The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 15 (Unknown POV)

“Alpha, why are we here?”

I lift my nose in the air. “Don’t you smell her?” I ask. He’s not an Alpha, so maybe he can’t smell what I’m smelling.

“Uh, what am I smelling?” he asks, sniffing the air.

“There’s a second female Alpha. This one seems to be alone, or at least, not part of a pack. I smell family, but no

other pack members.”

My father was an Alpha, his mate was a female Alpha. Not my mother. My mother was a worthless human who did

nothing worthwhile on this planet other than give birth to me before she died. And then, my father was murdered,

and our pack was lost. The pack I was owed, the pack I deserve.

I had intended to take the other female Alpha, but now that there are two, I can much more easily capture and

mark this one. I may have been young when my father died, but he taught me everything he knew about catching

and claiming a female, specifically catching an Alpha female.

“We’ll have to get around the patrols. Tell the others to stay here. Keep everyone quiet. I’ll get in, snatch her up and

get out. Once she’s marked, there’s nothing anyone can do about it,” I tell him.

“Sure thing, Alpha,” he says, as the wolves behind him begin fighting over the scraps of the last bear we killed. It’s

the only animal big enough to fill their voracious appetites.

“Quiet them down. NOW!” I order my warrior.

“Yes, Alpha,” he says, rushing into the fray and tearing into our pack members. There’s no snarls or growls, only

ripping flesh from their bodies to get their attention.

It’s a constant problem in my pack. Too many males, no females, no way to get any relief from all this masculine

energy. For whatever reason, whether it was our fathers or it was because they mated with humans, there are no

rogue females, only males. I watched my father slip into his madness, watched him lose his mind while he tried to

find a new mate, one who could save him.

The humans didn’t save him, but they did help him to live a bit longer.

I turn, looking at all of them, cowed for now. “Stay quiet, or I’ll kill you when I get back,” I say.

They nod, then begin snapping at each other again, their growls getting louder. I shift and leap into the group,

grabbing one by the back of the neck and shaking my head violently until I hear the snap of his neck. I drop him,

looking at the others around me and snarling low, warning them that they are next if they make any more noise.

Once they are quiet, I turn, slinking up to where the patrols have been running. I watch, learning their pattern,

before sneaking past them.

Time to get my mate.

Nolan POV

After sending all of the new Alphas home, I had stopped in Alpha Giovanni’ s pack for the night. He had offered to

let me stay as long as I wanted, or to bring me back to Jordan’s pack with him, but I had declined.

In truth, I felt the need to get my head straight. It’s obvious to me that Jordan’ s feelings have been on the fence

since the beginning, but now that Jace is obviously make a play for her, I can see the mate bond working its magic.

The question I have for myself is, how hard to I want to push Jordan to consider me as her mate?

Rather than driving back to the pack, I decide to run. I could use the time to clear my head and the run will be good

for my endurance training. At this rate, it will take me a day to get back to

Jordan’s pack. By then, the Alpha meeting should be in the end of its first day, or maybe even into the second day,

depending on how long I decide to take.

I’ve been running for hours when I smell something off. I stop, sniffing the air, trying to find the scent that shouldn’t

be here.

I catch the scent again, and slowly make my way to it. It smells like wolf, but it also smells bad, like a bunch of

wolves that haven’t bathed in way too long. I’m not sure if these are the rogues, but I decide to follow the scent and

find out.

What I quickly realize is that this is not just one wolf, it’s an entire pack. As I follow the scent, it’s getting stronger

the longer I go and that can only mean one thing, this pack is headed toward Jordan’s pack.

I pick up my pace, but I’m still hours away from Jordan and now, I’m too far away from Alpha Giovanni’s pack to go

back and get my phone. Instead, I push harder, trying to make up time. As a single wolf, I should be able to catch a

pack of wolves. It just depends on how far ahead of me they are.

I push harder, wanting to get to them before they get to Jordan’s pack lands. If the Alphas have all arrived as they

should have, then this fight wouldn’t amount to anything, and this pack should be taken out quickly. If not, then

Jordan and her cousin Taylor are in danger.

It’s when I’m getting close to Jordan’s pack lands, my mind on the scent in my nose and the fear for Jordan, that I

nearly run right into the pack that is lying in wait. It only takes me a second to realize that we’re on the outskirts of

Alpha Taylor’s pack, the new Alpha female that borders Jordan’s pack.

As soon as I see them, I howl the alarm. It’s not the smartest move I’ve ever made, I’m alone and I’ve just set

myself up to fight a pack of what looks like 30 wolves on my own.

Thankfully, Jordan’s patrols answer my howl, and they begin racing toward me. I’m about to jump into the fight

when I hear a third howl. This one I don’t recognize at all, but the rogue pack does. They turn, and head toward

their Alpha, who I realize has breached the borders of Alpha Taylor’s pack and is inside her pack lands.

I give chase, hoping to corral them into the patrols, but these guys are wily, obviously used to escaping capture.

A few moments later, I hear the sound of multiple howls going up from Jordan’s pack. They’ve heard the patrols

and are coming to fight. All I have to do is keep the rogues here for them to capture.

I’m running toward where I heard the Alpha give his howl, calling his pack to him. I’ve just broken through a brush

line, entering a clearing with a small house and a lot of construction materials when I see him. I can tell by his size

that his father was an Alpha. No other wolf would be as large as his. His pack members begin racing past him,

jumping into a fight with the patrols that are outnumbered, not by much, but as I watch the rogues begin to fight, I

realize that they are crazed animals, fighting almost as if they are rabid, rather than fighting for their lives.

The Alpha’s snarl turns my attention back to him. I hunch over, lowering my head and snarling at him, challenging

him. This may not be Jordan’s pack, but I’m willing to keep this man, this wolf, from getting to her.

He leaps at me, and we begin to roll around on the ground. I remember what the councilman said about these

rogues possibly being descendants of the banished pack members with feral fever or the claiming haze. I’m also

old enough to remember that those with feral fever could pass on the disease by biting another. So I go on defense,

making sure I don’t get bit.

We’ve been fighting for a few minutes, him snapping at me, me making sure that I don’t get bitten when I smell it,

the scent of the sweet-after-death plant. It’s a scent very similar to vanilla,

but only found deep in the forest, near streams or lakes. I love this scent, not only because of the sweetness of it,

but because it’s hard to find and you have to know where to go to get it.

I’m so distracted, that the rogue Alpha gets the upper hand, pushing me over and getting on top of me, snapping at

my neck and face. A moment later another wolf, a gorgeous black wolf slams into him, pushing him off of me. She

stands in front of me, snarling at him, protecting me. I realize, this is the wolf that has the scent that is so

distracting that for once in my life, I can’t even think about fighting.

He lifts his head up in the air, and howls before looking back at her, and now it’s my turn to snarl. His look is full of

lust. Lust for MY mate.

I slowly begin to stalk toward him, but he takes off. I’m about ready to give chase, when teeth bite, gently but firmly

into my tail, holding me in place.

I turn, seeing the beautiful she-wolf holding my tail.

I shift and stand, watching her. I’ve waited so long to find my mate, and here she is, right in front of me. Finally. She

shifts and I take a moment to look over her gorgeous body. The Moon Goddess has finally blessed me with my mate

and oh, what a mate she is. “Mate!” I say.

She smiles a brilliant smile at me. “Mate!”

I take a step toward her and then I see the other wolves, shifting behind her. I turn and look, stopping in my tracks.

“Jordan.”

The smiles falls from my mate’s face as she turns to look at Jordan and then back at me.

“You’re Nolan?”