The Claiming by Cooper

The Council Chapter 34. Mason

Mason

I’m so f*cking ecstatic that I can hardly stand it. I want to jump around, all over the world, doing

cartwheels and shouting to the rooftops that my mate, my amazing mate, is giving me the second best

gift that she could give me. The first was herself and now the second is a pup.

After Seth’s announcement that Hana is pregnant with a female, Jara begins crying and as I’m wiping

her eyes, I hear her mother step up to the phone. She must be in Alpha Luke’s office.

“You mean to tell me that I go away for one weekend and in that time my daughter finds out she’s

pregnant and my daughter-in-law finds out she’s having a girl?”

“Sorry mom.” Both Jara and Hana say as one. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one that wanted our

mates on the call today. Of course, it could also be that we were without them for the weekend, but I

think it’s more than that. We need to talk about these she-wolves in Alpha

Emanuel and Alpha Conrad’s packs and from what I’ve seen of our alliance members, we all value the

input of our Lunas.

Seth gets started with our agenda. “Let’s start with Kira and McKenna, the G*mmas who came from

Alpha Shawn’s pack. How are they doing?” He asks.

Before Alpha Luke can speak, Jara’s mother jumps in. “Well, I just got here, but so far, they aren’t good.

G*mma Kira has rejected her mate and she’s suffering because of it. McKenna, Brynn and Melinda are

with her and we’re taking turns making sure she’s eating. But it will take some time for her to recover.”

“Does anyone know if he has to accept the rejection?” Elder Jason’ s voice says through the phone.

“Why would he?” Jara asks.

“In the olden days of mates, both mates had to reject each other before the bond was severed, or at

least one had to reject, and the other had to accept the rejection. Times have changed, so I’m not. sure if

that’s the case any longer.”

“I guess we’ll find out, but for now, I know Alpha Luke has requested that these two stay in his pack and

Brynn and I agree. If Kira decides that she wants to go somewhere else when she’s stronger, then we

can discuss it. But for now, Alpha Luke is treating them well and they are as happy as they can be here

given the circumstances.” Nina says.

“Thank you, Nina.” I hear Alpha Luke say.

“Thank you, young man. Your momma would be proud of you if she were here.”

I hear Nina put her hand on Luke’s shoulder and I have to think that Luke got choked up by her

statement. Thankfully for Luke, Seth jumps back in.

“Does anyone disagree with G*mma Kira and G*mma McKenna staying in Alpha Luke’s pack?”

No one disagrees. “Okay, if or until they decide they want to leave, they will remain in your pack Alpha

Luke.”

“We do have one other issue to discuss on this matter before we move on.” Nina steps in again.

“What’s that mom?” Seth says and I can tell he’s smiling at his mother taking over our meeting.

“Alpha Shawn has a bunch of warriors watching and periodically attacking Alpha Luke’s pack.”

“What’s the frequency of the attacks and have you lost any of your men?” Alpha Antonio asks. He has

the pack closest to Luke.

“So far, they’ve attacked four times, two overnight and two more times today. I have some men who were

injured in the first wave, but no casualties on our side. We have taken out several of Alpha Shawn’s men

though.”

“Elder Jason, what are your thoughts about the other packs sending reinforcements to Alpha Shawn?”

Asher asks.

“I’m not sure. We’ve never had the division that we have between the packs right now. But I’d say that if

they can, they will. Between the four of them, they only have 250 pack members.” He says.

“That’s double my pack’s size if they all attack at once.” Luke says.

“They wouldn’t send all of their pack members, not to mention, not all of them are adults. But it would be

better to make sure you have reinforcements. If Seth, Antonio and I each send 25-30 pack members,

that will bump your numbers over 200. That should make it a good enough deterrent for them to stop

attacking.” I say.

“And if not, it’s enough to take them out.” Davis says.

“Are we all in agreement to send reinforcements to Alpha Luke?”

We all agree.

“Next item of business. Alpha Gunnar. Mason, can you give us your update?”

“After Luke told me about Elder Colton leaving his pack, I received a call from Alpha Gunnar. Elder

Colton ran to his pack and Gunnar

is now saying that he owns the council. Elder Jason, I would expect that they will try to push you out.”

“So, you’re saying that the four Alphas that went against us at the annual meeting now have four of the

five Elders in their back pockets?” Antonio asks.

“That’s what I’m saying.” I tell them. “And, worse, Gunnar is saying that he intends to change the laws

and bring things back to the way they should be.” I say.

“Meaning what?” I hear Annabel ask.

“Based on what I’ve heard from G*ma Kira, they are planning to make she-wolves not much more than

sex slaves, allowing all ranked m****rs access to having sex with any she-wolf in the pack until she’s

pregnant.”

I hear the whimpers of Annabel and Mignon before I hear the low murmurings of their mates comforting

them.

“We won’t allow that to happen.” Seth says.

“How can you stop it?” Mignon asks quietly.

“We rebel against the council. We already knew that they weren’t doing their jobs, no offense, Elder

Jason.” Jara says.

“None taken, Luna.” He replies.

“So now, if they can’t recognize our value to the packs, then the council will fall and we’ll go in, by force if

necessary and take their last remaining she-wolves. Or at least give them the option of staying. It’s

possible that some she-wolves may not mind having a reverse harem. If their mates have passed away

or they aren’t bonded like we are to our mates, they may find it beneficial to their status in the p**k. Either

way, we need to remember that it’s their

choice, but if they want out, we get them out.”

“We need to know how many more she-wolves we’re talking about and how many of those are

underage.” Quinton says.

“I’m not sure it will matter, based on Brynn’s assessment of Alpha Shawn’s pack. Melinda is only two and

the pack members were already giving her looks that made Brynn uncomfortable.” Jara

says.

“Celeste said the same. Of course, her daughter, Juliet, is thirteen. But she said that she wouldn’t leave

her daughter alone because she was afraid the pack members might take advantage of her.” Hana says.

“That’s disgusting.” Annabel says.

“It is and if it’s the same in Alpha Emanual and Alpha Conrad’s packs, we need to help those she-wolves

get out of those packs.” Davis says.

“What about Alpha Jonas. Does anyone know anything about his pack?” Jara asks.

“No, but it will be interesting to see which side he falls on. I hope it’ s ours, even if he doesn’t choose to

join our alliance. I would hate to think that we’ll have fight him too. He has potential.” Asher says.

“So, how do we find out about the other she-wolves?” Quinton

asks.

“Actually, I may have an answer to that, but I need to step away. It’ s possible one of those she-wolves is

at my borders asking for sanctuary.” Alpha Zaire says.

He isn’t gone long. “The two she-wolves from Alpha Conrad’s pack just came to my borders. They have

asked for sanctuary, and we

are providing it. I had my pack members ask and they are the only she-wolves in Alpha Conrad’s pack.

I’ll know more tomorrow, but I feel that we need to get home. Gia and I will be heading back to our pack

in the morning.” Zaire says.

“We understand. Please update us as you can.” Seth tells him.

“So, we need to see if the other Elders try to push Elder Jason off the council. And if they try to block us

from checking on the other packs. As of now, the only packs whose she-wolves are

unaccounted for are Alpha Emanual and Alpha Jonas.” Seth

summarizes.

“We can reach out to Alpha Jonas.” Hana says.

“Yes, depending on his response, we’ll have a better idea of which side he’s leaning toward” Jara adds.

“You’re not going alone.” I say, wrapping my arms around Jara’s stomach protectively.

“Of course not.” She says, leaning back against me and easing my

concern.

“Our last item of business today is Alpha Typhon. Mason, this is you again.” Seth says.

I fill them in on finding Typhon’s den, my pack’s inability to find him and the council’s unwillingness to

help.

“What you need is a tracker, Alpha. And I have the best.” Quinton

says.