Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
R obbie hadn’t been driving long when his phone rang. Hitting a button on his steering wheel, he answered, “Hey, Dad.”
“Frank told me everything. Cresswell still hasn’t made his mind up about young Jacob, so it isn’t safe to take him to the hospital. Emory has gone to the hospital to collect all the supplies he thinks you’ll need. Clairmont is getting a room ready for him.”
Robbie blew out a breath. “Okay, it’s not ideal, but between Emory, myself, and Fran we should be able to sort Jacob out.”
“I’ll ring Cresswell again and demand an answer. It doesn’t take this long to make a decision.”
“Uncle Berni, do you think those three wolves might be some of the wolves attacking other packs?” Fran asked him.
“I’d not thought of that Franny. I’ll ask them when they’re brought back here.”
“Did Uncle Frank tell you? Jacob was trying to protect him.” Robbie said.
“He did. Looks like there may be more to Jacob Bishop than any of us first thought. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“You will. Bye, Dad.” Robbie hung up and glanced in the rear-view mirror at Fran. He had his head down, staring at Jacob and stroking his hair. “We'll have him fixed up soon, Fran.”
Fran looked up and smiled at him. “We will. The bleeding has slowed for his stomach but he still needs stitches and probably an infusion of blood. I’ve bandaged his arm as best I could for now.”
“We’re nearly at the castle. Emory should have everything we need.”
“Maybe we should look at having a medical room set up at the castle. I mean, it’s not as if there isn’t room for one.”
Robbie nodded. “That’s a good idea, I’ll chat to Dad about it later.”
Fran looked at Robbie in the mirror. “What? You have a weird look on your face.”
Robbie grinned and then the smile dropped off his face. “I think I’m just stunned that Jacob was trying to protect your dad.”
Fran frowned. “He’s still Alpha-born, it would be ingrained in him to protect someone of lower status than he was. Plus, none of us really know anything about Jacob, only that he rejected Fintan, which was lucky for you that he did.”
Robbie nodded. “True. Well, it looks like we’ll all be getting to know him soon enough.”
Not long later, but far too long for Fran's piece of mind, Robbie pulled up outside the castle. He parked as close to the front steps as possible before jumping out of the car just as the front doors opened and Clairmont and his father came out, hurrying down the steps.
Robbie opened the back door and gently lifted Jacob out. Fran followed.
“Emory is back and setting things up,” Berni said, looking down at the young man.
“Come with me, my lord, and I’ll show you to the new medical room,” Clairmont said, concern on his face.
“Thanks, Clairmont.”
“Your hair looks good, Fran,” Berni said, grinning at his nephew and following Clairmont and Robbie inside.
“Thanks. Now maybe you’ll all lay off me about my roots.”
“Only until the next time,” Berni teased, before becoming serious. “How are you holding up?”
Fran blew out a breath. “I’m okay, worried about Jacob obviously and hoping that one day he’ll like me.”
Berni put his arm around his nephew’s shoulder. “There’s no need to hope, he’ll fall in love with you soon enough, how could he not?”
They had just reached the landing when Ezzy came running down the hallway.
“Fran,” he said, throwing his arms around his cousin. “I can’t believe you found your mate and didn’t tell me. We could have had a planning meeting to get him to fall in love with you.”
Fran laughed and hugged him back. “Sorry, we'll keep that in reserve in case we need to do that in the future.”
Ezzy pulled away. “We will. Now let’s go and check on your mate.”