“I’ll make sure to keep this space reserved for you.” Wesley combed his fingers through Jobe’s hair.
“That’s good to hear, because if I catch someone else in it, I’ll rip his throat out.”
“Uh… Wow.” Wesley’s eyes widened and his hand froze. “That was uncharacteristically aggressive and violent.”
“I prefer to think of it as possessive. You’re my mate. I waited a long time for you and now that I have you, I’m not inclined to share.”
“Fair enough,” Wesley said amiably and continued petting his hair. “You were telling me about balance.”
“Right. Mother Nature gives our pack more than our share of riches, but to balance that bounty, she requires us to give her more than a normal pack’s share of connections.”
“By having two Alphas who act as conduits between the land and the shifters instead of only one,” Wesley said.
Thankful he hadn’t completely failed in educating his mate about the pack, Jobe nodded. “But the richness of the land comes to us easily, so that’s balanced by making it hard for us to find our second Alpha. Like you said, mates recognize each other by scent and our Alphas are born without that beacon so we have to hope our other half can find us even without it.” Jobe paused. “Well, that was always the way in the past, the hoping and waiting. But I was determined to do things differently, so instead of waiting for my mate to come to Red River, I went out searching for you. Took five years but then one night I walked into a bar and there you were.”
“There I was.” Wesley trickled his fingers down the side of Jobe’s face. “I’d never been in that bar before that night or since. The chances of us finding each other there were one in a million.”
“But we did.” Jobe clung to Wesley’s hip.
“But we did,” Wesley agreed. “And you know, things with us weren’t all that far off from that youthful fantasy you described.”
“We had the crowded room and the passionate kiss.”
Wesley arched his eyebrows. “We did a hell of a lot more than kiss that night.”
Jobe snorted. “That’s very true. But in my fantasy, my mate fell madly in love with me. He didn’t sneak out of a hotel room while I was asleep.”
“You should have told me, Jobe.” Wesley’s face fell. “I don’t understand why you didn’t.”
“Like I said, I had this romantic notion that my mate would fall madly in love with me even without a scent. I hadn’t been in that bar a minute before you wanted to take me out of there so I was sure that meant you knew I was your mate. Then when I woke up alone, I figured that was Mother Nature’s way of telling me I couldn’t rush fate. My parents were in their forties when they met, we were twenty-three.” Jobe sighed. “I thought you needed more time, and by searching you out, I’d been tempting fate, so I came home and waited. Then Mother Nature started giving us signs that it was time for the next set of Alphas to take the helm so I did what I thought you needed for you to come here.”
“Maybe we were too young back then or maybe we’ve missed out on a lot of years we could have spent together.” Wesley swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I guess we’ll never know so there’s no point in fixating on it. But one thing’s for sure, scent or no scent, I was attracted to you right away that night and then again when I came here. And…” Wesley took a deep breath. “It didn’t happen the first moment I laid eyes on you, but, Jobe”—he cupped Jobe’s cheek and lowered his voice to a whisper—“I am madly in love with you.”
Everything stopped—Jobe’s breath, his heart, even the earth’s rotation. “Yeah?”
Wesley nodded.
His heart full to bursting, Jobe scrambled up onto Wesley’s lap, straddled him, and flung his arms over his shoulders. “I love you too.”
“That works out really well then.” Wesley pulled Jobe to him tightly, nuzzled his neck, and groaned. “And if smoking that rabbit meat is what made you smell this good, we’re eating rabbit for dinner every night.” He licked a swath up Jobe’s neck. “You’re sure you didn’t put oranges in there?”
“I’m sure,” Jobe said with a laugh as Wesley continued licking and nibbling on his skin. “That tickles.”
“You smell like that tea you make only stronger. Cloves and cinnamon and cranberries.” Wesley dug his fingers into Jobe’s hips, nosed his shirt collar aside, and sucked on his shoulder. “It’s making me crazy.”
Wesley’s attention was quickly eroding Jobe’s patience for conversation. It was also hardening his dick. “Wes?”
“Uh-huh.” Wesley continued nibbling on his neck and shoulder.
“I forgot to mention something else about how a Root Alpha’s scent works.”