“But I don’t want that to get in the way. Stop you, I mean.” That probably sounds wrong. “The experience. The truth is that I’ve had denial, medication, therapy, you name it, all with the intent of making me other than what I am. I’m tired. I’m tired and I’m… curious. With you, anyway. When my father is well, this will end. So just do whatever you want to do to me, and let’s see how that goes. It can’t be any worse than what everyone else has done to me.”

Liam glances over at him and then away. “That’s not a ringing endorsement. And it’s a very passive response. There isn’t a lot of agency or desire in ‘sure, go ahead and do your worst.’”

“No, but—” He takes a breath, unable to articulate what needs to be said.

“Which might normally be a massive red flag, but your designation is prey.”

Daniel looks out the window, trying to keep his breathing even.

“A willingness to surrender to pain, to bad things, is hardwired into your DNA. I assume you’ve told your father how much you don’t want to be a Dominant, right?”

“My father wants to send me to Montana and put me in the ground. If the doctors run out of possibilities to fix me, that’s what will happen. If you think General Burrows is willing to let his son be a submissive whore, meat for any soldier who wants him, you’re an idiot. None of this has anything to do with me. Hell, my whole life hasn’t had anything to do with me. I should have run. Maybe that’s why I’m prey. Maybe, when they put me in that chamber and started fucking around with my DNA, I shouldn’t have been thinking⁠—”

His voice breaks and he has to stop talking. Jesus fucking Christ. He did not need to say that.

“Very few submissive soldiers want to be submissive. I’d imagine most men go into it thinking, ‘please don’t let me become submissive’ or ‘Dominant, Dominant,’ again and again. In fact, I’ve heard that from a number of submissives over the years. What happened to you and what you became wasn’t a result of you or some weakness inside of you. Do you think that someone who is exposed to carcinogenic chemicals is responsible for what those chemicals do to them?”

“Of course not,” he says when Liam is silent so long it’s clear he’s waiting for an answer.