Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
T he smile fell off Jacob’s face as the door closed behind Joe and he sagged a bit. The pain in his stomach was excruciating, but he didn’t want to wake Fran and ask for painkillers. From what Fran had said earlier, he was kept busy and needed the rest. And while Fran was asleep, he could look properly at the man fate had given him.
He was a handsome man. If Jacob remembered rightly, they were roughly the same height, but in build, Jacob was bigger. Fran seemed to have a gentle manner about him, which, given that he was a nurse, wasn’t surprising.
Jacob thought about Finn. It was stupid to try and re-establish the mating link. Seeing Finn and Robbie together showed how perfect they were for each other, a much better fit than Finn and he would have been. Why then had fate originally paired them together? It made no sense.
All Jacob really wanted was someone who would like him, love him even. He knew the mating pull would make them fall in love, but he wanted someone who liked him for himself and not because of the mating bond.
He sighed again. Maybe he could have that with Fran, and wasn’t that strange that he was thinking of having Fran in his life?
Jacob wiggled gently about a bit, trying to get more comfortable.
Fran suddenly woke and sat up.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jacob said softly.
“No, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Fran said, using his free hand to run it over his face.
“It’s late, you need sleep.”
“You should be asleep as well,” Fran pointed out. “Let me help you lay down properly.” He paused. “And I’ll get you some painkillers.” He moved the blanket out of the way. “Who covered me?”
“I asked Joe too, I didn’t want you to get cold.”
“Thanks.” Fran stood up and dropped the blanket on the chair, secretly pleased that deep down Jacob was starting to care about him. “Let’s get you settled then I’ll shoot you up with the good stuff.” He grinned.
Jacob laughed. “Yes, for the good stuff. Once you’ve shot me up, go off to bed.”
Fran shook his head and helped Jacob lay down. “Sorry, but in this family, heck in this pack, no one is left alone when they’re injured.”
“Seriously?” Jacob asked, sounding shocked.
Fran nodded, smoothing out the bed covers. “Yep, seriously,” he replied, walking around the bed and picking up the already-filled pain medication syringe.
“If you insist on staying, how about you rest on the bed next to me? I mean, as hospital beds go, this is a nice comfy one.”
Fran looked at Jacob for a moment.
“Seriously, there’s lots of room and I’ll try not to get restless and wake you up.”
“Well, you do seem more settled when I hold your hand. If you’re sure, but I can quite easily sleep in the chair,” he offered.
“Fran, shoot me up, then come settle on the bed,” Jacob told him.
Fran nodded and injected the painkillers into his antibiotic bag. Putting the syringe in the small medical waste bin, he walked around to the other side of the bed, kicked his shoes off and picked up the blanket.
Jacob watched sleepily as Fran lay down next to him and took his hand. He squeezed Fran’s fingers before falling asleep.
Jacob was searching through the books in the college library. There must be something written in one of these books about re-establishing a mating bond. He didn’t care what his father said, Fintan didn’t deserve to be kicked out of the pack, and his father was wrong, Fintan would make a good Alpha mate.
As he was looking through one of the books, something caught his eye. The book spoke of a late-shifting shifter, who would be shunned and abused by his birth pack, but that they would shift either at eighteen or twenty-one and become a powerful wolf. A wolf who could help bring peace to packs and make them powerful as well.
The more Jacob read the more he was sure this related to Fintan. He would photocopy the pages and make sure Finn saw them. At the moment he had no idea how, but Finn needed to see them. So did his father, maybe he would then change his mind about Jacob mating him.
There was also some obscure note about kissing a rejected mate to re-establish the mating bond. Jacob smiled. If that was true, that would be perfect. Now all he had to do was find him.
Jacob walked to one of the college library computers and logged on, pulling up the Paranormal Council website and searching Fintan’s name. He saw his father had registered Finn as a lone wolf, but then the line below said he had been accepted into another pack. It did not, however, give the details of the new pack.
Jacob was confused, what kind of Alpha accepted a lone wolf into their pack? Now how was he supposed to locate him? He tried a few more searches that didn’t produce any results and with a huff logged out.
He stood up to leave the computer area and found Fran standing in front of him, his shoulders slumped and a lone tear falling down his cheek.
“We could have had such a happy life together, but that can never be. You, Jacob Bishop, are a horrible person. An exact copy of your father. Who in their right mind would want to be mated to you?”
“Wait, what?” Jacob exclaimed. “Fran, wait.” But the vision of Fran vanished. Now Jacob found himself alone in the middle of nowhere.
“You are where you belong,” a voice said. “And here you’ll stay, alone, unloved, friendless for the rest of your miserable life.”
Dropping to his knees with his head in his hands, Jacob cried.
“Shh, I have you, you’re safe,” a soft voice floated around him.
Jacob clung to that voice, knowing that the voice meant what it said.