Rise of the Underdogs: Jasper

Life Reclaimed

Getting to the hospital, I carried her inside while Levi called for help. River trailed behind, his eyes wide with fear and concern, his steps hesitant but determined. Blood dotted their clothes—sharp, rust-colored reminders of how close we’d come to losing her—but that was the least of our worries. The real threat was the one looming over Eileen, silent and merciless, waiting to decide if she would survive the hour.

Nurses swarmed from every direction, gathering with clipboards and rapid-fire questions. Their movements were swift, practiced, almost mechanical. Doctors shouted orders in voices so commanding our wolves instinctively flinched, questioning if they were Alphas.

In their profession, they likely were. Their presence filled the room with a dominance we couldn’t challenge, and for once, we didn’t want to.

Someone cried for a stretcher, and a flurry of hands descended—firm, clinical, unrelenting. They removed the woman from my arms and laid her on a gurney with practiced ease. The motion was everywhere at once, a blur of urgency and sterile chaos. It was alarming, overwhelming, and direly catastrophic.

Not knowing what else to do, I pulled out my phone and pressed the first contact on the list. Each second dragged as I waited for someone to answer, my heart sinking deeper while I watched them wheel Eileen through the emergency doors.

“Jasper?” The line connected, and Phil’s voice, anchoring and clear, hit me. I let out a sob, and he caught on immediately. “You found one?”

“Two, Beta. We found two,” I managed. “We found her in a cabin alone, fighting to live, and pregnant. We took her to the hospital, but we don’t know if we were too late.”

A shuddering breath greeted my explanation. “Jasper, listen carefully to me. Bring your phone to the front desk. Ask for the Head Nurse or the doctor in charge. When someone of that standing appears, hand them your phone.”

“While you’re on the line?” I asked.

“Yes, now go,” he growled, and I heard him softly curse his boots. “I’m on my way, but I need details I’m pretty sure you boys don’t have.”

Pink tinged my cheeks. “Such as?”

“The location, for one. What township or city have you entered?” He said, acutely aware that only Levi actually read the map we were provided. He chuckled, “The brother that has attention deficit is the only one absorbing locations like a living map.”

“Yes,” I answered, knowing he would understand. “Levi can, but none of us were watching for signs.”

He barked a laugh, “Yeah, Henry said as much. Not that, directly, but the fact that you boys hyper-focus by times.”

“Sounds right,” I commented. Making my way to the desk where women and men scurried with charts, tests and medications, I let out a deep breath. Wiping my damp hands on my worn jeans, I projected the calm I needed. “Please, can I speak with someone in charge? I just brought in a pregnant woman we found in the woods.”

“You boys just might have saved her life,” a woman said, stepping forward. “I’m the one in charge of this station. How can I help?”

Wordlessly, I handed over my cell phone. “Please, it’s someone from our home. He’s a doctor and wants to talk to you.”

Taking the device from me, she put it on speaker. “This is Charge Nurse Gina Young. Who am I speaking with?”

“Royal Beta Phillip Kade of the Shadow Storm pack. I understand that the boys with you brought in a pregnant female?” His voice brought a chilling silence as almost every person present recognized his name and rank.

Gina let out a slow, steady breath, “These boys are under the protection of the Royal’s? That changes things. How will you have us proceed, Beta?”

“Make sure mother and child survive until I get there. I’m bringing natural medicines to help her heal and stabilize her wolf.” Phil said, his voice edgy but calm. “If the boys are listening, take defensive positions along the path to wherever the woman is located. Give me a name and age, now.”

River nodded, “Her name is Eileen Forrest. She’s twenty as of this year and is the last of a Blessed bloodline. I’ll wait by the door of the ER.”

“Excellent, Henry’s been notified of this and the bloodline fact. You’re going to need to explain it to him yourself, though.” Phillip stated. I heard his Jeep start, the decades old engine roaring to life before the spray of gravel hit the plastic siding of his personal home.

“I’m going to grab food. She’ll need meat and fish protein to restabilize herself, along with fruit and vegetables for vitamins and minerals,” Levi said, fishing the keys out of my coat pocket.

“That’s it,” Phillip said, pride evident in his voice. “Now you’re talking. Get gone. Jasper?”

Watching both of my brothers leave to take up the tasks they volunteered for, I felt my heart swell. “I’ll maintain connection, Sir. I’ll be waiting in the lobby for your arrival.”

“Well done,” he answered. “Nurse, hospital name and location?”

“Connaigre,” the nurse said softly. “They’re not your normal wolves, Beta.”

He made a strangled sound that was more of a cross between a laugh and disbelief. “No, they aren’t. Their pack fell, and we’re hunting the survivors. Finding even one person, one Werewolf on their trek was not just a step in the right direction. It was a monumental influx of hope.”

The wait began—long, tenuous, and dragged out like a scream captured forever in a photograph. I didn’t want to lose her. Not Eileen. She’d been my friend within Arctic Shield, her constantly cautious optimism a quiet light in the cold.

Knowing she’d found her Mate was a comfort, but learning he hadn’t survived was more heartbreaking than I had any right to feel. Another sob escaped from me, tearing through my chest like fire and alcohol. When Phillip arrived, I would have to make the choice to either find his body (or, rather, what was left of him) and prepare his final rites as per Werewolf custom.

Moving back to the desk, I licked my lips. “Excuse me?”

The man typing out doctor’s notes glanced up, his grey eyes reminding me of storm clouds. “Yes?”

“Do you happen to have any unclaimed bodies that might have been brought in? The woman we saved was a packmate of the Arctic, and we need to find her Mate. She advised us that he’d been killed.” I told him.

He scowled, drumming his fingers against the polished surface of the desk. “Now that you mention it, there was a man found with his throat ripped out up in Conne River. He was brought to their local morgue, I believe.”

Wonderful. We had a starting point, but it was kilometers away in another township.

“Great, thanks,” I said, moving to check in on River. His soft humming stopped as I neared, his midnight eyes flashing with primal hope.

A surviving female of our tribe was not just a hope as Phil said. It was legacy incarnate. As long as a she-wolf of the Arctic survived, there was hope in rebuilding what was lost.

Or, at best, a way to increase the royal pack with our tried and tested strength.

“She’s okay,” my brother said, his tone awed. “The baby and Eileen. They’re both okay.”

“Her Mate’s body lies somewhere between here and a place called Conne River. When she’s stable, we retrieve it to prepare him for final rites as is our way. Eileen will receive his ashes as his widowed Mate, and we become de facto guardians of her child until safe haven is reached.” I advised, testing how the idea tasted.

His eyes lit up, “Agreed. We can send her on her way with Phil after that and go hunt the jerks that did this.”

Hours later, after receiving the doctor’s promise that mother and babe were safely out of danger and under supervision, I heard Phil’s Jeep screeched into the parking lot. Minutes felt like days as he ran in, quickly giving his name to the front desk. I watched from the shadows as the nurse handed over a visiting physicians badge and a chart before pointing him toward the double doors of the Maternity ward.

Exhaling as he passed me, he didn’t notice me at first. He stopped, sniffed, then turned. “Almost walked right past you. Well done blending in, Kid. Where’s Levi?”

“In the room with Eileen. He brought ready-made food for her from the local supermarket, and is currently making sure she’s eating what she can when she can.” I told him, falling into step beside the Beta with ease.

As we approached the door, River shot to his feet, his eyes glittering with Auraliq’s power before it simmered and faded. “Oh, sorry. I must have fallen asleep.”

“It’s fine, River,” Phil said, his warm smile meeting his eyes. “Come, I want all three of you in there when I meet this woman.”

Inside the room, I heard his muttered curses. Saw the way his jaw set and his hands clenched involuntarily around the tablet. “Barely, but you succeeded in saving them, Jasper. This is exactly why Henry didn’t strip you boys of the titles you earned through blood and rite of passage. You three and the twins are Lords of the Arctic Shield under the protection of the Royal Werewolf House Dane. Akita remains Alpha Elect, and you maintain your position as Regent to the Alpha.”

Someone gasped, and we found ourselves looking at the woman on the bed. I moved with fluid grace to her bedside, grasping her hand firmly, but not tight enough to hurt. “You’re safe, Eileen. So is your baby.”

“Lord Jasper? Is it really you? And Levi and River, too?” she sobbed, a broken helpless sound that shattered my heart. “The Goddess heard my prayer and answered it. Thank you, Jas. Thank you so much.”