Rise of the Underdogs: JACOB

Challenging Revelation

“When sunbeams crown thy pine clad hills,” I said, muttering the first verse of the ‘Ode to Newfoundland’ as the sun literally crested the forest like natures crown. I sighed, staring at the rising ball of light as it coasted silently into the morning sky as my empty coffee cup dangled from my fingers over the rail of my rooms’ balcony.

I sighed, the feeling of need and opportunity hadn’t let me sleep decently since Sam and I had our talk a few months ago. My wolf was edgy, constantly on watch for someone we didn’t even know yet.

The scent of the air carried the distant warning that a fight was going to break out among the clouds and flood the earth with the losers tears.

Just a few weeks before, we’d successfully stopped a disaster of an Alpha. While there, I watched Valik, Heaven, and Peiter stop assassins from getting to Prince Lorne. The aftermath was a brutal display of brawn and blood as King Neil, Lord Hunter, and Logan himself took out every Black Blood Werewolf in the northern territory.

No, Black Blood was not the name of the pack. It was the cursed name of those who died, not fighting for peace, but to maintain their greedy footholds of power.

Yeah, okay. Do these people not realize that’s the baseline reason we Howlers have survived this long while being the smallest pack in North America? Probably not.

Anyway, it wasn’t a shocker to me that Valik’s younger adoptive brother clung to him. Yesterday, the teen was barely able to hold his own in a fight seeing as his wolf hadn’t emerged, yet he’s basically on his knees begging my bestie to train him. The shocker? Grand Alpha Henry actually agreed that it would be beneficial to Lorne.

Now, with a new day’s sunrise, I felt the tug of war with my wolf begin anew. Thorne wanted to run, to bolt into the forest and check every hill, hole, and cave where our long-awaited Mate could be hiding. His silvery-blue eyes mimicked my sister, Wynter’s, wolf, and his fur had slowly started turning the colour of shifting shadows. A growth that allowed us to move in various light without detection and with the silent destruction of our Tracker ability.

Honestly, they reminded me of the moon’s reflection on water.

The family dinner was pretty wild, though. I mean, I was so, so nice to see my oldest brother eat a generous helping of humble pie. Then, after our mother told his Mate not to follow him and to just let him stew in his choices, she approached Valik and welcomed him into our family like he belonged there.

Because he did. Now we weren’t just spirit littermates. When that ass officially married and marked my sister, he would be my chosen brother by bonded blood – Heaven’s.

Why do I have a feeling someone reading this is confused?

Meh. Fine. I’ll explain. Valik’s wolf and mine were littermates. He was the Fated Mate of my sister, Heaven, meaning Valik and I would be blood-bonded through his Mate bond with Heaven.

I sighed again before my attention was drawn to Valik’s balcony. Dude had no fear if he was jumping the rail rather than going through the front door. My phone rang, and I moved with a quiet speed that belied my own exhaustion. “Yo?”

“Already sent Valik, but we need our Master Tracker on the north-west quadrant. One of the cameras that were visible was destroyed, the others are still operational. I got scraps of images off the first one – a girl and a baby. She’s frantic, looking for entry, and then her claws destroyed the camera.” Samuel stated.

“Anything else?” I asked, pulling on my boots.

He stopped, growling at something before returning to the call. “Yeah, she did it on purpose knowing it would bring our security forces running. Before she vanished from the area, the cameras picked up on movement from at least ten Rogue wolves. Jake, she was terrified. If she’s still out there, Valik’s going to find her first. He’ll fall back on his training in Russia – using baseless threats to get a target to talk.”

“That…” there was no excuse for anything along the lines of psychological abuse, but I knew why Sam was mentioning it. “Other’s would see it as him shifting into Austin. I won’t let that happen, Sam. He’s going to do exactly what he was trained to do. Nothing more. Nothing less, and I would expect no less from the man Logan handpicked to be Captain of the Elite Guard.”

I could hear Samuel laugh, “Yeah, well, my brother and Wynter and I will be following soon. Pincer attack using herding tactics to corner the Rogues and bring them in for questioning.”

“Nice,” I said before I shoved my phone into the zippered pocket of my jacket. Checking myself in the mirror, I grinned. Something about today was going to make this interruption fun.

Following the same path Valik had taken, I shifted and started working the land using my Tracker skills. When I was done, I made it to the area where Loralei was waiting in the shadows, the few Rogues she’d encountered unconscious but breathing. Shifting back, I donned my clothes and called over to her. “Report?”

“Immediate area has been effectively secured,” she told me. “Captain Valik is off that way tracking the cry of the babe he heard earlier.”

She gestured to her right, already attuned to twins and Wynter finding their own rhythm against the other Rogues. “I already advised the Captain and the Alpha. Should I assist them?”

“You can try,” I blurted with a laugh as I tracked my best friend.

Reaching his location, I paled a little when I heard him threaten her and the pup. I knew deep in my soul that he was lying through his teeth, but it worked to crack her outer shell. It did nothing to calm Thorne, however, but the wolf in my head went still when our gaze landed on the girl.

She sobbed, her voice holding a musical note blended in with the fear and concern. “Please, I’m sorry. I never meant to break the camera. I was trying to get to safety.”

“Valik?” I called out, my voice thick with emotions.

He shook his head, explaining everything. I nodded, knowing he was telling me the truth before telling him she was mine, my Mate. His assessment of her threat level was unknown until he gathered her in his arms and handed her off to me, but he locked my gaze to his and told me anyway. “Threat level: Non-existent. She’s frightened, obviously abused, and in desperate need of care.”

I nodded, feeling Thorne fall into a preoccupied silence as I stared at the girl and the baby in her arms. Her soft, caramel skin was blemished with shallow cuts and bruises in various stages of healing. The smell of something exotic was there, just beneath the mud, dust, and grime of her frantic escape from what or who had been chasing her.

‘That pup is hers,’ Thorne whispered in my mind. ‘By right, it becomes ours when she accepts the bond.’

I wanted to sob. She hadn’t waited for me like I’d waited for her. There had to be a reason for it, and I was willing to keep an open mind. ‘The pup’s mother is ours.’

‘And, by extension, so too is her pup,’ Thorne agreed with the kind of gentle indignation only spirits can project. ‘We cannot leave one and accept the other. We are better than that, Jacob.’

A slow smirk spread across my face. ‘You’re right. By right of the Mate bond, her family becomes mine and mine hers. By right of choice, they are ours, Thorne. Both of them.’

Once the testing proved the babe was my Mates child, I would make my decision known to those who mattered most. Those who understood that separating a she-wolf from her pup was a no-go and rejection was never happening.

Like the hell I was going to let Jack know about this though. He’d already been showing signs of turning into a complete Asshat, and I wasn’t the only sibling itching for a chance to shove his face in a pile of steaming dung for how he treated those around him.

This girl, weak and frail as she was, couldn’t defend herself, in her state. Yet, she’d somehow found the strength to fight her way to freedom and safety for her pup. It told me everything I needed to know about her character. Her world views.

A softer voice, weaker and practically shattered from whatever hell my Mate had been through, reached out. Thorne’s ears perked up, his head tilting as he listened cautiously.

Again, the voice reached out, hope mixing with the fear of loss. ‘…help…’

‘Thorne?’ I called, wanting to know if he would be able to help.

He trembled in my head, his eyes taking on a hue that meant sadness. ‘Her wolf is… she’s dying, Jake.’

‘Keep her alive as long as possible, T-Dawg,’ I pleaded, racing to the clinic we’d managed to finish with help from the surrounding factions. ‘We need her alive. Her pup needs her.’

Renewed fight pushed us onwards as we got to the clinic with Valik and handed over the girl while he handed over the baby. I felt my best friend watching me carefully, calling for my sister and making sure I had support.

I fell to the nearest chair, a prayer on my lips. “Please, Goddess, please don’t let her die. Breathe life into your fallen servant, O Great Mother of Werewolves.”

‘Child, your prayer has been heard. You are worthy of my grace.’

I blinked hard, ‘I’m hearing things?’

‘No,’ Thorne answered. ‘The Goddess is impressed with your courage and commitment to the challenge she sent you. She will answer you, but it might take time.’

‘It’s fine, I’ve got time,’ I said before jumping into the fray that was my baby sister when she slapped Valik.