Rise of the Underdogs: JACOB

Veiled Paths

The next morning, I woke to the sunlight streaming in from the large oval window. What woke me wasn’t the sun, but the tiny, out-of-place, mewling cry of a pup. Groggily getting to my feet, I moved to the crib and lifted Saffron into my arms.

Cradling him gently the way the midwife showed me, I rocked him soothingly as I slipped out of the room. One quick look at the clock, and I realized I’d woken up at my usual time. as Delta and Master Tracker, I normally kept a strict schedule right along side my best friend. This morning, rather than a perimeter run, I was relieved to remain with my Mate and her pup.

Despite what others thought, there was no way I could lay claim to him until she gave me that permission. Anyone who argues with that logic obviously hasn’t met a mama wolf willing to bite their heads off to protect her young.

Slipping out of the room with the pup – with Saffron – I hummed a little as I made my way to the main desk. The sunlight streaming in through the windows as the rest of the clinic started to wake. The morning run of classical music changed to the soft cadence of the morning nurses issuing codes and warnings and schedules while slipping in commentary on the weather. The clack of keys filled the air with the calm, quieted voices of the multi-species medical staff.

One woman, a human, looked up at me. Her eyes flickered over my dishevelled appearance, “Stayed the night, Delta Jacob?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Any chance of getting an empty bed put in there with her?”

“I’ll see what we can do. And Baby Boy Doe?” She pressed.

Smiling, I let out a breath, “That’s another reason I came out here. For the next little while, I’ll need meals and materials sent to my Mates ICU room. Also, please update the file on her pup with his name. Her wolf contacted me last night and told me his name is Saffron. No last name yet, but I’ll keep updating with whatever information I can glean from her wolf.”

Her eyes shot into her hairline. “That’s an unusual name.”

“In her culture, it’s a healing name,” I countered.

The tight-lipped smile seemed to falter when someone appeared at my elbow. Someone with bright emerald eyes, platinum blond curls, and dark maple-brown skin with a hidden temper that left others reeling. “Enough. Have maintenance bring one of the unused beds to ICU room 13 and give Jake the file to update in real time. Jake, Logan wants all affiliated information found and redirected to his office for consideration. He’s compiling a trail of her movements to find where she might have been before she made her way to the Howler lands.”

I blinked down at Ember, almost laughing at how this tiny Omega Medic was throwing around what little weight she had to her. She was strong in spirit, but that was her tether to controlling her group. “Came to relay orders before breakfast shift?”

“Yup,” she commented with a grin. She held up a bag that smelled of food – glorious, glorious food. “Here.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I breathed, digging in as another nurse came to take Saffron for his morning checkup. Just as I devoured the last of the protein and carb-heavy meal, the doctor from the night before waltzed into the main hall.

“Good morning, Master Jacob. How are our patients today?” He asked, his tone light but prying.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly. “My Mate is still sleeping, but her wolf reacted to me last night before caving to the medicine. The pup’s name is Saffron, so I was just updating the files. Under order of the Alpha, Medic Ember has relayed the request to have me personally update the file in real time so that we can put together a revival and survival plan.”

“Understood, Sir,” the doctor said. “I’ll have the ICU team hand over the digital file and update you accordingly. Was there anything else?”

Meeting his eyes, I raised a practised brow. “Yeah, whatever medications you have her on, the dosages – literally anything that could and should go in her file needs to be in there. At some point, she’s going to likely want to see what we did to save her and her pup.”

“But…”

“Did he stutter?” Ember, with as much sass as her tiny Omega body could project, put her hand on her hip and glared defiantly. “She will eventually become the Delta female. Her care and comfort are the responsibility of her Mate within the confines of assumed consent. If she wants to look at her patient file, we have no legal jurisdiction to stop that request. Your approval is unnecessary. Since Medic Heaven has recused herself due to familial closeness and emotional attachment, I’ll be the one overseeing the care of the unnamed Delta female.”

“The Alpha..”

Ember snickered, “Will gladly let Jacob tear this place apart if push comes to shove.”

Apparently, no one wanted to mess with one of the only dark-skinned people in the crew. The look of pure fear in his eyes echoing outward to fill the hall with the stench almost made me gag. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that could compare.

I blinked as the doc made a hasty exit to do what he was told to do. “That’s total Medic energy on another level.”

Pulling me by the arm into the room where my Mate was still resting fitfully, still healing, Ember sighed before making sure we were alone. “I… I looked. On purpose.”

She…? Oh… my…

There was only one thing she’d be unwilling to admit to doing on purpose, and that’s Scry. She didn’t know the ability until Logan’s Vampire cousin, Peter, showed her how to properly go through the motions.

“Ember, you… that was reckless,” I snapped, my tone laced with worry.

She lowered her head, her eyes flickering with something I couldn’t decode before she reupped. “Reckless? Jake, I was worried about you. Yes, I’m happy you found her, but I’m not about to let you wallow in what-if’s if I can put your mind at ease. Besides, I had a magic circle and six others helping.”

Seven. A magic number that prevented cat-astrophic backlash when a user delved into things either beyond or just outside the boundary of control over their own powers.

“You’re not suppose to force your ability, Em,” I huffed, knowing that the act alone would have knocked her arse over head. Slipping into her native tongue, I shook my head. “Tu as quand même été imprudente.”

“Using my native tongue will not soften me,” Ember warned me, the hint of a smile on her face. “I was safe about it. My Maman and yours were there, and so were your sisters and Maria. They were my six. Older, wiser, and far more used to using that kind of magic. Just as a safeguard, I had Peter on standby.”

Damn, she was more prepared than I originally assumed. I guess it really does make an ass of you and me.

“At any rate, besides my moral compass telling me I should totally kick your scrawny black ass for doing something potentially life threatening, what did you see?” I asked, fully aware of how racist some people might have seen me.

To Ember, it was just another Tuesday. Not a Manic Monday, but a regular, mid-week Tuesday. I was not racist, and I knew calling out her looks would not be my best idea, but I really needed an outlet. Someone who understood my dank humour for what it was: venting.

She shook her head, “You could try, Lighthouse, but you’d lose.”

What the…

I glanced down at myself, belatedly realizing that she was right. I was pale enough to reflect moonlight on a clear night. “Well, s**t. I can’t look like this if she wakes up.”

Holding her nose, her green eyes bright with humour, Ember shook her head. “Says the man with stanky morning breath and a cowlick reaching for the stars. As for what I saw, I can’t tell you without changing the tides of fate. Even a hint will threaten the fabric of your Mate bond with her.”

“So,” I said, grabbing my bag someone (probably Valik) put by the room door. “You’re telling me that your Clairvoyance, as powerful a gift as it is, is completely useless for reading my potential paths?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. It’s just that, and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, what I saw showed me how hyper-focused you’re going to be if I say anything because you’re going to constantly try to match your life to my visions. That cannot, under any circumstance, happen if you’re to be happy, Jake.”

Thinking it over, I nodded in resolute understanding. “What can you tell me?”

“Accept whatever comes, sort it later, bask in the moment,” she replied, and I could tell it seriously pained her to hide monumentally life-changing information from me.

“Okay,” I said, hugging her firmly. “I got you, Em. If this is how my path needs to unfold, then that’s all we can do. Besides, I have my friends and family to help me stay centered.”

“Of course, you do, Jake. It’s not like we’re going to just,” she waved her hands in the air, “let you fall on your ass and not help you up. We original Howlers are chosen family forever.”