Rise of the Underdogs: JACOB

The Quiet Vow

When night finally fell, and Valik sent a message thanking me for intervention with my sister, I slipped into the ICU.

She’d been moved into a private room with enough space for the medical equipment, a comfortable feeding chair, and the hospital-issued crib. It wasn’t a large statement, but one that said her dignity was preserved until her story could be heard. It was one that told the entire pack that the Alpha himself was watching over her case with prejudice.

Not the kind that held her under suspicion, but the kind that said anyone trying to hurt my Mate would die most painfully.

Pulling a plastic chair over to the bed, I gently took her hand in mine. Careful of the wires and tubes attached to her at various points, I let myself relax around her. The softness of her dark, yet pale skin, the flutter of her lashes while she was in the throes of rapid eye movement, and the mechanical way her chest rose and fell gave me hope.

Cleaned up, she looked delicate, frail, and thin. Yet, she carried a defiance, a will that superseded her situation. That will lent strength to my situation, gave me hope for a future not yet set in stone. Her dark golden eyes were closed in healing sleep and her ash-blond hair was recently washed and brushed neatly from her face. I knew the moment I looked at her that she was of the Arctic Shield pack.

A pack that had fallen years before I was born to a synchronized attack that left their unique bloodline devastated beyond repair. Their people had scattered, becoming invisible while in plain sight to protect what little numbers they had left.

I reached up, brushing my fingers across the fever-flushed skin of her forehead as the machine breathing for her kept a steady pace. Unable to bear the silence, I said: “You don’t know me yet, but you’re safe now. You and your boy are mine to guard, mine to protect, and, once you’re used to me, mine to love.”

A whimper from the other side of the room dragged my attention to the pup. He was waking, not to the comforting embrace of his mother, but to the gentle blue light that was helping extend his innocent life. Setting the young woman’s hand back on the bed, I adjusted the blankets before moving to the crib. Reaching inside, I lifted the baby into my arms and cradled him to my chest.

“Hello, little one,” I whispered.

Bright, golden-brown eyes stared up at me in wonder before a contented smile split his face. The tuffs of ash hair poked out from under the hand knitted woolen cap he was wearing, making him an almost perfect replica of his mother. His tiny copper-toned hands balled into fists, then relaxed before reaching for my face.

Honestly, he reminded me of when Ember was younger. In fact, she was the reason I easily identified my Mates heritage. As the only pack with those distinct arrays of blond hair and dark skin was the Arctic Shield, their wolves were protected in the harsh, wintery lands of the True North due to the array of light-furred colour schemes.

“You recognize safety, don’t you?” I asked breathlessly. I glanced around, seeing nothing that I could use to soothe or feed him. “Let’s call a nurse, shall we?”

Pushing a blue button on the far wall, I waited patiently as a young night nurse came in to check on everything. “Delta Jake, is something wrong?”

I shook my head, gesturing to the pup in my arms with a sad smile. “Jane, the pup needs supplies. Clothes, diapers, bottles. Basically everything that will make his ICU stay as comfortable as possible until his mother wakes up. Can you wrangle it all up for me? Contact my sister Quartz is need be.”

“Absolutely, Sir,” the girl replied before leaving to attend my request. She returned a moment later with another, older woman I recognized as a Fox shifter midwife. “Mrs. Talon here has offered to assist in training you in infant care. I’ve called and left a message with Quartz at Alliance Hospital, but her charge nurse said she’d already gone home to tend her own pups.”

“Great. Okay, so, I’ll just call her myself in the morning. Thanks for your help, Mrs. Talon, cause I kind of need a crash course in whatever you can offer,” I replied, my laugh as husky as my voice. “Um, what are my chances of getting a water or some herbal tea?”

“Exceptionally high, Jake,” Jane laughed softly. “Just so you know, we nurses are rooting for you and your Mate. Though, seeing you with a pup is rather… endearing.”

Shaking my head, I sighed. After the midwife showed me how to properly dress, change, hold, and feed the pup, she recused herself to check in on her other patients. Sitting with him in my arms, I stewed over what to call him. I mean, I couldn’t just keep saying her pup or my pup, or even the pup. ‘Child’ was a growth stage, not a name.

Then, a soft, barely there voice reached out to me. Clear but weak, it said one word: ‘Saffron…’

I blinked, turning my thoughts inwards as Thorne stood up. His hackles were high, ears perked forward – straining to listen for any sound of threat or danger. There was none, but a thin, shimmering light pulsed somewhere in the distance. ‘Thorne?’

‘Her wolf is there, she’s holding her own, Jake. She’d holding on for me,’ my wolf stated, his voice tinged with righteous acceptance.

‘Keep her talking,’ I told him. ‘Keep her alert.’

He bowed his massive Coastal head and relaxed into a resting position near the thin layer of light. Moments passed in silence with only the ticking of the wall clock to tell the seconds as they blurred together. Then a smaller ash-coloured wolf seemed to appear out of nowhere, pressed against Thorne as he rubbed against her with his head. ‘Precious Mate.’

‘Abandoned… lost…’ the other wolf whimpered. ‘Pup is named Saffron…’

His name meant golden yellow – the colour of his eyes. I waited, patient and enduring as she (the smaller wolf) collapsed in sleep, her small form resting peacefully against Thorne’s much larger and stronger one. His head moved to rest over the back of her neck as he gave her the security she seemed to so desperately need while offering her a glimpse of his most vulnerable point: his stomach.

They hadn’t just been hunted. They had been taken advantage of and then abandoned to the wilds of the untamed lands where Rogues lurked.

The door opened again, and I heard a small, audible gasp fill the otherwise quiet space. Looking up, I saw Ember standing in the doorway. “Hey.”

“She’s… like me and Maman,” she breathed. “Arctic Shield.”

Not knowing what to say, I nodded as I laid the now sleeping infant in his crib. “Yeah, I noticed. She’s my Fated, Em. My Mate.”

A squeal of hopeful adoration escaped her as my youngest friend threw herself into my arms. “I’m so happy for you, Jacob! I knew you would find her soon, but I couldn’t tell. Too preoccupied with my own Mate. Mmmm, German…”

“I don’t want to know what goes on behind the closed doors of your rooms, Em,” I said, rolling my eyes. Looking at the impossibly adorable infant, I smiled. “His name is Saffron.”

Ember took a step back, her eyes narrowing. Calling on her mother’s cultural lessons, she looked back over our childhood years. In an attempt to keep her daughter aligned with their historic values, Aunt Eileen had taught all of the founding Howlers about her old pack.

Turning her emerald eyes to me, Ember frowned, “In Arctic Shield culture, that is a powerful healing name. A name that holds strength and quiet resilience.”

“So I’ve been told by your mom,” I replied.

Returning my attention to my Mate as she fought a tendril of a night terror before settling again as soon as I touched her hand. I smiled sadly, understanding that she already felt safe with me if all I had to do was touch her to end a nightmare.

My phone dinged, and I opened it to a picture and a message from Wynter. The picture? A jar of Mayo in the kitchen sink at the Howler packhouse. “Oh, no.”

“What?”

“Wynter,” was literally all I had to say. Turning the picture to her, I let out a small laugh. “Logan’s going to get her back for this one, but I honestly think he’s going to laugh his ass off first.”

Ember blinked, “Well, it is May the fifth in two days. Speaking of, May the Forth be with you.”

“A Star Wars reference? Really, Ember?” I replied dryly as she excused herself for the night. Glancing over at the bed, I grinned before sitting down next to my still unnamed Mate. taking her hand in mine, I watched the monitors out of the corner of my eye. “You know, you’re probably going to be so scared at first. I get that. Our pack deals in stuff like this, so I can fully promise your safety.”

No answer, not that I expected one.

“Honestly, I’m glad I found you. You exist for me, and I for you,” I told her. Kissing her knuckles, I smiled. “You are strong, my Mate. strong enough to carry a pup across treacherous terrain to the one place you knew was safety incarnate. Through everything you suffered, you finally found it, though. All you need to do is focus on healing. I’ll take care of Saffron for you.”

Standing, I leaned over to kiss her forehead before settling into the armchair to sleep.