“You’ve got to put me out of my misery.” My stomach hurt now, all the very worst things running through my head.
Doctor Swann took a deep breath, then pushed the words out quickly. "You've been matched, Lucy."
My jaw dropped, not believing it could happen so fast. I'd assumed I would have weeks, maybe months of this intermediate existence—no longer a patient but not yet bonded to an Alpha. I’djustbeen sampled. This had to be a joke.
"Already?" My voice cracked on the word.
Doctor Swann nodded, her discomfort visibly growing. "As soon as we loaded your profile—" She hesitated, choosing her words with evident care. “The match was instant, Lucy. We double-checked manually.”
A dozen questions collided in my mind, none making it past my suddenly dry throat.Who? When? How many? What did they know about me? What did I need to know about them?
Doctor Swann continued into the silence, her words coming faster now. "These clients have been waiting a while. Your compatibility markers match so unexpectedly well."
I frowned. "That's good though, right?" In my head, I added:if our scents match perfectly, there's a better chance they won't hate me. A better chance they'll tolerate the strange, pale creature they're getting saddled with.
Her hand slipped off my knee. She knit her fingers together, looking down at the floor, her brow furrowed.
"Lucy," she spoke softly now, "these Alphas are... dangerous. Frankly, I didn’t think they’d ever be matched."
The words hung heavy between us. I knew she was waiting for me to react. With anxiety or fear or any of the normal emotions one would feel when faced with peril. I should ask questions—Dangerous how? To themselves? To others? To me specifically?But I said nothing. I'd spent my entire life surrounded by things that could hurt me. Germs. Needles. Drugs. Abandonment. I’d nearly died trying to stay alive. The concept of danger had long since lost its power over me. The only thing that truly made me afraid was the idea of being sick again. I refused to go back to being trapped in a broken body and an isolated room.
“Did you hear me, Lucy?” the doctor pressed.
"Yes," I said slowly.
She studied me, then seemed to square her shoulders and pull herself together. She even swiped a hand down her hair to smooth it.
“Lucy, focus. I want you to hear me and understand. These Alphas aren’t stable. They’re not... gentle." For a heartbeat, anger crossed her face. It gave way to frustration. "They're exactly the opposite of what someone with your medical history needs."
Again, I should feel afraid.
But what bloomed in my chest instead was a spark of curiosity, bright and insistent.
Dangerous.
Unstable.
Not gentle.
The opposite of what I’d been given for so long. Safety. Stability. Gentle doctors who became gentler when they told me bad news.
"Who are they?" I asked, locking gazes with her.
Doctor Swann's expression darkened. "A group that should never have been approved for the program in the first place, but money talks.”
She stood suddenly, moving toward the window as if needing physical distance from the conversation. Her reflection in the glass showed a woman caught between professional obligation and personal ethics.
"I'm going to look into alternatives," she said, more to the skyline than to me. "There are procedures for rejecting matches in extreme cases. Protocols that prioritize Omega safety over compatibility metrics."
"Were there any other matches for me?” I asked. “Even ones that aren’t so… so perfect?”
“No,” Doctor Swann said bluntly, turning back around. Her expression softened. "Sometimes, biology is wrong, Lucy. Sometimes, what seems perfect isn’t. Don’t worry. I won’t let Eros send you to them. I’ll make sure you can stay here until we find a new match.”
“And what if there is no other match?” I challenged her. “What if these terrible Alphas are it for me and I turn them down? I don’t want to be alone. I want a family.”
“They are not the family you want, Lucy.” Doctor Swann's face tightened, and she returned to the sofa, perching on its edge like she might need to flee at any moment. The silence stretched between us, interrupted only by the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
“How can I know whether or not I want them when I don’t even know who they are?” I stared her down, waiting for her to give me an answer.
