He nodded to himself, thinking that over. The shortcoming was deeper than the land the pack sat on, but it was a start.
“What does your land need?”
“Water.” The answer was obvious to someone who had grown up in a pack bordered by a river enriched with nutrients.
“Water is the source of life,” Jobe agreed. “I know a fair bit about Purple Sky because it’s Wes’s home pack. Isn’t there a river abutting your land?”
“Sort of. The river’s just past the far end of the packlands. It’s not part of our property. The river and the land it flows through are owned by humans.”
“Can you buy it and integrate it into your packlands?”
Brian reflected on Purple Sky’s finances. They were nothing like the affluent Red River pack. “Unfortunately, no. We don’thave the resources to acquire the river and expand our property line that far.”
“Hmm.” Jobe was quiet for a few moments. “On the other side of the river is the Green Field pack?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think about approaching them to see if you can join forces? They should want access to a water source just as much as you. Maybe between both packs, you can afford to buy the river from the humans and share in its offering. You can work in partnership with your neighbor pack to benefit you both.”
“They’re technically the closest pack to us as the crow flies, but because of the river, they’re not quick to get to by car, so I haven’t necessarily thought of them as a neighbor. Plus, my understanding is that their reputation isn’t the best. But now that we’re talking about it, I’m thinking I should do exactly what you suggested.”
“Heal the land and you’ll make great strides toward healing the pack,” Jobe said.
That made a lot of sense and Brian felt lighter having a plan to improve Purple Sky.
“I’ve missed this. Having you to talk things over with me.” When he’d moved to Purple Sky so that he could be a pack’s Alpha, he hadn’t anticipated how much he’d miss sharing space with someone like Jobe, someone who understood an Alpha’s responsibilities and pressures. “Makes me appreciate Red River’s custom in a new way.” His home pack was unique in many ways and one of them was that it was always led by a mated Alpha pair, with one of those Alphas being from the Root family.
“Interesting,” Jobe said. “I didn’t expect that.”
“What?” Brian sat up. In his experience, Jobe sensed nearly everything so catching him off guard wasn’t typical.
“I always thought you were more traditional in nature. I never expected you to want to share the Alpha role.”
“I don’t want that. I just meant…” He wasn’t sure what he meant exactly. “Maybe I’m missing what’s familiar?” he offered.
“Hmm.” Jobe paused. “That’s one way to look at it.”
“What do you know about Green Field?” Brian asked the two pack members he had chosen to accompany him on his networking trip to the Green Field pack.
“I’ve never been there,” Steve said from the back seat.
“I haven’t either,” Jennifer agreed from beside Brian.
“I realize it’s faster for us to get to Golden Valley, but Green Field isn’t that far, even if we have to drive around the river to get there. You both grew up in Purple Sky, why haven’t you ever visited our neighboring pack?”
“They don’t have a good reputation, Alpha.” Jennifer scrunched her nose in distaste.
“She’s right,” Steve confirmed. “They used to be a big, healthy pack, but that was a long time ago. Before I was born.”
He had heard the same unfavorable description of Green Field, and he wondered how deep-seated it was. Steve was in his early twenties, so was Jennifer. Their lifetime wasn’t a short amount of time for a pack to suffer, but neither was it long enough to indicate generational shortcomings.
“Did they get a new Alpha around that time?” Brian guessed. A couple of decades of bad leadership could destabilize a pack.
“Probably.” Beside him, Jennifer nodded. “Their Alpha has a horrible reputation.Horrible.”
“Rupert Jackson,” Steve said. “I don’t know much about other packs, but even I know that guy sucks. If I remember the rumors correctly, he isn’t originally from Green Field. The Alpha before him died unexpectedly and he stepped in. People in the pack liked the other Alpha but they hate him.”
“His own pack members hate him?”
