Page 16 of Monster. Me.

So I smile back, making myself put some effort into it.

"How about we continue the grand tour?" Caspian says, still radiating the same cheerful enthusiasm. "Why don't you join us, Marlow? We'll show Rupert everything."

"Sure," I say, even though I have absolutely no desire to spend the next half hour doing that. Honestly, Caspian could handle it perfectly well on his own, but I don't want to come across as uninterested from the start.

So I join them and let Caspian talk. And talk. And keep talking. Rupert listens and nods, and his engagement is genuine; that I have to admit. Caspian leads us through the cafeteria, the movie theater, the nightclub, the sauna complex, the arboretum, the pool, and every other attraction the facility has to offer while enthusiastically explaining each one.

The entire time, he keeps praising… well, everything, describing the daily schedule, the entertainment options, the hiking trails surrounding the facility, and the nearby town of Rainbow Spring, which apparently offers breathtaking views and endless charm.

Along the way, more couples approach us. Now that my assigned partner has finally arrived, people seem considerably more interested in introducing themselves.

"Hey, I'm Juan."

"I'm Timmy."

"Pedro."

"Vasyl."

The introductions keep coming.

Rupert shakes every hand enthusiastically, flashing his perfectly straight, professionally whitened teeth. His friendliness is honestly difficult to compete with.

Still, there’s this unsettling, persistent thought spinning in my head, growing stronger with every passing minute.

Maybe I should have been pickier.

Because I don't feel anything.

Nothing at all.

Just emptiness.

Discouragement.

What have I gotten myself into?

I want to be an omega. I crave the life that comes with it. But wanting that doesn't automatically mean I wish to build an entire future with someone I have roughly the same chemistry with as my own brother.

Dear Fate… what a mess I’ve made.

FENN DRAX

When I open my eyes, my body is jostled by movement. Right. The damn orderly must've unlocked the wheels on my gurney. He’s rolling me somewhere, and my head drifts into a foggy haze, same as always after they take a lot of blood. I feel like absolute crap, like I barely have control over my limbs anymore.

Wilhelm pushes me down a hallway while fluorescent lights slide overhead in perfect intervals, cold blue-white rectangles passing above me like some endless geometric pattern. Their faint electrical buzz reaches me through the haze of exhaustion.

"Alright," I hear Wilhelm say beside me as he steers the bed, "keep your mouth shut for a minute. We have to cut through an area where some of the program participants might be around. Elevator A-2 is acting up, so we're taking a detour."

His breathing grows ragged. Pushing my wheeled bed takes a considerable amount of effort. I weigh nearly nine hundred pounds, and the rolling gurney had to be specially reinforced for me because every standard one eventually fell apart under my mass. Wilhelm clearly isn't thrilled that he drew the short straw and ended up with the daily job of hauling me through the facility's corridors.

My legs catch on the aluminum edge trim of one of the wall panels as we round a corner, and Wilhelm curses under his breath. "Do you have to be this damn long? You're going to be the death of me one day."

I don't answer him.

Why would I? I'm busy surviving myself.

Then I hear him pull something from his pocket, the snap of a deodorant cap, and I tense immediately.