The Claiming by Cooper

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 01 (Jordan)

One Month Later

I pull onto a dirt road, heading to my brother’s new pack. The drive out here, alone, is helping to clear my head.

Ever since Jace slapped that piece of paper down on my desk, letting me know that he’d resigned from the contest,

my emotions have been all over the place. In the last year, I’ve gone from wondering if he could feel the mate

bond, to thinking he chose my cousin over me, to now, finding out that he entered the competition just to prove to

himself that he’s worthy of being my mate.

And then there’s Nolan. After walking in on me and Jace, with Jace practically ready to kiss me, Nolan has been

spending a lot more time around the pack. I’m not sure if he’s keeping an eye on Jace, or if he’s trying to show me

that he’d make a good mate for me. Either way, it’s making everything more awkward and so, I decided to get

away, just me, to come see my brother. After this, I may even stop in and see my sisters in their new packs.

I continue down the long road, passing the old dilapidated packhouse and other buildings that are in various states

of disrepair. I’m not sure what they plan to do with this land, but the area is gorgeous. It’s similar to my pack lands

with a mountain in the backdrop, framing the sky.

As I pull up, I see a very pregnant

Evangeline directing some construction guys and pulling branches and tree limbs away from the construction site. I

hop out of the car, rushing over to her and taking the brush from her hands.

“What are you doing? Where’s Jaxon?” I ask her, concerned that she’s doing manual labor in her advanced stages

of pregnancy. Thankfully, her pregnancy has been easy, but that doesn’t mean that she won’t strain something

working out here.

“Hey Alpha Jordan!” she says, wiping the sweat from her face as I pull the brush over to where I see a pile that she

must have already started.

I toss it on the pile and turn to her. “I thought we agreed that we’re sisters and I’m Jordan, Luna,” I say, giving her a

look.

“Sorry, pregnesia. I don’t remember anything.”

“Pregnesia?” I ask.

“Pregnancy amnesia. It’s like Jax Jr. is sucking the brain cells right out of my head. He better be the smartest wolf

I’ve ever met to be causing me such problems,” she says as I reach out to hug her.

“And your brother is over at Tobias and Flavia’s pack. Tobias took her back to her home pack to have her baby. They

lasted as long as possible, but we agreed to watch over their pack lands while they’re gone if they would do the

same for us,” she says, rubbing her stomach.

“How much longer before you come home?” I ask her.

She smiles at me. “I am home. But only two or three more weeks before Jaxon brings me back to your pack” she

says, reminding me that Jaxon is no longer part of my pack. It makes me sad. I miss my twin.

I look at the construction site. “Wow, this place is really coming along. I’ve heard that most of the other packs

barely have a foundation, and some are just breaking ground, but you guys already have walls going up,” I say,

truly amazed at the progress they are making.

“I know! It helps that we are working together with Tobias. They’ve been great to have as neighbors. We agreed to

work together and try to get discounted rates for everything and have the companies we contract with do both of

our lands at the same time.

So, Tobias worked on getting pipes laid and Jaxon worked on construction. The pipes are done, and the buildings are

going up. It’s a win-win all around.”

I look at Eve, knowing they’ve been living out here. “So, the pipes are laid. Does that mean that you have running

water now?” I ask her.

“It does! We don’t have hot water yet, but I usually try to shower in the middle of the day when I’m so hot that the

cool water feels good. But I’ll tell you this, it’ s a lot warmer than the pond we found with run off from the mountain

snow. That water was cold!”

“You’re a better woman than I am,” I say, watching the construction guys as they lay one concrete block on top of

another.

“Come sit,” she says, guiding me to a picnic table and chairs. There’s a cooler beside it and she opens it looking

inside. “We have water, soda and beer,” she says turning to look at me. “Any of that sound good to you?”

“How about a beer?” I say.

She comes to sit beside me, handing me my beer then leaning back and finding her way to sit down.

“How is my nephew?” I ask, watching her rub her stomach. I feel a sharp pang in my heart. I’ve always wanted a

pup or two, or three.

“He’s active. Here,” she says, taking my hand and putting it on her stomach. I smile as I feel my nephew kick my

hand.

I lean down to her stomach. “Hey there, JJ. This is your Aunt Jordan. You be good to you momma, but give your

daddy hell.”

Evangeline’s smile widens as I sit up and we both look out over the construction going on nearby.

“I know I’m not your twin, Jordan, but I’ m willing to listen if you need someone to talk to,” she says to me, glancing

at me before looking back at the work being done.

“Oh, I just came by to tell you guys about the announcement of the Beta Trials,” I tell her.

She turns and looks at me. “Jordan, you could have sent anyone to tell us that. And I have enough sisters to know

that sad look in your eyes isn’t because of something pack related.”

I lean forward, rubbing my face in my hands. I didn’t just lose my twin in the contest, I lost all of my siblings, not

that I was ever really close to Teagan or Rowan, but they are both working on building their packs and even Raelyn

is working with her mate, Collin, to build their pack. Everyone left all at once and left me alone, or not alone. They

left me to deal with my mate mess while they get to wallow in the glory of theirs. I feel Eve’s hand begin to rub

circles on my back and I look up at her. She has one hand on her stomach and the other on my back.

“Sorry, I just know it’s relaxing. I can stop,” she says. I shake my head, appreciating the sisterly camaraderie.

“I don’t want to be forward, but does this visit have anything to do with Jace and Nolan, by chance?” she asks.

“Is it that obvious?”

She shrugs, continuing to rub circles on my back. It really is relaxing. “As I understand it from Jaxon, you have a

mate, he didn’t acknowledge the mate bond. Which, by the way, I will never understand. Then he dated your

cousin, you rejected him and then he proved that he wanted you by participating in the contest but before it was

completed and he potentially won his own pack, he resigned so you would know that he did it all for you. Add to

that, you found a man who is interested in you, appreciates you for the woman you are, wants to be with you and

doesn’t really care about taking your Alpha status. Does that about sum it up?”

I turn and look at her. A slow smile spreading across my face. “I’m beginning to see why you’re mated to my

brother. You compliment him well.”

“We compliment each other,” she says, just as I hear paws pounding against the earth.

I stand, ready to protect my brother’s mate and pup when I see my brother’s wolf racing toward us.

Evangeline does the pushing herself up thing that pregnant women do, and I reach out to help steady her as my

brother runs up, shifts and takes her in his arms.

“Hello beautiful!” he says, kissing her, then leaning down to kiss her stomach. “Hey, Jax Jr.,” he says before standing

and pulling me into a hug.

“Ew, gross Jaxon. Don’t hug me when you’re naked. I had enough of your junk t*ouching me when we shared

mom’s womb.”

He snickers, grabbing the shorts that Eve pulled from goddess knows where and putting them on.

“You here trying to escape the Jace Nolan debacle?” he asks me.

“Something like that,” I tell him. “Well, I’m starved, and my mate and son need to eat. Let’s go get some food and

you can tell us all about it.”

I smile, it’s good to be with my brother and Evangeline. “Sounds like a plan.”