Even more unexpected was the switch in Wesley’s perspective about the person he had agreed to take as a mate. Being accepted by the pack right away hadn’t been on his radar, but he had hoped that with hard work he’d be able to win them over, so the difference between his expectation of their reaction to him and the reality was, in some ways, merely a difference in timing. Conversely, his skin had crawled from the first moment he had understood that in order to give Purple Sky the Alpha they actually wanted, he would have to whore himself out, and he hadn’t expected that reaction to ever change.
Not that anyone had used that word, of course. They’d said Wesley would become Alpha of Red River by mating with the current Alpha’s son. But mates were chosen by fate, and their control over their union was limited to the ways they physically manifested their connection. So the expectation for Wesley was clear—to give his pack an Alpha, he’d have to sacrifice his body and his dignity.
The only way Wesley had been able to keep his foot on the gas pedal as he had driven toward his new life had been to plot an escape from that aspect of the Alpha trade. He was certain that once the previous Alpha stepped down and Wesley established his position in the pack, he would be able to break Red River of their odd succession custom. The only question had been whether he would be able to avoid prostituting himself for long enough to gain control of the pack and cast his fake mate aside.
But the moment Wesley had met Jobe Root, his plan had begun crumbling. For starters, in all his mental wrangling, he had never considered the possibility of being attracted to his fake mate. Yet when the door had swung open, revealing the man inside, the strength of Wesley’s attraction had knocked away every other emotion. Then he had spotted a nude man inside Jobe’s house and his jealousy had risen as quickly as his lust, despite the fact that two minutes earlier, he’d had every intention of putting an end to the pretend mating as soon as possible.
Wesley had told himself that the intense feeling was a return of the anger and resentment he had been grappling with on the drive to Red River, but it hadn’t taken long to admit to himself that what he had felt was jealousy, white-hot jealousy. And that wasn’t the only unexpected emotion Wesley had struggled with that first night. After a few minutes speaking with Jobe, he had calmed down, his anger at what he had mistakenly thought he walked in on abating along with all the negative feelings he had brought with him to Red River, leaving in their place intrigue and simmering arousal, both aimed at Jobe Root.
Wesley’s middle of the night arrival had been his saving grace because he had been able to go to sleep rather than continuing his ride on the emotional spectrum roller coaster. The next day and every day since then had been filled by meeting an endless stream of shifters and learning about his new pack. But even as Wesley internally rejoiced in the acceptance and respect he received from everyone in Red River, even as he reveled at finally being seen and appreciated as an Alpha, even as he recognized that the move away from Purple Sky had been the best thing for him, one worry still plagued him: what did Jobe expect from their mating? Oddly enough, Wesley found himself unsure of what he wanted the answer to be, but he knew it wasn’t the distance he had hoped for during his drive to Red River.
“I have a question,” Wesley said as he stretched his legs out along the length of the couch.
“Hit me.”
They’d stayed out late with the heads of the oil and gas businesses because Wesley was fascinated that the same area could produce such varied substances, so he had dozens of questions and spent longer than he should have looking over documents. Although Jobe was clearly tired, he hadn’t tried to hurry Wesley along and he hadn’t complained about missing their usual dinner alone at home. The man had an enviable ability to roll with whatever came his way.
“The night I got here, Brian Berger was with you,” Wesley said as he turned his head to the side and glanced down at Jobe’s lean form, sprawled on the floor beside him. Despite having comfortable furniture, Jobe often sat or lay on the ground. When Wesley asked him about it, he said the floor was closer to the earth, which brought him closer to Mother Nature. Wesley didn’t understand the comment, but Jobe’s unique perspective charmed him and brought a smile to his face.