I’ve been working hard on Omega’s Truth, the tenth and last book in the Irresistible Omegas series. If you’ve followed the series so far, you’ll know there are still a lot of plot points to wrap up. It’s been an amazing journey, and I’m excited about the challenge of bringing it all to a satisfying end.

Today, I wanted to share a snippet from a conversation between Professor Melloni and Maz. Now, we all know Melloni has been hiding something…but what? Maz has been baffled by the contradiction between Melloni’s public persona and how Sando talks about him as well. Here’s a conversation he has with the professor, where the man shows a little more of his true self…

Now that passive aggressive attempt at getting Maz to overrule Palani sounded more like the Professor Melloni as Maz had gotten to know him. “I’m not comfortable going against a decision Palani made, considering he’s second-in-command of the pack.”

Melloni waved dismissively. “He’s no doctor, no scientist. How could he understand?”

“You’d be surprised at what he understands. He’s one of the smartest men I know.”

“Sure, sure. But he’s no doctor.”

“Neither are you,” Maz said calmly because hell if he was letting Melloni manipulate him by appealing to his supposed higher rank as a doctor.

Mellini’s eyes darkened. “Not a medical doctor, but I do have a PhD in my field. Two, actually. That gives me the right to call myself a doctor.”

“Absolutely, and no one is disputing your credits, Professor. But it doesn’t give you the right to pretend your kind of doctor and mine are the same. They’re not. Your knowledge on all of this far surpasses mine…and my knowledge and experience as an ob/gyn outweighs yours. We’re not the same, you and me, so let’s not pretend we are.”

Melloni leaned back in his chair, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “You call Palani smart, but you’re pretty sharp yourself.”

Maz said nothing because that backhanded compliment wasn’t one he was willing to acknowledge. Melloni waited a few beats, then apparently realized Maz wasn’t gonna react, and said, “But regardless of the differences between you and me, we can agree that Palani lacks the knowledge and expertise to fully comprehend how groundbreaking this research is. If he had, he would’ve understood that insisting on a medical trial in this case is harmful to all the poor omegas we could help by releasing this medicine.”

Maz resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Melloni might be smart, but his attempts at emotional manipulation were laughable. Did he really think Maz would fall for that line of reasoning? If so—and judging by the serious expression on the man’s face, Maz was coming to the conclusion that he did—it spoke volumes about the kind of alphas he’d encountered so far. Or maybe the kind of doctors.

“Professor Melloni, can I be frank with you? It would make things so much easier than all this pretending and game playing.”

Melloni’s eyes widened but then he caught himself. “Of course, Maz. I’d appreciate that.”

Hell, even the man’s use of his first name was a subtle way to position himself above Maz, who always referred to Melloni by his title. Fuck that. “Good. Can I call you Ricardo, by the way?”

“I prefer to be addressed as Professor,” the man said stiffly. “I think I have earned that right.”

“If you insist on formalities, I’d prefer you address me as Dr. Ahadi because I damn well know I’ve earned that right.”

Oh, but that got a reaction out of the professor, his eyes spewing fire now. Gone was the polite, slightly condescending attitude, and in its place had come anger.

Points for Maz, right? Omega’s Truth will release July 31st and you can preorder now!