“Someone from the Root family has to be the Alpha or the mate of the Alpha. I know.”
“Not exactly. Someone in my family has always been Red River’s Alpha and our mates have always been Alphas, so from the beginning of time, Red River has been led by a mated Alpha pair.”
“Like your parents.”
Nodding, Jobe said, “Like my parents.” He looked at Wesley meaningfully. “And like us.”
“Like us?”
In the time he had been in Red River, Wesley had repeatedly shown his sharp intelligence and ability to assimilate new information quickly. But for some reason this particular fact wasn’t getting through.
“I’m an Alpha.” Jobe couldn’t be more clear than that.
“You’re an Alpha?” Wesley flared his nostrils and scrunched his nose, as if he was trying to scent Jobe. Unfortunately, the instinctual reaction didn’t work. Not yet.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
Jobe arched both eyebrows and grinned. “Yes, really.”
His brow furrowed, Wesley blinked rapidly. “But my uncle said…” The words trailed off before Wesley completed his thought.
Rather than pushing him to finish his sentence, Jobe quietly scooted closer to him and patiently waited.
“I thought Red River didn’t have an Alpha to step in. Isn’t that why I’m here?”
Although Jobe hadn’t known how Wesley was going to react to his revelation about being an Alpha, he hadn’t expected that question. “That makes it sound as if we were out recruiting an Alpha.” Jobe shook his head. “You’re an Alpha wolf so you’ll lead, but it’s not like that’s why you came here.”
“It isn’t?”
Tilting his head to the side, Jobe peered at Wesley and tried to understand what he was saying. “You’re here because we’re mates.”
“Alpha wolves rarely have mates, Jobe.” His expression turning from confused to wary, Wesley rolled onto his side and mirrored Jobe’s position. “I’m an Alpha and you said you’re an Alpha too. Do the math on that.”
What were they talking about now? “All shifters have mates; Alphas too,” Jobe said, able to state an obvious fact despite not knowing where the conversation was heading.
“This pack keeps to itself so much that you probably don’t realize how far from reality that actually is. I’ve visited other packs and I’ve met a handful of Alphas. Believe me, Alphas almost never have fated mates.”
The back and forth made Jobe realize that other packs had strayed from the old ways for so long they didn’t even know how they were being impacted by their distance from Mother Nature.
“Alphas connect Mother Nature’s land to her shifters. If an Alpha’s tie to Mother Nature hangs by a thread, all of the Alpha’s capacity is spent supporting the pack so the Alpha can’t connect to anyone else, not even a mate. But if an Alpha’s attachment to Mother Nature is strong enough to tie all the shifters in a pack to their land, why wouldn’t fate grant that Alpha a mate?” Jobe shook his head, frustrated. “That’d be like punishing a wolf for being born an Alpha and fulfilling the path Mother Nature set for him. It doesn’t make sense.”
“I’ve never thought of it quite that way. Maybe you’re right.”
The words were conciliatory at best, and while Jobe valued different perspectives and opinions about most things, Wesley’s failure to understand the vitalness of an Alpha’s connection to Mother Nature could not only diminish the pack but also impact their bond and family. The realization made Jobe wonder if the problem already existed. He had waited, thinking Wesley needed time to grow up, and then waited some more, thinking he needed time to adjust to a new home, but maybe he had been wrong. Maybe what his mate had needed all along was to connect with Mother Nature, and instead of helping him, Jobe had been sitting back, allowing the divide to widen.
Well, it was time for the waiting to end. They were both fully grown now, both living in the same place, both responsible for the same pack. If Wesley needed a push in the right direction, who better to give it to him than his mate?
“I’m definitely right. You mentioned other Alphas you’ve met who don’t have mates, but what about the ones who do? Have you noticed that their power is stronger, their connection with Mother Nature deeper? That’s not a coincidence.”
Wesley squinted and furrowed his brow, as if in thought. “Your parents are the only Alphas I’ve met who have fated mates. Like I said, that’s very rare. And I’ve noticed they seem exceptionally strong, especially at their ages, but we’ve never been in our wolf forms together so I can’t really tell.” He shrugged. “Besides, some Alphas are stronger than others.”
Shifters radiated their power in both forms, but their animal bodies were more connected to Mother Nature so their true strength showed when they wore their wolf skins. Plus, the size of their animal bodies often correlated to the strength of their power.