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Jake

A fter months of putting my life on hold, I’m finally healed enough to start living the way I want to again without causing additional worry to those I care about most, meaning my idiot brothers. I love them dearly, and I love them for caring so much about me, but seriously, enough was enough in the end. I was getting close to strangling all three of them with the way they attempted to wrap me in cotton wool and stop me from living my life again once I was recovered enough to do so. Though in the end, due to the events that led to me returning to my life, they didn’t have much of a say in the matter. There was absolutely zero chance I was ever going to allow them or anything else for that matter to stop me from acting after I overheard what I did. I shake my head; I don’t want to even think about that right now. What happened was more than a little bit fucked up, and we’re still dealing with the aftereffects of it all now, all these months later. All because one fucking woman lied and manipulated those around her. No. Stop. Now is not the time to think about Megan and all the shit she caused.

There was a major bright spot for me during my time away from Devil’s Inferno as I recovered from my life-threatening injuries. Flash. The man I took a bullet for. He was by my side every step of the way during my recovery, determined to be there for me, to help me in any way he could. I think his determination to be there for me through my recovery originally stemmed from the guilt he felt about my injuries being a direct result of saving him. I hated that he felt guilt that wasn’t his to feel, but I knew it was something he needed to work through himself before he could come to the same conclusion as me. It took some time, but he did eventually work through that misplaced guilt. All it took was time and patience, and he got there eventually. Looking at him now, you’d never have thought he was weighed down with guilt only a few months ago. He’s like a whole new fucking person, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. Especially now knowing everything about his past that I do.

I’ll never regret my actions the day The Clubhouse was attacked; if I hadn’t stepped in front of that bullet the way I did, then Flash would be dead right now. I didn’t know him well at the time I saved his life, but that was inconsequential to me. I knew what I needed to do the moment I saw the attackers intentions. I knew from paying attention to what the other members said that Flash was a good guy who didn’t deserve to die just because his focus was on a different attacker, an attacker who posed the biggest threat to all the innocent people hiding behind the bar.

I may have come very close to losing my life; actually, I technically did twice when I coded on the operating table, but I fought to stay here. I pulled through. I’m still here and breathing, living my life the way I want. I spent the time I needed away from Devil’s Inferno so that I could recover and regain my strength. Though I know for a fact that I’d never have dealt with it all quite as well as I did if I didn’t have Flash there with me. He made all the difference without even realizing it; he gave me something other than what my body was going through to focus on. He also gave me a much-needed reprieve from my brothers and their overprotective behavior when I so desperately needed it.

Almost losing me caused Rex, Austin, and Seth to become a little bit too overprotective of me. Trust me, I understand how hard it was for them to deal with how close they came to losing me and watching me struggle as I tried to regain my previous strength, but they refused to see the progress I made every day. They had blinders on where my recovery was concerned. Even when I was almost back to being one hundred percent, they didn’t want me returning to my life. I think almost losing me scared them more than they’ll ever fully admit using their words; instead, their actions made it more than clear. Without Flash there to give me a break and listen to me vent about their behavior, I’m sure I’d have gone insane or maybe have throttled one of them. Flash knew when the way they were acting was getting too much for me to deal with and would happily intervene on my behalf. Giving them something else to focus their energy on, or just straight up telling them I needed rest. Oh, I never needed rest when he said that; it was just a very smart way for him to get me to give me a break.

Spending so many months with Flash, getting to know him, and watching as he slowly opened up to me even though it clearly wasn’t something he was all that comfortable with, I’d definitely class him as a friend now. Not just any friend either, a really good one. He’s more than certainly the person I’m closest to in Devil’s Inferno after the friendship we’ve forged and developed over these past few months. Our new friendship is definitely a plus point to everything I went through. Without getting injured, I don’t think we’d have spent any time together, and I would hate to think of my life without him in it now. He’s become such a massive part of my life in such a short time.

Since the day I woke up in the hospital, there hasn’t been a single day where I haven’t seen and spent time with him. Even now that I’m no longer out of commission and am back at The Clubhouse and have returned to my Prospect duties, we still spend as much time together as possible. Hell, he’s still living with me. Neither of us has moved back into The Clubhouse; it hasn’t even come up in conversation. We’ve both settled into living away from the hustle and bustle. I haven’t even thought about bringing up moving back to him; I like the way things are right now. I like getting time just for us, where we aren’t going to have members of Devil’s Inferno popping up here, there, and everywhere. Don’t get me wrong; I like all the brothers and enjoy spending time with them, but sometimes they can be a little bit much.

Currently I’m on duty working The Compound Gates. I wasn’t actually scheduled to be out here right now, but after Wrath and Flame arrived back earlier and shared their news about Sera, Wrath’s sister, being their surrogate and being pregnant with their twins, there was suddenly a massive celebration taking place in The Common Room, and I didn’t want the other Prospect Pete to miss out on what was going on. So after a few hours of celebrating with everyone, I came out here and switched with him. It only seemed fair. He deserved to be part of the celebration just as much as I did.

Pete might not have almost died the way I did when The Clubhouse was attacked all those months ago, but he was injured. He took a shot to the shoulder when he tried to hold off the three vehicles filled with fifteen attackers when they approached the gates. He was also the one who raised the alarm that we had trouble, which gave us those few precious moments to prepare ourselves for what was to come and also get those who needed to be protected somewhere safe. So yeah, I honestly believe he deserves to be part of the celebration too. After all, his actions definitely protected Wrath and Flame’s eldest child, Cam. Even if Pete didn’t know it at the time. I don’t even want to imagine what could have happened that day if Pete didn’t sound off the alarm the way he did. God, that day could have ended filled with devastation without Pete managing to give us the warning he did.

I don’t want to think about that day anymore; replaying it all over and over again has already taken up far too much of my time. There are far happier things to focus on right now. After all, we just learned Wrath and Flame are growing their family. I couldn’t help but laugh at the way that the news of their twins was announced to us all. Hell, I wasn’t the only one who ended up in hysterics; most of the people who were gathered in The Common Room at the time ended up in stitches. Wrath and Flame were both a little bit shell shocked to find out they were having two babies instead of one and couldn’t actually get the words out to share their good news with everyone. Sera had to do it for them, while her Ol’ Man Blade, Devil’s Inferno’s other Enforcer, stood there laughing his ass off. I can’t really blame him for his reaction; the looks on Wrath and Flame’s faces were more than a little bit hilarious, and from what I could gather, they’d looked that way since the moment Sera’s scan showed she was carrying not one baby but two.

Their announcement was a pleasant surprise for everyone in the club; I don’t think any of us suspected that Wrath and Flame were in the process of growing their family with the help of Sera. Talk about a totally selfless act on Sera’s part; what she is giving Wrath and Flame is a life-changing gift. Not many people would willingly give their body over to grow a life that in the end they would be handing over to someone else to raise. It certainly takes a special type of person to do what she’s doing for them. If we all already didn’t think Sera was a special type of person before, this would certainly seal the deal.

Once the shock wore off for the expecting parents, it was clear as day to see that they were more than a little bit excited about the news that they were adding two more boys to their family. I’m shocked they didn’t think about the fact they could be having twins, though. Wrath is a twin himself, so it clearly runs in their family. Them not realizing that was a very real possibility was definitely an oversight on their part. Talking of Wrath’s twin, Shadow, Devil’s Inferno’s VP, he couldn’t contain his excitement at learning he was gaining two more nephews. He was like a kid in a candy shop. Those children are going to be spoiled rotten by that man, and he isn’t going to regret a single second of it. I’m not quite sure Wrath and Flame have realized it yet, though, so I’m just going to keep quiet about it and watch it unfold; it’s going to be an amusing experience for sure.

I couldn’t be happier for the whole Jacobson family; they all deserve some good after all the bad this past year has thrown at them. I’m not joking when I say it’s been one thing after another for them. It’s crazy when you take a moment to think about everything they’ve had to deal with recently.

First there were all the issues with Claire trying to kill Wrath, Flame, and Shadow, then the discovery of Cam, Wrath’s son, and everything he’d endured in his young life at the hands of Claire, his own goddamn mother. That whole situation lasted for a few months, and during it, Flame was kidnapped twice, once alone and once with Wrath as they were returning to The Clubhouse after they got married. The second time he was taken with Wrath actually almost resulted in Flame dying, but thankfully for everyone he pulled through. It was actually Claire’s uncle, the now-former police chief, who attacked The Clubhouse, which led to my own recent injuries.

His attack didn’t go the way he had planned, and he ended up being handed over to local law enforcement, but he didn’t stay in their custody for long. My eldest brother Rex pulled some strings and got him transferred over to the custody of The Khaos Group, where Rex and Austin worked together to make the man regret everything he’d done. I wasn’t surprised when I learned what they’d done; my brothers are lethal on a normal day. Throw in the fact that they almost lost me, and they became an entirely different beast. I can’t say I even feel the slightest bit sorry for the former police chief; he deserved to pay for his actions, and pay he most certainly did.

It didn’t stop there for the Jacobsons, though; I might not have been around for what happened next as it all went down while I was out of commission, but Flash and I heard all about what happened from the multiple brothers who stopped by to check on us as I recovered. Sera’s arrival was a shocker for the entire Jacobson clan; they had no idea that she even existed, that she was the twins’ sister, sharing the same parents as them. The entire situation with Sera’s conception and birth was mind-boggling for everyone who knew the story about Blaze and Patricia Dawson, the former bunny who gave birth to Wrath and Shadow. I didn’t know the story at first; I hadn’t been around long enough to hear it yet, but Flash soon explained it all to me after I was confused by the way everyone was acting. What happened between Blaze and Patricia is now a cautionary tale about just how far some people are willing to go to try and get Ol’ Lady status. It’s also why members are always advised to use their own condoms when they sleep with someone. No chance of a hole being poked in them that way.

Sera had her own trouble on her tail when she arrived in Devil’s Point, and I honestly believe without her seeking out the men in her family, she wouldn’t have survived what was coming her way. It doesn’t matter how strong of a person she is. Not when she was dealing with a man like Silvio Sabbatini. One of the most diabolical and ruthless mobsters to walk this earth. Sera’s arrival wasn’t all bad, though; she slotted into her family like she’d never been separated from them while also developing a relationship with Blade. I haven’t spent much time around the two of them, but it’s clear to see they love each other. There’s a clear bond between them that goes deeper than most relationships I’ve seen that are as new as theirs. If anyone deserves a slice of happiness after everything life has thrown at him, it’s Blade. Blade’s life hasn’t been easy; he’s been through some of the worst things imaginable, and it’s wonderful to see him finding the person who is bringing him nothing but love. I know that Blade and Sera have similar horrible experiences in their pasts, and I think that’s why they bonded the way they did. They just got each other. They understood what the other had been through on a level most people would never get.

You’d think the Jacobson’s issues would end there, wouldn’t you? Surely that family has had enough thrown at them this year, but no, there was still more to come, and this time it was Shadow’s turn to be at the forefront of the chaos. Shadow’s best friend Wreck was kidnapped one night while he was closing up Devil’s Ink, the tattoo studio he runs for the MC, and at the time absolutely no one could figure out who had taken him or why. He had managed to get Sera, who was the only other person with him at the time, safely in the safe room within Devil’s Ink but sacrificed himself to ensure she got out of there without any harm coming to her. For three days, everybody did everything in their power to find out what had happened to Wreck with no luck. Shadow was losing his mind not knowing what had happened to Wreck. He was that much of a liability he wasn’t left alone. Everything changed when I happened to overhear a conversation between two of my brothers, Austin and Seth, where I learned Rex had been holding someone for the same amount of time Wreck had been missing. Something in my gut made me check out who Rex was holding in The Khaos Group Holding Facility, and I found Wreck in such a horrific state that part of me actually feared he was dead when I first laid my eyes on him. Thankfully for everyone, he was still alive and breathing despite everything his body had been through. I got him the help he needed; consequences be damned, there was no way I was leaving him there; I knew without a shadow of a doubt he didn’t deserve what he was enduring. From the moment I realized Rex was the one who had taken Wreck, I tried to figure out why he’d do something like that, and no matter what, I couldn’t figure out why Rex would do something like that to Wreck. Nothing added up in my mind.

You see, Rex isn’t someone who just goes around hurting random people, well, at least people who don’t deserve it. His job sort of means he does go around hurting people, but they’re always the most despicable and diabolical people to walk this earth. Criminals who do way more harm than good, who don’t deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of us decent people. Rex has literally spent most of his life fighting against the injustices in the world. So learning that Rex had tortured Wreck, someone I knew was totally innocent, just didn’t add up. It just didn’t make any sense to me. That was until the day after I had rescued Wreck. I went to visit him in the hospital, hoping he could shed some light on why Rex might have done what he had. I never even had to enter Wreck’s hospital room to gain my answers; instead, I overheard a voice that filled in all the missing pieces.

It turned out that Megan, who happened to be Shadow’s girlfriend at the time of Wreck’s abduction, had lied to Rex, telling him that Wreck had attacked her. Rex has known Megan since high school, and despite all of our warnings about the type of person she is, he never listened. This time, his blind spot where Megan is concerned almost ended in catastrophe. Thankfully, the truth was exposed, and Shadow couldn’t have kicked Megan to the curb quicker if he tried. He never doubted his best friend’s innocence. Even though Wreck wasn’t even awake to defend himself when everything was brought to light, Shadow knew for a fact that Wreck would never have done what Megan was accusing him of. Megan didn’t get to just walk out of Wreck’s hospital room that day and not pay for what she’d done. No, my mother showed up, and with both Shadow and Wreck’s blessing, she took Megan away to deal with personally. There wasn’t a chance in hell my mother wasn’t going to make her regret her actions, not when she’d used Rex the way she had. The Knightlye matriarch isn’t someone to take lightly on a normal day, but she’s a motherfucking mama bear when it comes to her children. There was zero chance in hell she was going to let Megan’s actions go unpunished.

It wasn’t all bad for Shadow and Wreck, though; nearly losing Wreck finally allowed Shadow to see what I and everyone else in Devil’s Inferno already knew. He didn’t just love Wreck as his best friend; he was also very much in love with him. Wreck had also accepted his own feelings where Shadow was concerned, and at some point during the time Wreck was staying with Shadow while recovering, they opened up about their feelings and started a relationship. I couldn’t be happier for them both; if there were ever two people who were made to be together, it’s them.

The Jacobsons have certainly faced their challenges this past year, but they have also managed to find love in the process. Each of them couldn’t be happier with their lives now; that’s clear to see every time you see one of them. A large part of me honestly thinks they’d all still go through all the trouble they did this year just to end up with the outcomes they have now. Not that I blame them. I’d go through hell to get my happy ending too. So yeah, after all that, I can certainly say they deserve the good news they shared today. If any family deserves it, it’s them.