Page 9 of Monster. Me.

"I'm an omega, Dr. Lee," I say firmly, holding his gaze. "Don't let this fool you."

I gesture toward my chest.

"Though this alpha-looking body seems to deceive everybody else. This facility is the only place that can potentially give me what I want. I'm determined to make things work with whichever alpha you assign me. If things are genuinely terrible, I'll tell you. You mentioned in your emails that reassignments sometimes happen, but I'm not a difficult person, and I'm good at adapting."

I lean forward slightly.

"And I know perfectly well that I'm joining this program late and only because you did me a favor."

"That doesn't mean you don't have the right to choose your partner like others have."

I close my eyes.

"I need to be very clear about this. This program is a huge opportunity for me. Actually, scratch that; it's my only opportunity. So no, I'm not going to spend weeks sorting through dozens of candidates and turning my nose up at people before I've even met them."

Dr. Lee lets out something that sounds vaguely like an awkward laugh, though it's so mechanical that it's almost funny.

"Dozens? There aren't many alphas wanting the same thing as you. We have only twenty five pairs."

I sigh, feeling impatience creeping in.

I've been past the debating stage for a long time now, and I have no interest in revisiting it.

"Can you just show me the one you picked for me?" I ask through slightly clenched teeth. "We can handle this quickly. I'll know right away whether it's a tolerable match."

Dr. Lee makes a small gesture with one hand, clicks something on the screen, and then turns the monitor toward me. As he does, though, his elbow bumps the edge of the desk organizer, sending the cup full of pens tipping over.

Well, it would've hit the floor if I were a normal person.

Instead, I catch it, and somehow manage to snag every pen that's flying out of it at the same time. A second later the cup is sitting right back where it was on the desk.

Dr. Lee blinks.

"Oh. Wow. Nice reflexes!"

"It's nothing," I mumble.

Personally, I'd be grateful if he'd pick up the pen with the fluffy pink ball hanging off it and wave it around a little for my entertainment, but obviously that's not happening, duh.

Dr. Lee lets out a quiet sigh and nudges the cup farther away from the edge of the desk. In the process, he slides it a little closer to me, making the pink ball sway gently from side to side.

Seriously. He could stop torturing me.

"This is Rupert Nash. He's twenty-five, so one year older than you. He's also in the medical field, and I'll admit that fact influenced my decision. From what I understand, you graduated from veterinary school last month, correct?"

I nod.

"Rupert is a dental technician. Not exactly the same field, obviously, but it's closer than, say, a metallurgical engineer, and that was my second option."

He looks weirdly pleased with himself, like he's been having fun matching people.

I look at the photo on the screen.

The guy has dark hair, a pretty decent face, and nothing obvious to complain about. Dark eyes, a light dusting of freckles across his cheeks, which makes him seem more youthful. Looking at him doesn't spark any particularly positive feelings, but it doesn't spark negative ones either. My reaction is basically neutral.

"The other advantage is that Rupert is joining the program now as well. We didn't have a suitable match for him earlier. One of the candidates withdrew at the last minute, so Rupert ended up waiting for another opening, and then you appeared. You'll both be new here, which I think works in your favor."

Dr. Lee taps a section of the questionnaire next to Rupert's photo, clearly trying to draw my attention to it.