a better option before he agrees. “Okay.”

* * *

The ride to my house is quiet. The tension between us is thick, like a living, breathing organism. It pulses and retreats with each breath I take, throbbing in time with my aching cock. Even though I don’t want to take Max until he’s 100% sure he wants me to, I can’t help my natural reaction. My mate is two feet away from me and in heat. I’m only human.

Once we get inside, I grab a couple beers and drop into the recliner in my living room. Sitting beside Max on the couch might be too tempting, and I really need him to listen to me without being afraid.

Max takes a gulp from the bottle and rests it on his knee without looking up at me. I'm not sure where to start, so I just sit in silence too, hoping he’ll break first.

It feels like hours tick past, but it’s probably only minutes before he finally clears his throat. “So, what's happening to me?”

I blow out a low breath and lean back in the recliner, trying to be as unintimidating as possible. “I think it's the same thing that’s happening to me.”

That finally gets Max’s attention and he meets my gaze. “What's happening to you?”

As neutral as I'm trying to be in this situation, I can't stop the corner of my lips from tugging up into a small grin. “My body is reacting to the fact that I've met my mate.”

It takes a second for my meaning to sink in, and when it does, several emotions seem to flash across Max’s expression. At first, he looks disbelieving and frightened, but after a long moment, realization and acceptance seem to dawn on him as he looks me in the eye. “Your mate?”

Anybody else probably wouldn't have heard his whisper, but I'm already so in tune with him that I think I could hear it from across the house.

I merely nod.

“Do you mean me?”

Without breaking eye contact, I smile again. “Yes, you are my fate, Max. My destiny. You're the one I’m meant to be with.”

His mouth opens and closes a few times, but no words come out.

Shit. I hope he doesn’t hate me. I don’t want to sound weak but my voice is shaky as I ask, “How does that make you feel?”

He leans back against the sofa and takes another drink of his beer. The fact that he’s not running out of the room feels like a good sign, but I need to hear him speak. I need to know in his own words.