Page 21 of Hired for Research
She forced a smile, trying to retain the excitement she’d felt on her way to Eden. Her boss had given her leave to stay as long as she needed to collect samples, but it was hard to admit it may take longer than she’d hoped. If she couldn’t get enough volunteers it would be hard to make comparisons between them, and while she could use records of previous blood draws, those wouldn’t give her the chance to look for things that may have been missed. The budget cut meant she couldn’t incentivize volunteering, so she didn’t have any other options.
Shoving aside the worry trying to encroach on her mood, she reminded herself it was still the first day. And Jett was right, it was early. There was still plenty of time.
***
By eleven Evelyn could no longer fake a positive outlook. It had taken every ounce of her patience to make it that long, but without a single alpha coming in to leave a sample, frustration was taking over.
“Where are they? Don’t they realize how important this is?”
She glared at Jett as the only representative of his dynamic she could take her ire out on. He’d gone from standing in the doorway to sitting on the exam chair, watching her as she paced in front of the cabinets. He’d fiddled around on his phone for a bit, but mostly he sat and stared. She didn’t know how he could appear so relaxed, and her irritation was making her think he was glad no one had shown up.
“How the hell am I supposed to make alphas safe to rejoin society if I can’t get any samples to test? If they won’t even volunteer to give blood, how am I going to run trials if I do manage to come up with something?”
Jett’s brows drew together, and her heart stumbled when she realized what she’d said. He knew nothing about the drug she was supposed to be creating.
“Make us safe?”
Pulse pounding in her ears, she tried to swallow the lump in her throat and come up with an explanation that wasn’t an outright lie.
“Make people see that you’re safe. Th-the blood tests can help show prior research was wrong. To convince them to question what else was wrong.”
As comfortable as she’d thought she was with Jett, she had to admit she was still scared to admit the real purpose of the Alpha Project. And the more she had to confront the consequences of her findings, the less sure she became that she could do it.
But when she looked at it from the other side, she grew more confused. If she found out someone was doing research to change omegas, she’d be interest to find out more. It had been tried in the past, creating suppressants to prevent omegas from going into heat, but the drugs were harsh. They could suppress a cycle or two, but eventually biology overwhelmed the drugs, and the poor omegas ended up suffering a debilitating, extended heat. Continued use had also led to fertility issues, and the drug had been taken off the market.
Rubbing her forehead, she dragged her hands down her face and let out a sigh. She was too frustrated to debate morals. If she couldn’t handle a single slow morning, what was she supposed to do if the rest of the week was more of the same?
Opening her mouth to ask Jett if he was hungry yet, the words froze in her throat when he grunted and jumped to his feet, moving to block the doorway as motion caught her eye. There were mumbled words she didn’t catch before Jett stepped back and allowed two more alphas to enter the room.
“We’re here to give samples.”
The alpha sounded more confused than sure of his statement, but Evelyn didn’t care. Relief was rushing through her veins.
“Perfect! If you’ll fill in the consent form on the tablet, we can get started.”
Jett passed him the device, but the alpha’s eyes never left her. Nostrils flaring, his lips curled up in a slow smile before he stepped closer.
“I’ll consent to whatever you want, Doctor.”
His gaze raked down her body, lingering on her chest before dipping to her hips. The scent of moss and ash reached her nose, a bitter musk overlaying them and making her want to curl her lip. Where Jett’s attention made her feel warm and tingly when she noticed it, this alpha sent shivers down her spine and made her stomach flip in an uncomfortable way.
“You’ll show her respect, or you’ll find yourself in a new Camp.”
Evelyn’s focus swung to Jett as the alpha who’d spoke jerked his head to face the Controller. While he always seemed to get growly with Evelyn, his words to the male had been calm and quiet, and all the more threatening because of it.
Staring at Jett for a moment, the alpha ducked his head, muttering to the floor as he tapped on the tablet.
“Apologies.”
When he finished he passed it to the other male who’d entered with him before taking a seat on the chair Jett had abandoned. Shaking herself, Evelyn reached for the gloves and forced herself to focus on what she needed to do.
“I’ll be drawing two vials of blood from your right arm before swabbing the pulse points on your neck and wrists to collect pheromones. Once that is complete, if you’re willing to undergo an MRI, you’ll be sent down to the Imaging Department to complete the scan. All samples will be anonymized for the research, but if we happen to find anything concerning during the course of our testing, we will use the information you provide to reach out and let you know to contact your primary care provider. Do you understand?”
The alpha shrugged, extending his arm along the padded armrest. He refused to meet her gaze, watching Jett from the corner of his eye as she picked up the elastic to wrap around his bicep.
“Sure.”
He showed no signs of feeling the needle enter his skin. The tubes filled quickly, and she set them aside to wrap Coban around his elbow. He finally looked up at her when she swabbed his neck with a patch of gauze, his pupils expanding as his nostrils flared with each heavy breath he took.
