one-way POVs - joe, back when ox was going out with jessie
He didn’t understand why it bothered him so much. The smell of another person (a girl, to make things worse) on Ox was enough that Joe was absolutely, positively livid. When he first met her on the porch, he thought it was an impressive show of goodwill that he didn’t growl there and then.
Of course, he was still a kid. Maybe he was overreacting.
But why did it bother him so much?
I gave you my wolf, Ox, Joe thought stubbornly, pacing around in his room with his arms crossed. He had decided he would walk out his frustration upstairs until he needed to be at the table for dinner. The living room smelled of his pack and Jessie. The outlier. He only got to stay down there for five minutes before it drove him nuts.
“Ugh,” Joe groaned, flopping down on his mattress. Lying facedown on his blue-and-yellow checkered pillow, he muttered, “Stupid Jessie.”
“Heyya, kiddo,” Thomas’ voice sounded from behind the door. Two knocks. Then, “Can I come in?”
“Go away, Dad.”
“You are being ridiculous.”
Frankly, Joe didn’t think he had it in himself to be any better. “She stinks.”
“Let me in, son.”
Joe turned to face the ceiling. He blinked and stared at an old Assassin’s Creed poster, exhaling slowly.
“Fine.”
Thomas peered in, a somewhat amused look at his face as he looked at his youngest son. After a few seconds, he let himself in and closed the door, leaning back on it. Joe closed his eyes, trying to dissipate more of the anger bubbling within him.
Uncurling his grip from the doorknob, Thomas said softly, “You know, she’s a really nice girl.”
“Which makes it worse, Dad. I saw him first. It’s not fair.”
Thomas scoffed. He walked further into the room, grabbed a dart from the target on Joe’s wall, and positioned himself to throw it.
“I mean,” Joe continued, turning to hug his pillow and look at Thomas, “What does Ox even see in her? I don’t feel good around her.”
“That’s the jealousy talking, and you know it.” Joe saw the dart land on the bullseye. Thomas put one hand on his hip. He reached out with the other hand.
“Dinnertime, junior. You’re gonna have to stow the attitude.”
Joe frowned. “I’m not hungry.” Then, a rumble came from his stomach, causing Thomas to make a face at Joe. Defiantly, Joe turned away from Thomas, hugging his pillow tighter.
Sighing, Thomas went to sit down on the edge of Joe’s bed.
“You know, when I gave the stone wolf to your mother, I had that same feeling of sureness too. That certainty. But in starting out, that doesn’t always go both ways for everyone.” Thomas said. He put a hand on Joe’s arm.
“But,” Joe began, and he felt like he was almost going to cry, “but what if Ox never feels like how I do?”
Thomas huffed, and he squeezed Joe’s arm. Joe felt the calmness emanating from his father, the thread beating calmdownit’sokayyou’llbeokay.
“Son, when you become the leader of this pack, you’re going to have a lot of things under your control. More responsibilities to have, more problems to handle. And, to be honest, that’s going to be a scary thing. You’ll feel like you don’t have what it takes, that you aren’t meant for this. But trust me when I say that time is, and will always be, on your side. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it.
“And when the time comes, you’ll realize that one of the things you can’t ever fully control,” Thomas looked up at the ceiling and exhaled, “is how others will feel about you.”
“But what about the bonds, Dad?” Joe asked, turning to face his father. “Don’t those happen because of control?”
Thomas smiled. He stood up, and walked towards the door.
“Those come with time, Joe. And with time, I know that Ox will come around.” He began to turn the doorknob. “Even if it’s not in the way that you expect.”
