Rise of the Underdogs: JACOB

Strategic Developments

Time seemed to fly as Valik and Peiter took complete control over the girl’s school runs. Not that I minded. Nope. Not when I was dealing with the twins and Wynter’s inability to stay out of trouble.

Working with Samuel, who led our eight-person, multi-species strategy team, we managed to strategically place over a hundred hidden cameras. They were in places that no one would bother looking.

Nook of a tree? Heh, we made the cameras blend with those freaky face things that the stores sell for tree décor. Caps of the chain-link fence? Done – every fifth stabilizer post. Each “cap” looked like it was another part of the fence, but it was actually a 180-camera setup.

It was just another day of ensuring the pack members joining us, some Ronin kids who were orphaned by territory wars around the globe, and it was quiet. Too quiet.

Making my way to the packhouse, I first checked in on the Omegas who were split between the kitchen and the main house. One crew was cooking according to Ember’s neatly-written schedule system. They were fine. The cleaning crew was safely accounted for as well.

Without reason, I made my way to Samuel’s personal bunker. It bordered the woods, the back yard of the packhouse, and it was strategically placed to look like a small, grassy hill. Nothing about the location gave away its true purpose. Knocking on the heavy-duty steel door, I waited until it hissed open.

“Hey, J,” Sam called, bent over a table filled with what looked like pieces of the territory game called ‘Risk’. On closer inspection, I chuckled. They were, in fact, pieces of ‘Risk’ that were placed all over an actual map of the Howler territory. “I’m just looking into the placement values for certain pack members. I’m thinking we should probably build the clinic closer to the middle of our land, too. It’ll give us centralized care rather than have it near the border.”

The sun filtered through the spring air, creating growing, finger-like shadows from the still naked branches of the trees. The smell of fresh-turned earth, created by the critters that ate their way through the permafrost when it melted enough.

I nodded, “The new arrivals are settling into the secure transition house just beyond the edge, too.”

The secure transition house was placed between the Fox shifter lands and the Howler lands. A brainchild of our darling Luna Selene who wasn’t just a pretty face. She drew up the plans, making sure all the factions could access it, and ensured it was in a neutral, but heavily guarded location. It was a place that allowed newcomers to regulate, to relax and find their peace before joining one of the six different groups that ran the Alliance.

Well, seven if we were going to count the tentative agreement with the Slayer faction that was slowly building trust while simultaneously recentering to their actual purpose. Not the relentless killers, but the undercover human force that ‘policed’ the supernatural.

I said policed because they were the ones tasked with keeping the peace in our world. Not to kill unrepentantly, but to kill to protect the peace. To end the lives of the ones who thought to disrupt the lives of those only wanting peace.

Yes, I always respected every faction, but the Slayers earned my weary caution. If they were around, I was hovering just beyond their peripheral.

“That’s good,” he commented without looking up from setting the gridlines on the map. “Any progress on the camera tech?”

“Fully operational and good to go,” I said, handing him back the tablet that we used as a central management system. “Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I still can’t believe you three got tossed back into Alliance Academy only to graduate early. Speaking of strategy, this years Prom night might be a little chaotic. I hear that Andrast is going to be attending as a member of House Valencia, so I’m a little worried for my sister and Ember.”

“Don’t be,” Samuel replied. “We’ve known each other since we were toddlers. If I know anything, its that Heaven and Ember won’t be alone. Their Mates will be in attendance as their escorts and guards. Samara and Loralei will be working with the Valencia army to man the perimeter.”

Samuel was rarely wrong when he gave over his networked advice. If he was, he normally corrected the misinformation as quickly as possible.

“I get that,” I replied. “Valik and Heaven are a perfect match, so I know he’ll take care of my baby sister. How goes it with Heather?”

“It’s going. I’m antsy being Mated to her, but she’s been reminding me that our family history matters, but it’s on the bottom rung of the important stuff.” He stopped, cross-checking a red string against recent Rogue attempts to access our lands. “We’ve got security so tight, King Neil’s been calling me to revamp the Shadow Storm pack.”

Barking a short laugh, I leaned over the table in the middle of the room. The circles, the lines, the pins. Everything had its place, and, while it looked like a complete mess, Sam was the only one who could read it with surgical precision. He wasn’t just a thoughtful Omega manning our security. He had a tactical mind with eyes that, like mine, saw what other’s missed completely.

“Remember when you were scared to tell your Dad about being Omega?” I asked, sitting in one of the empty chairs.

He smiled, pulled out two cans of Cola, and tossed one to me. “I do. What I wasn’t expecting was Dad telling me he knew one of his kids would be. My sister turned out to be an Omega, too. And both my little brothers ended up being Trackers. Oh, and my twin got the best outcome of being able to fight like the Warrior he is while being Mated to a girl that would literally shift into wolf form just to drag him over the stairs to spar.”

“Explain?” I asked, humoured by him.

He shrugged one shoulder, “It’s true. I’ve seen mom let Wyn in only to laugh her ass off when the latter drags the former out of the house by the pant leg.”

Okay, that was unexpected, but hilariously funny. Yup. I’m totally categorizing this under possible things to use at their double wedding.

What? You’re confused?

Don’t be. The twins shared everything except their women. It only made sense that they’d push for a conjoined wedding.

“Beta Colton got a mismatched family, but all good kids,” I commented, popping the top and taking a swig of the soda.

Samuel laughed, taking a step back so that he didn’t disturb his work. “If you say so. I mean, you’ve met my mother. For a human, she’s a shark in sheep’s clothing. Specifically when anyone thinks they can bully her pups and get away with it.”

“Yeah, but that’s Aunt Daisy for you,” I said softly. “Human or not, a good mother will bury anyone who tries to hurt her children. A great mom will call in a clean up crew for the bloody mess she ends up making.”

Those of you who might be confused – do you need an explanation? Yes? Okay then. You see, with close-knit friends, their parents became Aunt or Uncle to the rest o us. My mom and dad were Aunt Liz and Uncle Steve to the rest, just like Beta Colt and Beta Daisy were Aunt and Uncle. Family without blood was nothing more than a covenant of like-minded people with a common goal: survive and thrive.

“And my mom is totally the second one,” he answered with a knowing grin.

I nodded, leaning back in my seat with my eyes closed. I wasn’t listening for anything, just… relaxing in the moment. Letting myself melt into the calm continuity of the life me and my eight friends build just for us. “What started as kids playing became a life goal for the other factions.”

“Uh-huh,” Sam replied, “It certainly did. And now we’re running everything like supernatural arms dealers with glowing recommendations from the Royal family itself.”

“Pays to have a prince of Werewolves in our corner,” I casually stated. “It’s even better when he’s so smart not even his Grand Alpha dad can argue with his logic.”

Sam lost it, dropping into the chair directly across from me. “Dude, that’s Logan in a nutshell.”

My grin split my face, knowing fully that he was absolutely correct. “Yeah, and we reap the benefits of our friendship with him.”

I stretched my legs out under the table, letting the fizz of the Cola settle behind my teeth. Sam was still grinning, but his eyes flicked back to the map, scanning for something only he could see.

“I swear,” I murmured, “if we ever get audited by the Alliance, they’re going to think we’re running a black-ops unit instead of a pack.”

Sam snorted. “We kind of are. Just with better snacks and less paperwork. Besides, the Alliance won’t audit a Guardian pack. We’re the first to exist in over two and a half centuries.”

“That’s because we’re boundary breakers,” I said. I let the silence stretch, watching the way the sunlight caught the edge of the steel bunker door. It was quiet again—too quiet. The kind that made my wolf stir, not in panic, but in awareness.

“You feel that?” I asked, not moving.

Sam didn’t look up. “Yeah. Something’s changing in the pack. Not bad. Just... new. The invisible magic barriers are holding strong, too, so we don’t have to worry about that.”

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I feel like something is coming, something only meant for me,” I whispered.

He nodded, “I felt that just before I met Heather. Not as someone I grew up with, but as my Mate.”

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Someone incredibly important to me was on their way. Someone I would be able to solely call my own.