Excerpt
“Hi, Toby.
Nice to meet you. I’m Nathan.” The big guy shook my hand and smiled. His lean
frame was about half a foot taller than mine. His light brown hair looked good
with the simple, yet somehow stylish clothes. My cat immediately recognized him
as an alpha…a jaguar? Wow, I hadn’t met many of them. I tried to recall whether
I’d seen him at the meetings, but I came up blank. Either he didn’t attend the
local meetings, or I hadn’t seen him. It wasn’t mandatory to turn up there,
although most shifters came to check out the competition and look for a hookup.
“Please sit
down, and let’s get started.”
I sighed
inaudibly and dropped to the indicated chair. Let the fun begin.
Nathan sat
down in front of me, with much more grace than I would’ve expected, but then,
he was a cat. Usually, you didn’t use clumsy and cat in one sentence. He looked
at me across the tidy desk and folded his hands. “Okay, so, the first step is
that you fill out a form with lots of questions. That way, we’ll learn a bit
about you and what you prefer. Then I might ask more questions to clarify whatever
comes up. After we have your profile ready, we’ll use an algorithm that is a
mix of computer science and instinct to match you up with another shifter. We
might not find a perfect match on the first try, though. It takes time and
patience, but so far, we’ve found quite a few true mates.” He smiled. “Are you
ready?”
Not really. But you probably won’t be up for
waiting until I am.
I forced my
lips into a small smile. “Yes, let’s do this.” Damn you, Jason. Damn you. Nathan handed me a sheet of paper on a
clipboard, and I went over the first questions:
Name, Age, Species, that was all pretty
easy. I went to work, adding my contact information and general interests, then
some more, like Job, Hobbies, Education.
Those took a bit longer, but I scrawled the answers on the form.
Preferences
was the last headline, with several points below. Do you prefer male or female shifters, or both? Well, that was
easy. Are you alpha, beta, or omega? Wow,
I wouldn’t have thought they’d go into so much detail. I was an omega, but I
didn’t really get why they were asking. I either clicked with someone or I
didn’t. Whether he was an alpha or not didn’t matter to me. Nevertheless, I
wrote omega in the indicated line.
If you prefer men, are you more active or
passive? What the fuck? My eyebrows shot up.
“Nathan…um, do
you really need to know what I want to do in bed?” I asked quietly.
He looked up
from whatever he’d been reading. “Yeah, Ryker added that a while ago since we
had some clients who complained that they were set up with dates who were
exclusively tops or bottoms. For some people, that was an absolute deal-breaker.
I couldn’t
imagine letting someone go just because he was also a bottom. But then, if it
was an absolutely incompatible match, I could see why it wouldn’t lead to a
relationship. I wrote passive on the
line, but then I looked up again. “I said above what I am, but isn’t it true
that all alphas are tops and all omegas are passive?”
“You think?
No, they’re not. Generally, yes, there is a clear tendency, but you can never
be sure. I know alphas who love to bottom and want someone to take over the
reins sometimes. I’ve also seen omegas who are more dominant than some alphas
in the bedroom. So don’t be fooled by the status. Just because alphas outrank
betas and omegas in society doesn’t mean they’re always dominant in the
bedroom.”
Oh. I hadn’t
known that. Well, I was a bottom and an omega all the way, so I needed someone
who would take care of me. It was as simple as that. But I still seriously
doubted they’d find someone here for me, so it was likely a moot point.
I handed the
clipboard back to Nathan. He read it over, laid it on his desk, and then looked
at me. “So, that was the first part. Thank you. Now, it’s time for the
interesting questions. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about your dream date
and your dream mate. Nothing is too silly or insane. If you could describe the
perfect date, what would you do?”
“Hmm…” I
closed my eyes. I hadn’t ever thought about it before. I considered telling him
some bullshit, but lying to him wouldn’t help me. Oh, Jason, how I could kill you… “Let me think. I want to have…a
good dinner. An interesting conversation, not world politics, but I don’t want
to discuss football results either. Maybe we could go to a movie or to a concert,
although I prefer pop or rock, nothing classical. Afterward, a stroll through
the woods? Maybe some running so our animals could meet.”
“Okay, that
sounds pretty good. Anything else? How would you like the evening to end? I
mean, does your dream date end with a kiss because you like to take it slower,
or do you head straight to the interesting stuff?”
Heat flushed
over my face. This was definitely not
what I would tell someone I’d just met.
“Can I refuse
to answer that one?” I asked with an awkward laugh. More heat flushed my face,
and I fiddled with a loose thread on my jeans.
“Of course,
and I fully understand if you do, but we're simply trying to learn as much as
possible. If you tell me you like to date ten times before you even think about
kissing a guy, then I won't set you up with someone who thinks a date is wasted
time unless you end up between the sheets with each other. We're doing our
hardest to find your true mate, and if you give us as much information as
possible, we can do our job better. That way, you won't have to suffer through
dates who aren't your match. However, I know the questions are quite intimate,
so I fully understand if you don't want to talk about it.”
He sounded
sincere, and even though I really didn't like the question, I started thinking
about it. What exactly did I want
from a date? I usually went at the pace set by the men I dated, but I never really
stopped to think about my wishes or
needs. If they wanted sex, they usually got sex, if I liked them enough. It was
like a chore I had to do. When we had a nice evening, we got to the sex part.
It was as easy as that. Yes, I usually had some fun, and the sex was good,
but…I’d never actually told someone I
wanted to go home with them. Or not. I just took the easy path.
I ran a hand
through my hair and exhaled then looked up to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry. Your
question surprised me. I guess I like to have a good time, laugh with someone,
and then see how the evening ends. I’m not opposed to getting intimate on the
first date, but more than that, I simply want someone I can trust, someone who
shows me he wants me, not just any
warm body. I’d love to have a partner who has time for me, enjoys simply being
with me, whether it’s an evening in front of the TV or a dinner and a nice conversation.”
I stopped, face glowing. I hadn’t meant to get so deep into detail, but I
figured since I was already there, I could tell the truth. “So, if you can find
someone who does all that…”
“That sounds
doable.” Nathan smiled at me, and I relaxed a bit.
“Okay, what
else? Right, the fees. Sadly, there is no way around that.”
“Yeah, no
worries. Just tell me.” I should’ve forced Jason into paying as revenge for
dragging my ass in there, but it probably wasn’t worth the hassle.
I listened to
Nathan telling me about the payments and stuff, all the while trying not to
fantasize about how nice it would be to meet a guy who fit my requirements.
There wasn’t someone out there for me, and I needed to stop dreaming about it.
That didn’t stop me from wishing, though.
Even though I hated myself for getting my hopes up—which I absolutely
refused to admit—I couldn’t stop the little glimmer of hope blossoming in my
heart. Damn it. I was done with men. I didn’t need another one. They were all
the same.
