MARLOW
I leave Fenn Drax’s room feeling even more lost about everything that’s happening. What the hell am I supposed to do? Seriously, what?
Before the door closes behind me, I glance once more at the large glass wall overlooking the cafeteria. Rupert is already there eating breakfast, sitting beside Juan and Timmy like always.
I have no desire to join them, but I know I should. If I stay away too long, people will start asking questions, and the last thing I want is more attention.
Suddenly, I notice two people standing near the elevator, talking. Wilhelm and Reed immediately head my way at a brisk pace.
Now that Fenn Drax’s door is closed, they both pull the clips off their noses, but I still notice the two of them subtly flaring their nostrils, as if inhaling something. Could it be that because I hugged Fenn, some of his scent rubbed off on me? Not good.
"So, how was your little bath in his pheromones? Feeling tempted to go for more?" Wilhelm mutters, flashing me a crooked grin loaded with implication.
"We're available too, you know."
I let out a hiss. Yeah, I guess some of his pheromones remained on me. Oh, well.
"What the fuck are you mumbling about there? Mind your own business, jerks."
Wilhelm and Reed stop on either side of me, but it doesn’t intimidate me in the slightest. Okay… maybe I'm a bit arrogant, but I'm a cat, and it's part of our nature.
All I'd have to do is extend my claws and scratch their faces. That would kill any romantic interest real fast.
"Come on, don’t tell me our beloved Red Mug didn’t get to you. Unless he already took care of your ass," Wilhelm says.
"Fuck off, idiots. Nothing like that happened. The guy is being treated horribly here. Showing him a little compassion is something you could try too for a change."
Wilhelm snorts dismissively, but Reed frowns and scratches his chin.
From what I've figured out, Wilhelm is an orderly, but Reed seems to be an actual nurse, and apparently something I said caught his attention.
"Then how are you resisting his pheromones? Honestly, from the beginning, you haven't seemed affected by them at all," he asks suspiciously.
"I have blockers."
Reed bursts out laughing.
"No regular blocker works against his pheromones. They’re not that kind. To block them, somebody would have to start an entire production line and create a brand-new product specifically for him, and nobody’s doing that for one guy."
I hesitate. That’s actually interesting. Yes, I noticed it before, but I never really thought much about it. Maybe I should?
"Do they really boost libido that much? I've heard about that, but—"
"Boost? If only it were that simple. Take a good hit of his pheromones, and it becomes damn near impossible to resist. Either you jerk off or you fuck somebody. It’s that strong, and I’ve never seen anyone completely resist it."
Wilhelm chimes in. "Except betas, obviously."
"Yeah," Reed agrees. "Most of them feel little to nothing, or maybe just a mild effect if they have some hidden omega traits."
I snort.
"Then I don't understand why I don't smell anything as an alpha. I only take the regular Allure blockers they give everybody here, but that's it."
"That’s what has us wondering too," Reed says, narrowing his eyes. "Or maybe you're full of shit because you don't want us mentioning to Rupert that you’d enjoy the Red Mug’s twelve-incher?"
"You can mention whatever you want to him." And I shrug, quite amused.
"Twelve? I bet it’s even more," mutters Reed with a weird intensity, his nostrils still flaring.
I try to walk around them, but Wilhelm grabs my elbow.
His voice drops into a suggestive tone.
"You're the hottest varia here. You think we haven't noticed? It's not just us. A couple of other guys are jealous of Rupert too. We're exclusively into omegas, of course, but in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Better a pretty alpha than an ugly one."
I can feel my blood pressure rising. It’s almost the same thing I’ve heard from many alphas in my past I was interested in.
Like, yeah, I’m into omegas only, but you’re so pretty I could make an exception, you know, just for a quick fuck…
And the fact that even here, in a place where I’m undergoing hormone therapy to change my profile into an omega, it just follows me, and it really pisses me off.
"Wow! How gracious of you. I’m touched. It’s becoming painfully obvious that living in this facility has made you desperate, but I’m not anywhere near that level of desperation.
And even if you were the last man on earth, you still wouldn’t entice me," I say as I yank my elbow free with enough force to nearly twist his wrist. "If you suck this badly at flirting, you’re probably bad at sucking in general, which makes your offer even less tempting. "
"Don't play hard to get, sweetie. I've got a feeling you'd spread your ass cheeks for Red Mug without a second thought."
That does it.
Maybe I shouldn't react, but he deserves it for how he treats Fenn. My movement is faster than what most alphas can manage. They are known for their speed, but I'm on another level; my feline genes give me an extra boost. Before either of them can react, I punch Wilhelm square in the nose.
That will get the message across.
It’s not the first time someone's started shit with me, but I've always managed to get myself out of trouble.
Wilhelm stumbles backward into the wall, while Reed watches with a strange expression.
He clearly has no interest in fighting, though.
He just catches Wilhelm before he slides all the way to the floor.
"Wow. You're such a caveman," he says with contempt. "We were just talking, and you're already throwing punches."
I turn around without a word and walk down the hallway.
What a pair of idiots. And what kind of pathetic innuendos were those?
To be fair, I get that they're probably a little starved for action.
They work in the middle of nowhere, and most of the staff are alphas and betas, with the sour exception of the boss of all bosses, Dr. Lomax.
But he seems unlikely to inspire any uncontrollable sexual urges.
Unless, of course, someone has a thing for funeral directors.
When I return to the promenade, I head straight toward the cafeteria. I need to show my face, or people may start asking questions. When I walk in, Rupert is chatting with Juan like nothing happened, and the best part is that Caspian is sitting with them too.
Well, the staff definitely don't seem to have any issue getting friendly with the program participants.
Great.
I really don't feel like dealing with any of them, but what other choice do I have? Everything is completely fucked, and I'm exhausted. The only thing stopping me from running back home, is one small detail: I want to get to know Fenn Drax better.
Give him a little more time.
Give… myself a little more time.
For what? No idea.
"So, how'd it go?" Caspian asks casually as soon as I sit down. Apparently Rupert already filled him in.
"How do you think it went?" I reply with a bitter grimace. "They give him local anesthesia and then put him through painful procedures like bone marrow extraction. Sorry, but it's disgusting how Welrun treats this man."
"He's not a human," Juan says firmly. "He's a monster. And a rapist."
"He's not a rapist! He had consent forms signed by every beta involved. "
"Sure, sure. A nice little show he put on for the public. He never actually cared."
"If he didn't care, he wouldn't have recorded that conversation with his boss where he asked whether everything was actually legal. Dig around online and you'll find more balanced articles about what happened on Calsing Island instead of all the sensationalized garbage." I scoff.
"I know enough," Juan says, his tone filled with smugness.
That’s it, I snap, "You know shit! My brother-in-law is Blue Lowen, Fenn Drax’s former employer, so I would say I know quite a bit more than you from the source itself."
A stunned silence falls over the table. Oh, how dare I speak to Juan like that, the man everyone adores and respects without question, especially at this table. Rupert, Timmy, and Caspian stare at me. Even Pedro and Vasyl have stopped eating.
But do I care? My feline nature is an inseparable part of who I am. I walk my own path, and I’m an individualist. I’ve never had the mindset of a follower.
Juan opens his mouth to say something, but unexpectedly his bootlicker, Rupert, interjects.
"I doubt Blue Lowen would be unbiased here. He had scientific oversight over the facility on Calsing Island."
I narrow my eyes.
"If you want to compare the ethical standards of medical care there and here at Welrun, well…
good luck. I personally saw Fenn being beaten with a baton to the head, his wounds left untreated, unsterilized, his pain ignored.
This is a barbaric place, and I have a bad feeling about the results of the program if the people in charge here allow this abuse. "
A gloomy silence settles over the table.
This is by far the longest rant I’ve ever made here, and I’m definitely not going to win any new fans with it.
Juan looks to the side, Timmy at his plate. Caspian stares at his fingers.
After all, he works for Welrun, and my opinion of the company employing him has to sting, but his easygoing personality won't let him push back.
Rupert seems to notice.
"I think they'll figure it out," he says, almost warmly. "They've got a talented team working here."
Caspian looks at him gratefully.
I just roll my eyes. The whole thing is starting to piss me off more and more.
◆◆◆
Pedro's birthday party is tonight, and I have zero enthusiasm for it.