The Fake Mate (2023) is a standalone fiction novel from USA Today best-selling author Lana Ferguson and follows the interactions of Mackenzie Carter and Noah Taylor, two wolf shifters who are forced to pretend that they are mated to fend off Mackenzie’s overzealous matchmaking family members and save Noah’s career. Following Ferguson’s acclaimed debut novel, The Nanny, The Fake Mate delves into the Alpha/Beta/Omega paranormal subgenre, featuring protagonists who must navigate the social costs of their shapeshifting abilities. In The Fake Mate, Ferguson uses the premise of an unexpected romance to tackle issues relating to the formation of questionable stereotypes, the impact of untreated trauma, and the isolating effects of ignorance and prejudice.

This guide refers to the Penguin e-book edition distributed by Google Play Books and published on December 5, 2023.

Plot Summary

Mackenzie Carter, a 29-year-old shapeshifter and doctor who works at Denver General Hospital, is sick of her grandmother’s propensity for setting her up with a barrage of men, each more unpleasant than the last. The only way her grandmother, Moira, will leave her alone, is if she thinks that Mackenzie already has a romantic interest, so Mackenzie lies and claims to be dating the infamous head of cardiology, Noah Taylor. When Mackenzie asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend, she is surprised when he agrees and asks her, in turn, to pretend to be his fake mate for the benefit of the medical board.

Noah is facing a desperate situation. His jealous coworker, Dennis Martin, an older cardiologist, has secretly revealed Noah’s status as an alpha wolf shapeshifter to the medical board; without a mate to “mollify” Noah’s alpha tendencies, he may face repercussions for failing to disclose this information—a fact that may prevent him from taking his dream job in Albuquerque. When Mackenzie makes her offer, he is surprised to find that the medical board is more than happy to accept their relationship status. 

Because Noah and Mackenzie are shifters, the best way to indicate their relationship is by mingling their scents. Although Noah and Mackenzie try to remain clinical about this intimate act, a distinct tone of sexual tension arises between them. At the hospital, rumors of their mating abound, and Mackenzie’s friends, particularly Priya, pepper her with questions. Priya insists that Mackenzie and Noah attend a retirement party for their coworker, Betty. When Mackenzie approaches Noah to ask about this, she finds him with Dennis, who Mackenzie finds too inauthentically friendly. 

Noah is surprised to enjoy the outing with Mackenzie and her friends, but another unpleasant run-in with Dennis leaves him feeling unnerved. The next day, Mackenzie’s grandmother demands to meet Noah. Meanwhile, at Denver General, not everyone is overjoyed with their mating. Liam, a registered nurse and friend of Mackenzie’s, expresses his distrust of Noah when he and Mackenzie next work together. Mackenzie, however, is finding that Noah is nowhere near as heartless or fearsome as the hospital rumors make him out to be.

A week later, she and Noah go to her grandmother’s house, with Noah feeling oddly nervous. Though he finds Moira adoring and wise, she surprises him by commenting on their rare pairing: an alpha and an omega. Mackenzie had never mentioned her designation to him, and when they take a moment alone in her grandmother’s garden, he confronts her and tries to terminate their arrangement, knowing that, biologically, alphas and omegas have heightened sexual responses to one another. Mackenzie refuses. Later, she even suggests that they indulge in the so-called mystical connection between alphas and omegas.

Noah intends to refuse her, but she eventually wears him down, and he soon finds himself in her bed. The next day, feeling nervous about how their sexual encounter will redefine their relationship, Noah goes into a consult with a patient who was previously under Dennis’s care. During the meeting, Dennis invites himself to the room and subtly undermines Noah in front of the patient. When Noah later confronts him, Dennis complains about Noah’s “alpha” behavior. Sour-minded, Noah goes to find Mackenzie, but when he sees her laughing with Liam, he grows deeply jealous and interrupts their conversation, kissing Mackenzie in front of the entire ER—a brash act for which he later berates himself. Mackenzie is confused by his sudden display of affection and later asks him whether he was jealous of Liam. When he denies it, they reaffirm that their arrangement is business-only and decide that adding sex as an extra benefit will not change this fact. That night, Mackenzie invites herself to Noah’s home to have sex again.

Noah’s mother later asks him about his relationship with Mackenzie, and he explains their fake arrangement. Still in Noah’s home after their latest sexual interlude, Mackenzie finds herself feeling physically ill even as she is overcome with desire for Noah. During her work shift, she goes to see her best friend Parker, who is an IT expert at Denver General. Unbeknownst to them, Dennis is lurking nearby; he overhears them discussing her fake relationship with Noah but pretends not to have heard anything. Suddenly, Mackenzie’s sickness worsens, and she collapses as her heat unexpectedly begins early.

Noah smells her heat from afar and rushes to her side. He rushes her back to his place and arranges to borrow his cousin’s cabin in the woods. Once there, he and Mackenzie shift into their wolf forms and run through the woods. As Noah helps Mackenzie through her heat, he claims her as his own for as long as they remain in the cabin. The isolated setting allows them a rare moment of intimacy and peace, and their feelings for each other grow. Noah later asks to take Mackenzie on a real date. 

They return to the city after Mackenzie’s heat subsides, and two days later, Noah finds himself hesitating to accept the job in Albuquerque. That night, he and Mackenzie go on a real date together. A few days later, just as Noah is about to decline the offer from Albuquerque, Dennis blackmails him and delivers an ultimatum; Noah must resign and break things off with Mackenzie, or Dennis will reveal to the medical board that Noah and Mackenzie lied about their relationship. Dennis also threatens to ruin Mackenzie’s career if Noah retaliates. Burdened by this issue, Noah breaks up with Mackenzie, triggering her unaddressed issues with abandonment.

The two spend the next few weeks in misery. Mackenzie and Parker eventually realize that Dennis revealed Noah’s alpha status to the medical board months ago. Together, they find evidence that Dennis violated HIPAA by gaining illicit access to Noah’s medical records. Confirmation in hand, Mackenzie confronts Noah, and they reconcile. The next day, they meet with the medical board and demand that Noah be reinstated—with a raise—and ask for Dennis’s dismissal. When the board tries to defend their position, Noah and Mackenzie threaten to sue them for discriminatory practices. The board quickly convenes and decides to dismiss Dennis and reinstate Noah. Later, Noah and Mackenzie drive to his family’s home, where their families await them. Though Mackenzie is nervous, Noah is convinced that all will be well because he loves her and feels like their meeting was fated.