Rise of the Underdogs: Jasper

Finding Hope

The years after arriving at Shadow Storm were not at all like I thought they would be. There was the constant push and pull of daily life, and nothing seemed to stop the flow.

School, which we’d enrolled in after the first month, wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The first month saw us being tested for everything, including where we stood academically. When the results came back, it was amazing to know we weren’t that far behind our peers.

Colton proved to be both the most fun and the most annoying person I’d met in a long time. yes, he was even more annoying than my brothers. Kaden, I didn’t see much of, but he somehow managed to keep Colton’s attention off of other people and on himself. Dreson was… reclusive, distant. As if he was hiding something.

I would later find out that the something he was keeping secret was that he was gay. Through sneaky tactics, Levi and I found out his Mate was a young man from Wales who commanded Sorcery with undertones of Druid magics. We said nothing to no one. The understanding that it was his cross to bear was silent, but true.

Shortly after we arrived, we absorbed so much of the changes that fluidly switching between our heritage and our new life was easy. Simple.

Then came the break. The darkness that consumed Neil from the inside out. A burning ache that had never been granted forgiveness had almost completely taken over his life. The same pain he’d carried for nine years was threatening to destroy the complex prince of Werewolves. His mentality started fracturing, and he was becoming more and more volatile with each passing day.

John, the guy he hung out with was an i***t, and I took great pleasure in breaking his jaw one day when he made a lewd comment about my sister. However, when Colton and Dreson found out, they told the Grand Alpha in secret. Confronted, I gave him the truth, and, in turn, he hid my actions from the local authorities and made the problem go away.

When I asked why, he snorted and said that he’d rather cover up someone protecting a child then let a potential predator get away with it. Though “he said-he said” would have been the fight, it would have placed a target on our backs that neither the Grand Alpha nor I wanted to deal with. John gave us a wider berth after that.

Colton also broke under the pressure of his fractured identity and the lies spread by one girl trying to ruin him and his actually good reputation. Not the normal “good guy” rep, but one people knew could be the best or the worst thing to happen to them.

After that, Henry decided to temporarily disband the pack. he would call us back when the time came, but, for now, we were to live our lives as if we still lived within the pack borders.

He pulled me aside, looking like he’d aged more than a decade in the span of a single year. “Jasper, I got a special task for ye and yer siblings. While the pack is separated, I want ye te find others who might ‘ave survived. Secretly, mind. I don’t want ye drawin’ attention to that sister of yours. If ye can, only you, Levi, and River should go. Leave the other three with one o’ th’ families for safe keepin’, aye?”

“Yes, Sir. Mistress Elizabeth’s family home within the Starlight coven,” I began. “That’s where I would like them kept. This way, regardless of how long it takes, Cars, Quint, and Kita can still attend school and get their degrees. River, Levi and I already have ours. Not sure how, but they pulled a real miracle out of their asses.”

“Aye, a good call, lad. I’ll see it done for ya,” he answered, dismissing me to relay the news to my family.

Months later, I stood on the precipice of forest and cliffs, staring our at the vast summer lands full of nature and animal life. Small settlements dotted the edges of the south-eastern portion of the Island with long and short piers reaching out into the Atlantic Ocean. Fishing dory’s were tied up as larger vessels cut silent pathways through the dark, churning waters.

Just before leaving Shadow Storm, Henry had given each of us a badge. Not of honour, but of recognition. We were to invoke his name as required should the need ever arrive, and show the insignia to one in a local position of power.

We’d used it never at this point, but possibility wasn’t carved in permanence. It was constantly sifting through every thought, word, and action. Always looking for another way. Another path forward.

Cell phones were also provided, as was a bag of smaller chips we were to pass on to others seeking salvation within the kind King’s pack. These chips would get them audience with the King himself, and grant immunity to those who desired it. Another thing to aid us on our way was the fact that we’d been provided with enough cash and banked funds to get us through for a decent stretch of time. Should we need more, we were to contact Beta Phil directly.

Then, a sound reached us over the musically droning ebb and flow of waves on tiny pebbles. Soft, barely audible, and just outside the range of our collective hearing.

Moving with a stealth built over ages living in the north, my brothers and I sifted through the forest until we finally located a small, decrepit cabin that was half-collapsed. The thatched roof, crumbling walls, and plank-covered windows told a story of another time.

The place had been likely used as a hunting cabin, but it didn’t matter. What did matter was the shockingly familiar scent that grabbed us. It slammed into us like a sledgehammer, shattering the defenses we’d built and calling forth memories of a softer, much more happy time in all our lives.

Someone cried out, and Levi bolted to the door that was hanging off it’s hinges. “s**t. Jas, quick! We found one of the important bloodlines!”

I neared the cabin, cautious not to read too mush into anything. Peeking inside, I felt my blood run ice cold for a heartbeat of time. Laying in a pool of liquid was none other than the last member of the Forrest family line. “Dear Goddess, is that really you, Eileen?”

There, in threadbare clothes and covered in grime, was one of the two special bloodlines we’d been praying to find. Her body was battered, bruises fading slower than they should as her ribs protruded under skin that was pulled taught. Her belly was rounded, and the tiny, almost imperceptible movements told me that we’d cut considerably close to losing her.

She looked up, her breathing laboured as she tried to weakly indicate her lower half. Glancing down, I realized she was bleeding. “Help… my Lords… please… my pup. Please don’t let them kill my pup.”

Kneeling by her side, I told Levi to go start the vehicle Henry had provided for easier travel. Lifting her, I wanted to curse at how close we were. To curse the fact that a pregnant she-wolf had been wasting away in silence because our people had been hunted down.

“She called us Lords,” River muttered, his eyes misting. “She remembers who we were before the fall.”

Getting to the car, I handed her over to River and Levi. Not wanting to waste another precious minute, I gunned the engine and raced toward the nearest hospital. “Keep her warm. Hand over her stomach. We have to make sure the pup knows its safe until its birth.”

River nodded, splaying his hands over her belly as he started rhythmically singing an Inuit lullaby. “Sleep, little flame, the wind is low, the snow won’t find you here. Your mother’s breath is thin but strong, your name is drawing near. Drift, little heart, the stars are kind, they’ve watched you from the start. Goddess sees her strongest souls, through darkness light delivers.”

Meanwhile, Levi pulled his coat off and wrapped her in it. “You’re safe now, Eileen. We got you.”

“Lady… Akita…” she managed through chattering teeth.

“Safe, alive, and surviving within the confines of the royal pack, Shadow Storm,” I said from the front seat. “Forget all else, my friend. Focus on yourself and that pup you’re carrying.”

“Mate… killed…” she managed before the effort of trying to stay awake vanished. She went limp, barely breathing in Levi’s arms as he moved slightly to adjust her weight.

He glanced at me through the mirror, his face streaked with tears. “We hunt the ones who did this. This atrocity should not go unpunished, brother. Not when two precious lives were nearly lost for greed and glory.”

My jaw worked, set angrily against the fact that he was right. “Levi, I need to contact the Grand Alpha before we act. Once he sanctions it, we hunt the bastards down and draw blood for blood. Together.”

“Together,” River hissed, openly crying as he felt the movement of the unborn pup under his hands. “Hold on, little one. Help is on the way. Soon, you will join us and grow in peace rather than fear. Sweet, gifted child of the Goddess, stay with us. Please stay with us.”

Breathing in both pain and anger, Levi said, “To have survived this long on the run and without help is a testament to that. Regardless, her pup is paramount. The baby is who we truly have to save.”

“We save both, guys. One over the other is not an option. Both need to live,” I stated, my eyes never leaving the stretch of road leading to the nearest hospital.