The Fake Mate

“I can sense a sharp tinge of suppressants rolling off him, which I find odd; most male shifters choose to forgo them, too hung up on their ego to miss out on clouding a room with their scent in the hopes that a female shifter will come running.”

Mackenzie’s comment in this scene alludes to Noah’s tendency to erase key aspects of his identity. Unlike other alphas, who do not shy away from their identity or its biological implications, Noah’s use of a pheromone suppressant broadcasts his discomfort with his designation as an alpha shifter. Because he fundamentally rejects who he is, this internalized form of self-loathing contributes to his relationship issues with others.

“‘You can think of something you enjoy, like glaring at small children or criticizing baristas at Starbucks.’ 

 ‘I don’t do either of those things,’ he snorts. ‘Thank you very much.’”

Though Mackenzie speaks in jest in this excerpt, her comment nevertheless highlights the fact that even she, as a shifter herself, has been influenced by society’s misunderstanding of the alpha designation. In this case, her sense of Noah’s personality has been distorted by a barrage of rumors and misinformation. The scene therefore suggests that Mackenzie, despite her open-mindedness, is equally prone to believing unverified gossip.

“It is a widely accepted theory that mated alpha shifters are considerably more…docile than those that are unmated. Ridiculously, it’s believed to be a free pass in our line of work. An unmated alpha might only be destined to be someone’s hired security or prized fighting champion—but a mated one isn’t looked at twice.”

Here, Noah outlines not only the premise of his and Mackenzie’s need for a fake relationship but also the gaps in social progress regarding the issue of shifters’ working rights. In the context of the novel, discriminatory practices are still accepted within the workplace, and in this scene, Ferguson substantiates the reasons why Noah goes to such lengths to hide his designation.

“‘Can mated pairs even break up?’ 

 ‘With difficulty,’ I inform her. ‘It’s an option, to be sure.’”

This dialogue exchange demonstrates Mackenzie’s marked ignorance of the inner social workings of shifters. Because her father’s reaction to her mother’s death has left her with deep fears of being mated herself, she has made a conscious choice to avoid educating herself on the topic. Her gap in knowledge obliquely highlights The Lasting Impact of Trauma.

“I think the whole alpha/omega thing is just an old wives’ tale. It’s not like there’s many of us around to be making accurate assumptions of how we affect each other.”

Here, Ferguson uses Mackenzie’s comment to indicate the social changes experienced by the shifter community over the years. The subtext of the novel therefore suggests that as people become more homogenized, individual knowledge bases disappear amidst the general loss of diversity.

“Besides the fact that we can literally turn into wolves outside of city limits (they passed that law in 1987 after some guy barreled through a storefront after getting drunk), being a shifter means that our bodies work a little differently than your average human. Scents affect us, mark us, even drive us sometimes—and therefore they inadvertently take up a big role in our lives.”

This passage details why the act of scenting has such an impact on Noah and Mackenzie. As shifters use their olfactory sense to connect with the world, specific smells and the mixing of these smells can have important repercussions on a shifter’s body and heart.

“Six years. Six whole years of managing to keep my secret while employed at the hospital, only to see it dissipate with one email. More than that, if you count the years of residency and med school where I started really cracking down on keeping it under wraps. Utterly ridiculous.”

In this excerpt, Ferguson outlines the intensity of Noah’s anxiety over his designation, which runs parallel to his deep passion to pursue a career as a doctor. For nearly half of his life, he has had to deny the full scope of his identity in order to conform to discriminatory social norms that would otherwise dismiss him as nothing but a dangerous shifter.

“I can’t remember a time when anyone has worried about me in a way that wasn’t related to work or my mother.”

With the bleak, direct tone of this passage, Noah reveals the depths of loneliness and isolation that he has faced over time. With his social circle whittled down to only his family and Paul, Noah has become unaccustomed to experiencing concern and friendliness from another.

“My mom died when I was little. Car accident. My dad was never okay after that. They were mates, you know? Like, one of those fairytale romances. The whole nine yards. […] When she was gone… we just sort of fell apart.”

In this excerpt, Mackenzie outlines the source of her trauma toward the very idea of mating. Her short, hesitant sentences indicate that she is showing an unusual level of vulnerability, but many of the details of her past remain obscure. While she admits that her relationship with her father “fell apart,” this brief mention does not begin to encompass the deep emotional wound that the experience left upon her psyche.

“The minute they find out what I am it’s nothing but breeding and baby talk. It’s funny, people tend to avoid alphas like Noah, but seek out people like me due to some nonsense stereotype about us being hypersexual or something. I guess in a way we both have our downsides to what we are.”

This passage demonstrates that Mackenzie can relate to Noah on a personal level. Though Noah has faced greater consequences for his designation than Mackenzie has for hers, they are nevertheless both judged according to two-dimensional stereotypes, and they are both frustrated by the impossibility of trying to separate themselves from these misconceptions.

“‘I wouldn’t want to jeopardize Mackenzie’s career. I couldn’t live with myself if I dragged her down with me.’ I catch Paul looking at me with that strange smile again, and raise an eyebrow at him. ‘What?’”

This passage shows Noah taking an avid interest in Mackenzie’s well-being and future, especially as he begins to ponder the potential ramifications of their strategic subterfuge. However, the emotional intensity of Noah’s comments clearly indicates to Paul that in addition to taking responsibility for involving Mackenzie in a potentially disastrous political gambit, he also genuinely cares for her, even after so short a time.

“It’s so funny how everyone knows you, but you don’t know anyone.”

The ironic dichotomy that Mackenzie exposes in this comment contrasts the extent of Noah’s self-isolation with the interest of his peers. Because Noah has preferred to remain apart as part of a broader attempt to maintain his own safety amidst systemic discrimination, his coworkers have used what little they know of him to create a distorted understanding of who he really is.

“Something about her scent affects me like a drug; not only do I crave more and more of it after each exposure, but I seem to lose all reason when I breathe her in.”

Here, Ferguson uses Noah’s visceral reaction to Mackenzie’s scent as an indicator that he will eventually struggle to control his attraction to Mackenzie. Regardless of their social situation, Noah’s body recognizes his potential mate without any prompting, and this biological imperative will push Noah to act accordingly.

“‘She wants to make sure you’re taken care of,’ I muse. 

 ‘Mhm.’ Mackenzie makes an amused sound. ‘Hasn’t quite come around to the novel idea that I can take care of myself.’ 

 ‘If anyone could,’ I murmur to no one.”

In this excerpt from Noah’s perspective, Ferguson subverts the typical traits of an omega within the A/B/O subgenre. While omegas are generally portrayed as submissive and demure, expecting alphas to care for them, Mackenzie shows herself to be independent and ambitious.

“Mostly, I’m finding it hard to be angry about [the fact that Mackenzie hasn’t revealed her omega status] when the alpha in me is already weaving daydreams about impossible, crude things that would most likely have Mackenzie throwing a punch. Hell, I’m considering throwing myself one just to knock some sense back into me.”

This passage highlights the ways in which Noah and Mackenzie differ in their views of predetermination. Though Mackenzie often discounts their designations as nothing more than an extra benefit to their sex life, Noah fully indulges the innate sense of desire that typically arises between an omega and an alpha.

“I’m not stupid. I know a lot of what I felt out there on Gran’s deck was just hormones and biology and compatibility—but that doesn’t change the fact that it felt really good.”

This quote highlights Mackenzie’s ongoing struggle with her body as she and Noah become more intimate with one another. While she cannot deny the pleasure of a physical relationship, her past trauma and her resulting resistance to the very idea of mating compels her to disregard her feelings for Noah for as long as possible.

“‘I guess this is that famous temper we hear about.’ His smile widens, and he stuffs his hands back into his pockets, pushing off the wall as he looks me up and down. ‘Guess you really are an alpha after all, huh?’”

In this passage, Ferguson subtly foreshadows Dennis’s obsession over alphas: a fixation that is only fully revealed at the end of the narrative. Though Dennis hides the seriousness of his accusatory tone with a smirk and a teasing tone, his words reveal his contemptuous attitude toward Noah’s designation, and it is clear that he does not respect Noah as a doctor or a person.

“Noah doesn’t have any reason to start getting all jealous and territorial. Especially not after one night of admittedly mind-blowing sex. Unless…surely all of those stories about alpha behavior are bullshit, right? There’s no way that Noah would do a one-eighty after one night.”

Though Mackenzie expresses incredulity at Noah’s kiss in this passage, her tone also belies her own hopes for his behavior. She seemingly denies the possibility of Noah’s jealousy, but she doesn’t seem bothered by the idea of him being jealous in the first place.

“It’s almost like there is another person inside me trying to claw its way out and touch more of her, taste more, just…more.”

In this excerpt from Noah’s perspective, Ferguson implies that Noah has a fractured sense of identity. When he envisions his alpha qualities as a separate entity within him, he essentially dissociates himself from a key aspect of his character. By “othering” himself, Noah reveals that he has deeply internalized society’s prejudices against alphas. The scene therefore indicates The Harmful Ignorance of Stereotypes and The Lasting Impact of Trauma.

“I can feel them pad one after the other as I move as if being pulled by a string, a hypnotic chanting in my head of omega omega omega that seeps into every facet of my being. I can’t begin to know what’s happening, or why my body is responding the way it is, but right now I am little more than a blind need to get to her.”

In this excerpt from Noah’s point of view, Ferguson uses the metaphor of a string to exhibit the tethered connection between Noah and Mackenzie, which functions on both an emotional and a biological level. For once, both Noah’s alpha side and his own desires coalesce, and he is single-minded in his need to be near Mackenzie when he senses her heat.

“It feels too heavy, too much like all the things I’ve spent my adult life avoiding, and yet in the face of the all-consuming heat that is building in my head and my skin and deep, deep down in my belly—I can’t seem to fight it. I can’t seem to even want to, and shouldn’t that have me second-guessing this entire thing.”

This quote illustrates that Mackenzie is always at odds with her body—and thus, with her designation. Although Mackenzie can rationally detect the issues with what she is currently feeling, Ferguson implies that carnal desires eventually win out in the end. The scene therefore illustrates a central aspect of the novel’s focus on The Tension Between Fate and Choice.

“‘As long as we’re here…you’re mine, Mackenzie.’ Rational me is still worried this is all hormonal nonsense. Irrational me doesn’t […] care.”

In this quote, Noah’s words confirm that his and Mackenzie’s exile to his cousin’s cabin creates a temporary, alternate world in which they are free to focus purely on the feelings and sensations of their innate connection. Though they both know that this reprieve will not last, they gift themselves the illusion of being mated to one another, if only for the span of Mackenzie’s heat. Their immediate chemistry foreshadows the fact that—true to the conventions of the romance genre—they will eventually find a way to pursue a meaningful long-term relationship with one another.

“I let my human thoughts slip away to give way to the more basic part of me, letting my alpha move my body as if I am hunting Mackenzie. As if she is prey that I want to taste—and in a sense, I suppose she is.”

This passage harkens back to the more typical A/B/O dynamics of the subgenre that portray alphas as dominating their innately submissive omegas. While the criticism of the A/B/O subgenre questions the underlying implications of portraying dominance/submission dynamics as biologically inevitable, Ferguson uses this aspect of the narrative to emphasize the “fated” nature of Noah and Mackenzie’s relationship.