Page 53 of Monster. Me.

"No surprise, no other reaction at all?"

"Only a happy one! Why would I be surprised? I'm also a shifter. The form I can shift into doesn’t have much to do with how I look right now either… and it’s definitely a lot less attractive than yours." I grin.

I stand up and walk around him, giving him an appreciative once-over. He blushes slightly.

"And you? Wow. You’re super cute as a cat and insanely hot as a human…"

Marlow is still on all fours, slightly hunched, one knee bent to cover his groin.

"Want a T-shirt?" I ask reluctantly, because I’d rather he stayed naked. What I see is already very encouraging. His arms are beautiful, muscular but not overly bulky, his back lean and strong. But the rest is hidden.

"Okay…" he whispers.

"Sorry about the chunky boy thing. Clearly you’re not chunky at all, more like svelte."

Marlow’s soft lips part into a small smile. "No problem. They’re two completely different forms. I can be chunky as a cat. I don’t mind."

I get up and grab my T-shirt, handing it to him. I catch a brief hesitation from him when he takes it and pulls it on. It hangs well below mid-thigh on him, and it’s one of my tightest shirts. At 7’6", I tower over everyone.

Marlow sits on the edge of my bed. A tense silence stretches between us. His body is like a drawn string. I can tell he’s building up to something.

"I’m on the verge of deciding to leave the program," he says quietly, fingers interlacing on his knees, fingertips moving slightly.

"Why?" I ask, unease hitting me hard.

Marlow bites his lip, then exhales deeply. "Rupert."

"Ah… the vector guy. Can't say I'm a fan." My face probably confirms it.

"He and I don’t operate on the same wavelength."

"I’m sorry," I say, though I can’t really summon genuine emotion for that particular case.

"There’s also the whole sex thing."

Fuck. I clench my jaw slightly. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want details. I understand why Marlow is here and what this program is, but I still feel resistance.

Marlow seems to read me perfectly. "We’re not sleeping together. Nothing ever happened because Rupert isn’t the type to initiate that kind of thing, evidently. At least not with me, because he very aggressively initiated it with a beta who works for this program… Caspian."

I blink, gaping.

"Fuck… really? Having you in the same room, and he goes for Caspian?"

Marlow shrugs.

"Apparently."

I bite my lip. "Though Caspian does have his ways of drawing attention. He’s a beta with omega characteristics."

Marlow snaps his head up. "Really? Uh… how do you know that?"

I hesitate. I can see it in him, inside him, in his glands, but how do I put it into words?

Maybe like this: "I’ve got a very good sense of smell. I can pick up pheromones and hormonal compatibility. His scent is barely noticeable to a normal alpha, but to me it’s obvious. No wonder it pulls alphas in without them even knowing why."

Marlow takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Well it works; Rupert got interested in him. And not just him. All the alphas are always like ‘Hi, Caspian!’ From the look of it his secret omega nature pays off, because both Juan and Rupert are fucking him. Juan is another alpha from the program, also a vector. On top of that, Rupert also takes a dick from Juan. It's all complicated and, quite frankly… pointless. Ugh."

I shift closer. I want to touch him, but I hold back, because once I start, I’m not sure I’d be able to stop.