The Claiming by Cooper

20.17%

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We’re just about ready to start getting them to their rooms when Luna Mignon walks in with her mate, Alpha Asher, and their two young babies.

“Hello everyone, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to feed Flavia. Can you tell me where our room is?” Mignon says as Asher comes in carrying a car seat with Gianna in one hand and what looks like a thousand pounds of baby stuff in the other hand.

“I’ll show you.” I tell her. I turn to Jara. “Luna Jara, I can show you your room as well.”

“Perfect. Mason, can you bring all that up? I’ll grab Jaxon.”

They all follow me up the stairs and I start to put them in their rooms.

“Actually, does it matter what rooms we’re in?” Mignon asks, looking at me then at Jara.

“No, I don’t think so, why?” I ask.

Mignon shares a knowing smile with Jara. “I want this room.” She says and Jara starts laughing.

“And I’ll take this room.” Jara says, moving to a different room.

“Excellent choice, my love.” Mason says, coming in behind her.

I follow them into their room, still carrying Jordan.

“What am I missing?” I ask.

Jara smiles at me. “These were our rooms last year. We all, except Layan of course, have fond memories of these rooms.

“Ahh, well then, I’ll leave you to unpack and revisit those memories.” I say, smiling at them as I put Jordan down on the blanket that Mason

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spread on the floor. I walk out, pulling the door closed behind me.

As I walk downstairs, I realize, now is as good a time as any to have my conversation my Alpha. I probably should have had it before we left our pack, but I chickened out. Now, my time is running out. He’s a good Alpha, and he deserves an explanation.

I walk to the main packhouse, feeling the excitement in the air. The claimants are still arriving and checking in. I go over to Luna Gia, who is here making sure everyone gets settled and that there are no problems.

“Luna Gia, do you know where Alpha Jonas’s room is?” I ask.

“I do, but you know that you’re not supposed to be fraternizing with any of the claimants this year, right?”

“I do.” It was part of the instructions in our documents that arrived a couple weeks ago. We’re not supposed to show any favoritism to any of the claimants until we’ve chosen all of the ones in our claim. However, this isn’t showing favoritism, it’s just the opposite.

She looks at me for a moment and I’m not sure what she sees in me, she nods and goes to a table, pulling out a notebook.

but

She opens it, looking through it until she finds Alpha Jonas’s room number.

“Good luck.” She says, then tells me his room number and gives me directions on how to get there.

“Thank you.” I say before following the directions and his room.

When I get to the door, I run my hands down my clothes straightening them out before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door.

I’m surprised when it’s Beta Elijah that opens the door. “Katerina, what are you doing here?” He asks.

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“Kat?” I hear Alpha Jonas say a moment before he is standing behind Elijah. “Is everything alright?”

I mentally pull up my bootstraps. “Alpha Jonas, might I have a word?”

He looks at me a moment and I see understanding dawn in his eyes. “Of course.” He says, moving past Elijah. “Why don’t we find a private place to speak.” He says, putting his hand on my back and guiding me away from the rooms.

He guides me outside to the stage that is set up for our activities starting tomorrow. When we get to the stage, he takes his hand off my back, but he doesn’t turn toward me.

“Alpha….”

“This is about my relationship with your mother, isn’t it?”

He turns his head to look at me and when I nod, he turns back, looking out over the claiming territory. “I knew that relationship would bite me in the ass one day.” He says, as if to himself.

“I want you to know Alpha Jonas, I have the utmost respect for you, truly I do. You are a great man and an amazing Alpha. Any woman would be lucky to have you.”

“Except you.” He says and now he does turn to face me.

“She’s my mother.” I say quietly. “I would never not be able to think about that when I was with you. Wondering if you were thinking of her. If I measured up to her…”

His finger comes to my lips, quieting me.

“Your mother is an amazing woman. Strong, confident, carefree. But I want my own mate. Someone who will share my life with me. Just me. That is not your mother. Neither she, nor I, want that for her.”

He looks at me and I feel tears burning in my eyes. “I’m sorry.” I whisper.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I can’t be someone that you want in your claim. But I understand why you won’t choose me. There are other Alphas that would be a good mate to you, and you are strong enough to make someone a great Luna.”

I nod, unable to speak.

He takes my face in his hands, gently pulling me to him and kissing the top of my head. “Thank you for your honesty and for letting me know.”

He steps back and I think he’s about to walk away but he turns back. “Does this mean that you won’t choose any male in our pack for your claim?”

I shake my head, looking at the ground. “I can’t.”

A tear drops from my eyes landing on the grass beneath my feet.

“I understand. We will miss you Katerina. But I hope you won’t be a stranger.”

I look up at him. I can see the pain in his eyes. “I won’t.”

He nods, turning and walking back to the main packhouse. I begin making my way back to the females’ housing, tears streaming down my face.

I really hope that’s the hardest thing I have to do while I’m here.