The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 42: Assumptions and Wagers

Hunter

The next morning, on the way to warrior training, | bump into a ridiculously happy Lucas.

"Beta?" | ask but based on the dark circles under his eyes and the fresh mark on his neck, I'm pretty sure | know

why my Betal looks so happy.

"It finally happened, Alpha. Kins finally gave herself to me, and holy f**g s**t. | had no idea it could be that

good."

| smile at my Beta. It's good to see him this happy and to know that what | saw in Kinsley yesterday extended to

their relationship.

"I'm not exactly an expert, but | can tell you that after just a few days, it gets better and better every day." | say.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Where is your mate?"

"Sleeping. | wore her out," he says smugly.

"I'm sure that will continue for a long time, so she better get used to working on little to no sleep." | tell him as

we step outside.

| take the tto address our warriors and explain that we have snew faces from Alpha Carter's pack to

assist us until we

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can begin to rebuild our pack's defenses and update our patrol schedule.

After that, | pair Carter's warriors with mine and watch to see how good they actually are. I'm not sure if Beta

Matthew senthis best warriors, or if they are all this good, but it's a testament to his pack and their training

that his warriors are able to easily keep up with mine.

As with all packs, methods of training and techniques vary, so I talk to Lucas about having Carter's warriors

rotate in to lead the morning training and teach our warriors snew fighting methods. The more prepared we

are for battle, the better.

After training, | head inside, happy to see my mate talking to our pack members and getting to know them. |

haven't given her much tto do that other than her Luna ceremony. | walk up behind her, wrapping an arm

around her waist.

"Can | join you for breakfast?" | ask her.

"Absolutely not," she says, surprisingand turning to look atwith her hand on her hips.

"Did | do something wrong?"

"Why didn't you wakefor warrior training?"

| smile down at her. "I thought you might be tired after last night," | say, knowing that the entire room is

watching our exchange. She might want to think twice about making a scene in the future. Her cheeks redden

and she suddenly realizes that we have an audience.

"It's not because I'm a woman?" she asks.

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"Did you not tellthat you were able to withstand Alpha Owen's Alpha command?" | ask her. | hear the

murmurings of the group. It's good to remind our pack that their Luna is an Alpha wolf. "Yes, but what does that

have to do with fighting?" she asks.

"Why would | keep one of the strongest wolves in our pack from training unless | thought she needed her sleep?"

She presses her lips together and looks down. "I want to start. training, no matter how little sleep I've had," she

says, a bit sullenly.

"Fine, then no complaints when | keep you up until the wee hours of the morning because you're beggingfor

more," | say, leaning in so only she can hear the last part.

Now her cheeks turn a deep shade of red and | run my knuckles over her cheek, feeling the heat. "I love your

passion, by the way. You should make sure it's directed properly, though. Now, will you have breakfast with me?

I'd like to talk to you about our next steps."

"Yes," she says, lifting up on her toes and kissingsoftly. "Sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"We both still have a lot to learn about the other. But | promise. you, until you are carrying my pup, | would be

thrilled for you to attend warrior training. As a matter of fact, | told Lucas to have your father's warriors start

training ours so we can learn the different techniques. Maybe you could stand in as trainer as well."

"I'm a bit out of practice. I think I'd like to go through a couple of

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training classes first, see how much | remember and how out of practice | am before | begin training others," she

says, looking like she expects that she'll be starting over. She won't. She's an Alpha and it will all cback

quickly. She's only been out of training for two years and if her father started her at ten, like most Alphas, she

had six years before she stopped training.

"Let's see how you do tomorrow. I'll spar with you and see what you remember and how good your reflexes are.

Deal?"

"Deal," she says, going through the buffet and piling food on her plate. I'm glad to see she's eating a decent

amount of food. I'm hoping she'll put on sweight soon.

"How about we add a little wager to out sparring, to make it fun," | say quietly.

She glances atfrom the corner of her eye, but | see the tips of her mouth tip up.

"What kind of wager?" she asks, and | can tell she's excited at the idea of a competition. She's such an Alpha. |

love it.

"How about the winner gets to pick our sexual positions that night," | say in her ear. | feel her body shiver with

my words, or maybe it's my breath against her ear, I'm not sure but her mouth spreads into a very satisfied

smile.

"All of them?" she asks, knowing we'll be having sex more than once each night.

"Absolutely."

"You're on, Alpha," she says.

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Pleased, | finish gathering my own food and the two of us head to a table where Kinsley and Lucas are eating. |

notice they are talking quietly, and Kinsley is blushing similarly to how Sophie was blushing a few moments ago.

"Mind if we join you?" | ask. Sophie had already put her tray down but stops and looks form them to me.

"Oh, did you want sprivacy?" she asks.

"No, no, we were just...talking," Kinsley says, blushing a deeper shade of red.

"Based on the color of your cheeks, I'd say your mate was talking to you about the sthings that mine was

talking toabout," Sophie says, smiling at Kinsley before smirking up at

me.

| just shake my head and sit down.

| look at Kinsley. "Are we good after yesterday?"

"Yes, Alpha. | won't disappoint you again."

| lean forward, holding her gaze. "You didn't disappoint me, Kinsley. | just wanted to see you rise to the Beta that

| know your can be. | think you've found yourself and I'm proud of you."

She smiles, looking down, this blush a lighter shade than the one Lucas elicited. He leans in and kisses the side

of her head. "I told you," he says to her softly.

| give her a minute to collect herself, checking to make sure my mate is eating, then focus. "So, today, | want to

invite Alphas Kayce and Robin for dinner. It needs to be soon and if they aren' 11:51

t willing to make the trip, then I'm going to see if Sophie and |

can travel to see them. If that happens, you two will be in charge. again. | know I'm asking a lot during a time

when things are up in the air, but...

"We understand, Alpha. We're your Betas for a reason, right Kins?" Lucas says.

"Absolutely, Alpha. We will manage the pack and protect them as you would if the need arises."

"I'm not expecting an attack, but am expecting to get a notice that the two of us have to cbefore the

Committee of Alphas. However, that doesn't mean that one or more of the Alphas won't consider our pack weak

knowing we lost spack members recently, and depending on where they ended up..."

"Actually, | found out that Koden ended up with Alpha Owen," Lucas says.

"Worst possible scenario," | grumble. "If we do get attacked, that will be who leads it."

"Agreed. | also heard that Owen has taken a fancy to one of the younger she-wolves who left our pack."

I frown. "Who?"

"Brooklyn. Leah and Michael's daughter."

"The laws haven't changed. He can't publicly claim an omega," | say.

Lucas stares at me. | glance at Sophie. Right. | went against our 65.23%

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laws, so what's to keep Owen from going against them as well.

"If they cback, interview them, make sure you feel comfortable letting them back into the pack. At the very

least, we'll give Brooklyn a safe place to live," | say.

"Leah didn't want to leave either. It was Michael who chose to leave," Kinsley says.

| nod. If Owen sets the precedent and the others follow in his footsteps, things could escalate even quicker than

they will with just Sophie being involved.

"We need to start letting the she-wolves know that we have a safe place for them here," | say.

"We started that yesterday, Alpha" Kinsley says, smiling.

"And that's why you two are my Betas," | say, watching as Sophie pushes her plate away. It's only half empty.

"Sophie?"

"I can't eat anymore. | thought I could, but | can't. If I do, | won't be able to move," she says.

| want her to eat more, she's barely eating enough to support a human, much less a werewolf.

"Your stomach probably shrank while you were gone and if you weren't training, you wouldn't have been burning

the calories that you normally would in a pack. I'm sure once you start training again, your appetite will

increase," Kinsley says, looking from Sophie toand back again. I hide my smile. Whether she realizes it or

not, Kinsley is protecting her Luna.

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"Very true, Kinsley. Let's hope after tomorrow's sparring that your hunger begins to increase. If that doesn't work,

we'll have to find other activities to burn calories," | say, winking at Sophie and making her blush again.

After breakfast, | head to my office, leaving Sophie with Kinsley to begin walking through what she does with the

pack. Before | call Kayce and Robin, | check my email. One in particular catches my eye and | open it.

You are hereby ordered to appear in front of the Committee of Alphas one week from today at 9am. Your mate,

Sophie Meyers, is required to attend as well to address the issue of you attempting to install your mate as your

Luna without going through the proper protocols. If you fail to appear before the Committee, you will be

renounced as an Alpha and your title and pack will be removed from you, with force, if necessary."

One week. | have one week to get the remaining three Alphas on board. | pick up the phone and dial Kayce's

number.

x

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