“Your Fran has fallen asleep,” Joe said gently, so as not to wake him up.
Jacob looked at Fran, who was indeed asleep. His head resting on the back of the chair. “Good. Can you check the wardrobe and see if there’s a blanket so you can cover him? It’s that door there.” He pointed to the wardrobe.
“Yep.” Joe jumped up and walked over to and into the wardrobe. He walked back out with a blanket, shaking it out. “That wardrobe is massive.”
“Pretty sure all the wardrobes here are.”
Joe gently covered Fran up, before walking around the bed and sitting on the side again.
“What’s really up, Joe?” Jacob asked.
“I really was worried about you.”
“Yeah, I get that, but what were you going to say earlier?”
Joe sighed. “It’s nothing nasty. I keep smelling an amazing scent since I’ve been here.”
Jacob looked startled but then grinned. “You think your mate might be here?”
Joe shrugged. “Maybe, I mean my wolf is really happy at the moment and keeps rolling around. It’s silly, but I’ve always had this dream that my mate will be someone older, who will dote on me. What are the chances of that ever happening?”
“Probably quite high. Remember, the fates give you someone who they think will be perfect for you.” His eyes dropped to Fran, who was still sleeping.
“I love the blue hair,” Joe commented looking at Fran as well.
Jacob smiled. “Me too. His wolf has tufts of blue hair when he shifts.”
Joe’s mouth fell open. “Seriously?”
Jacob nodded. “Yeah, looks really cute,” he said, breaking out into a massive yawn.
“You need sleep. Do you want me to help settle you down?”
Jacob shook his head. “I’ll sleep like this for a bit. I don’t want to move and wake Fran. You should go off to bed.”
“Are you sure? I can stay here in case you need anything.”
Jacob shook his head. “Nope, it’s late. Off you go and enjoy your new bed.”
Joe grinned. “I bet it’s totally comfy. Okay, I’ll go and come back and see you tomorrow.”
“Thanks for coming, Joe,” Jacob said, looking at him.
Joe stood up and huffed. “Like I would leave you on your own. We’ve been friends since we were babies, there’s no way I’d abandon you when you were in trouble. Night, Jake.”
“Night Joe.”
Joe left the room with a final grin.
CHAPTER 21
The smile fell off Jacob’s face as the door closed behind Joe and he sagged a bit. The pain in his stomach was excruciating, but he didn’t want to wake Fran and ask for painkillers. From what Fran had said earlier, he was kept busy and needed the rest. And while Fran was asleep, he could look properly at the man fate had given him.
He was a handsome man. If Jacob remembered rightly, they were roughly the same height, but in build, Jacob was bigger. Fran seemed to have a gentle manner about him, which, given that he was a nurse, wasn’t surprising.
Jacob thought about Finn. It was stupid to try and re-establish the mating link. Seeing Finn and Robbie together showed how perfect they were for each other, a much better fit than Finn and he would have been. Why then had fate originally paired them together? It made no sense.
All Jacob really wanted was someone who would like him, love him even. He knew the mating pull would make them fall in love, but he wanted someone who liked him for himself and not because of the mating bond.
