Rejection and Redeemed

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

J acob woke up slowly and groaned, he hurt everywhere. He wondered for a moment if Cresswell had injured him more seriously than he had originally thought, but then the fight in the woods came flooding back to him. He had to wake up and protect the Beta.

He opened his eyes and sat up quickly before any of his surroundings registered, and then groaned and clutched his stomach, hunching over as pain shot through him.

“Easy, Jacob, you’re safe,” Robbie said to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “And thanks to you, Uncle Frank is fine.”

Jacob looked at him in confusion, especially when he saw a concerned yet friendly look on Robbie’s face.

“As you came to, you said you had to protect the Beta,” Robbie told him.

“And he’s alright?”

“I promise he's fine. Shifting healed his scratches and bites. You, unfortunately, were severely injured, something which shifting alone couldn’t fix.”

Jacob looked down at his body. “I thought my stomach had fallen out,” he said, his arm still wrapped around his stomach.

“Not quite, but nearly. The gash was deep enough that shifting alone couldn’t heal itself. As you know once the stitches are in, there is no shifting until they’re removed. You need to give your body a rest too, and not drain it with another shift.”

Jacob nodded. “I need to learn not to shift anymore anyway, so I can keep practicing.” He paused and looked round. At a quick glance he saw deep blue curtains drawn across the window. There was normal bedroom furniture, plus what looked like a large seating area. The bedroom lights gave off a soft glow. “Where am I? This isn’t the lodge, or a hospital?”

“No, it’s not, young Jacob,” Berni said, walking into the room, smiling. “You are in my home, or to be more accurate, my castle.”

Fran came in behind him and rushed to Jacob’s bed. He smiled and reached for Jacob’s hand, before the smile fell off his face and he lowered his arm. “You’re awake.” Fran internally shook his head, way to go stating the obvious.

He had helped Robbie stitch Jacob up, and then been sent away to have something to eat, only just coming back now. He’d eaten as quickly as he could and rushed back. Only the fact Robbie had stayed with Jacob, well, and an order from Berni, made him leave.

Jacob nodded. “Only just,” he said, shifting around a little and wincing at the pain.

“We have shifter-grade painkillers; do you want some?” Robbie asked him.

Jacob shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine, but thank you for the offer.”

“Are you sure?” Fran asked him. “Why suffer pain when we have meds that can help?”

“I'm sure,” Jacob said before looking at Berni. “As soon as I find my things, I’ll be on my way, Alpha.”

“You really shouldn’t move for the next few days. You need total bed rest,” Robbie cautioned. “If you do too much, you could burst your stitches and put back your recovery.”

“Stay here, heal. Have Clairmont and Fran pamper you. Have you ever stayed in a castle before? I guarantee it’s fun,” Berni said, walking closer to the bed.

Jacob looked at him. “I’m a lone wolf and an outcast, why would you want me to stay?” And did Jacob really want to stay in the same place as the Alpha who destroyed his life?

“You’re no longer an outcast. I got Cresswell to rescind that.”

Jacob looked shocked. “You did? Why?”

“Well, for starters, you’re my nephew’s mate, and secondly, you did everything you could to protect my brother.”

“Those wolves wanted me, not him. I couldn’t let him get hurt because of me,” Jacob told him.

“Thank you. We checked you out of the lodge and all of your belongings have been placed into a bedroom here for when you can move, and your car is safely parked up outside. So now there’s no rush for you to get better.” Berni paused. “I do need to ask you a serious question, though.”

Jacob nodded. He didn’t have much choice but to answer the Alpha’s questions, he was stuck in this bed after all.

“Did you take any money out of your father’s bank accounts?”

Jacob shook his head. “No, I logged in to take everything that was my mum’s money, but Fran cautioned me against it.”

“Good,” Berni said. “I’m going to do everything I can to get your mother’s money back from Cresswell, as well as all your family heirlooms. When you’re feeling better you can give me a list of the furniture and how much money your mum had and I can tell Cresswell that I want all that for you. We can store the furniture for you, and the money can be transferred to you, when you’re older.”

Jacob was shocked, the Alpha that had basically ruined his life was offering to help him. “Is this because I tried to protect your brother?”

“Partly, and partly because I think I have been mistaken about you. I’m always ready to admit my mistakes,” Berni said to him.

“You are? My father had said that only an idiot admitted to mistakes and that a true Alpha would never admit that he had been mistaken in anything,” Jacob told him, looking and sounding confused.

“Jacob, can I be blunt?”

Jacob nodded.

“Your father’s brand of Alphaship was wrong. A pack shouldn’t be led by fear. An Alpha’s first and foremost job is to look after their pack and make sure they are all safe and well.” Berni paused and watched different emotions flitter across Jacob’s face. “But we can talk more on that later. For now, you need to rest and to start getting better. This room has been designated a medical room, so we have all the equipment you could possibly need to help you get back on your feet. Robbie and Fran will be on hand to look after you, and Emory will be around later.”

“Emory?”

“My son Ezmond's mate is also a doctor,” Berni said, smiling.

“Emory Fitzwilliams?”

“Yes,” Berni replied.

Jacob nodded, but then looked at those gathered and couldn’t believe that in all the time he had been awake, there had been no harsh words, no shouting that anyone was a failure, and no hits coming his way, or anyone else’s.

But now he didn’t know what to do. He had that secret that he was pretty sure needed to be told.

“What’s wrong?” Fran asked him. “Are you in pain?”

“No, I mean, yes, but that’s not what’s wrong,” Jacob looked at Berni, unsure what he should do.

“What’s wrong Jacob?” Berni asked gently.

Jacob took a breath. “My father was involved with something. I don’t know all the details, only things that I put together overhearing random conversations. It would seem he was involved with someone from the Council. They were into some dodgy stuff, and I know a Council member was paying my dad backhanders for something, but I have no idea what he was into.”

“Would there be any records of what your father was doing?” Berni asked him.

“I know he had a second mobile and tablet that he kept hidden somewhere in his study, he had a secret cupboard somewhere in there. If there’s any information on what he was doing it would be in there,” Jacob told him, dropping his eyes, suddenly feeling guilty. Was a son supposed to betray their father even when the man was dead?

Berni walked closer to the bed. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll have Cresswell look into finding everything.” He put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “I know that couldn’t have been easy for you. Thank you, Jacob.”

Jacob looked up and nodded.

“And now I really am leaving. I’ll catch up with you all later.” And with a final squeeze of Jacob’s shoulder and smiling at Robbie and Fran, Berni left.

There was silence for a moment, before Robbie broke it. “So as Dad said, this is the castle hospital room, but with a much more comfortable bed, which is just as well for you as it’s complete bed rest. You have a drip in your arm, with shifter-grade antibiotics and we’ve given you an infusion of blood to replace all you lost.”

Jacob looked at the back of his hand and realised that he did have a doohickey stuck in him. “Am I allowed coffee?” he asked hopefully.

Robbie shook his head. “I’d rather you didn’t have any today, just to be on the safe side, but you can have some tomorrow. I’d like you to stick with orange juice and water today. And I’m sorry to say, just bland food, but I’ll let Fran spoil you tomorrow.”

Jacob nodded. “Thanks,” he said, shifting again and wincing at the pain.

“Jacob, please have some painkillers. They’ll help you rest and keep you out of pain,” Fran said to him.

Jacob looked at him for a moment. The pain really was excruciating. Nodding, he said, “Okay.”

“Thank you,” Fran said to him, sounding relieved.

Robbie grabbed a syringe and injected something into his antibiotic solution. “This kicks in quickly and will make you sleepy. Don’t fight it, the sleep will help.”

Jacob nodded and moved about to get comfortable and settle down.

Fran helped him. “I’ll be here when you wake up,” Fran told him, smoothing the covers.

Jacob looked at him in confusion, but already the meds were kicking in and before he could say anything, he fell asleep.

“He looked confused that someone would stay with him while he was injured,” Robbie observed softly.

“Wouldn’t you be if you had Bishop as a father? He showed Jacob no kindness, so why would he stay with Jacob when he was injured?”

“We’ll find out more about Jacob and his life when he’s better,” Robbie said. “I’m going to write Jacob’s notes up. Do you want me to get you anything? Jacob should be out for the next four hours or so.”

“If you can grab me a book to read that would be great.”

“I can do that,” Robbie said, turning away.

“Robbie, thank you,” Fran said to him. “I didn’t know how to tell anyone, especially Finn. Everything felt like such a mess.”

Robbie walked around the bed and pulled Fran into a hug. “You’re my cousin and I will always support you. I love you, you nutter.”

Fran blinked away the tears that threatened to fall and hugged him back.

“So do I,” Ezzy said, having walked into the room, and hugging Fran from behind.

“And me,” Finn said, joining in.

Fran laughed and pulled away, wiping his eyes and looking at his family. “Thank you. I love all of you as well.”

“Good, because we’ve come to keep you company. Clairmont is bringing up a shed load of snacks that we can work our way through,” Ezzy said.

“Where’s Emory?” Fran asked, looking around.

“He’s taking my shift at the hospital, so I can stay here and keep an eye on Jacob. We didn’t want to overwhelm Jacob with too many people when he first woke up,” Robbie replied. “And now I will leave you.” He pointed to the side, “Fran, keep an eye on the antibiotic bag, there’s another over there if you need to change it out. And call me if you need me.”

Finn leaned up and kissed him. “See you later.”

“You will, sweetheart.” And with that, Robbie walked out just as Clairmont walked in carrying a large tray.

“Here you go, boys. If you need anything else just phone,” Clairmont said, putting the tray down on the coffee table. He looked towards the bed. “How is your mate, Francis?”

“Sleeping and healing. He needs bed rest for a few days and I’m hoping the painkillers will keep him asleep for today at least.”

“Good. Also, your hair looks good.”

Fran grinned. “Thanks.”

With a final smile, Clairmont left the room, closing the door behind him.