The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 32 (Jace)

I go back to the room and while I wait for Jordan, I get clothes and go bathe in the nearby lake. I’m just getting back

when she walks in, looking thoughtful. “Everything okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah, how was today? Did you find anything?”

“We found some well-used trails, hunting trails we think. Their scent is way off, Jordan. They smell unclean, like they

never bathe after taking down game and the blood and guts are just on their bodies, rotting. It’s disgusting.

Apollo and the other bears had it worse than we did with their enhanced sense of smell. But at least I know what

I’m looking for now. I’ll recognize that stench from now on. Dad wanted to keep hunting, but I told him you ordered

us home,” he says, looking at me.

I didn’t actually order them, but Jace was right to use that if needed to get his dad home. Luke hasn’t seen the

wolves in action yet and while we’re all pack hunters, they attack when they have no business attacking, like with

the bears.

“What about the doc. It looked like he was able to get a vaccine started,” I ask her as she looks through her limited

clothing.

“Yes, and I called to get us rooms at the hotel for the next couple of days. Your family will help patrol the clan’s

borders while we go figure everything out with the Elders,” she says, and I watch as her head drops.

“Is this about the Alpha that Dr. Braxton thinks is Alpha Typhon’s son?” I ask her.

“I don’t know if I should give my mother a head’s up or not. I’m not even sure she’s not out hunting the wolf pack

with the others,” she says.

“She’s not. You know Councilman Jason called them all back. What would you want if it was you, Jordan? Would you

want to find out ahead of time?” I ask her, moving to her and tucking her hair behind her ear, letting my finger trail

down her n*eck. I hold back a smile when her body shivers at my t*ouch.

“Yeah, I guess I would. Either way, it’s going to be a kick in the gut for her,” she says.

I look over Jordan’s head, my mind going back to the time of Typhon and his attack on Luna Jara. “Even though I

was young, I remember. It was a bad time for everyone. When your mom lost her pup, she was devastated. She

shut out everyone. The entire pack suffered for the loss of their Alpha heir.”

I refocus and look down at her, seeing her watching me closely. “You need to have your father on the phone as

well. I don’t know how your mother will take the news, but she will need him there with her, she will need his

support,” I say.

She leans into me. “Are you still protecting your Luna, Jace?”

“Your mother will always hold a special place in my heart, Jordan,” I say, feeling my t*hroat closing up at the

memory. “She held me while I watched my mother give up on this life, she held me while I screamed for her not to

leave me. She did for me what my mother couldn’t. She was there for me; she has watched over me as much as I

have watched over her all these years.”

“Jace,” she says softly.

I shake it off. I don’t Jordan’s pity. “It’s okay, it’s…”

Her finger comes up to my l*ips. “Stop downplaying the effect that that moment has had on your life, Jace. Nothing

good has come from you doing that. You need to recognize that your mother leaving you wasn’t about you not

being good enough, Jace. It was about her own heartbreak, and you have every right to be angry at her for that.

She wasn’t thinking of you in that moment. Most likely she wasn’t thinking of anything other than the pain and

emptiness of losing her mate. I don’t know how that feels, but I do know that if something happened to either of my

parents, the other would follow right behind them. They wouldn’t want to live in a world where the other didn’t

exist.”

I don’t look in her eyes. I don’t want to see her pity. Her hands slide up my chest, but I don’t want her because she

thinks I need her. I want her because she wants me.

“What did Victor have to say?” I ask, changing the subject. I expected that the change of subject would have her

stepping back, but she doesn’t. She stays pressed up against me.

“He was asking if I was going to make you my Beta, and if so, he wants the Gamma position,” she says, her voice

staying soft.

“Didn’t he enter the Beta Trials?” I ask, trying to stay focused, but her warm body pressed against mine and her

soft voice so close to me is sending my hormones into overdrive.

“I asked that too. He said he would rather be my Gamma, than a Beta to another pack and Alpha.”

I smile at that. Victor was given a raw deal, but he never complained about it. His adopted brother got the position

that his father had for 15 years, simply because my father had it first.

“I thought you wanted an Alpha female as your Beta?” I ask, my brain spinning with Jordan’s sweet peppermint

scent. “I do. But what do you want, Jace? Do you want to be my Beta?” she asks.

I shake my head. “I want to be your partner, your mate. I don’t care what title that gives me. I don’t care if a lose

my title altogether. I just want you, Jordan. I can still help you run the pack if I’m a partner, not a Gamma.”

Her hands reach up, going into my hair and gripping it just enough that it sends tingles through my body.

“I’m not sure that I’m ready to accept you as my mate, Jace, but I, Jordan Stern, rescind my rejection of you, Jace

Read.”

The moment she says it, I feel the mate bond snap back into place. It had never completely broken for me, but it’s

stronger now.

However, the impact on Jordan is significant. Her eyes go wide, and she snarls “Mine!” a moment before she has

me pressed against the wall, pulling my mouth to hers in a k*iss unlike anything we’ve ever shared.

My hands go into her hair, turning her head to give me better access to her mouth. As before, we fight for

dominance in the k*iss, but I don’t let up. If she’s willing to give me another chance, the I’m going to show her that I

was meant to be the mate of a female Alpha.

I k*iss her until she’s whimpering, her body clinging to me. I have a moment of clarity and realize that her body isn’t

just clinging to mine, she’s somehow managed to climb up my body, her l*egs clamped against my h*ips, her arms

wrapped tightly around my n*eck.

I reverse our positions, pressing her back into the wall as I continue k*issing her, feeling her l*egs wrap tightly

around me, her body beginning to move against me, the need that I’ve been feeling for her for so many months,

flooding into her system and overwhelming her.

And it’s that thought that has me pulling back. She’s giving me a chance. She’s putting her trust in me and I’m not

going to blow it because I let my hormones and the mate bond pull us both into a situation that she’s not yet ready

for.

I slide my hands in her hair and holding on, I pull back. She whimpers, trying to reach for me.

“Jordan. Jordan! You’re overwhelmed with the mate bond. You haven’t felt it in months. Breathe, Jordan.”

“I need more, Jace,” she whimpers, rubbing her h*ips against mine.

Oh goddess, she will be the death of me. I guess this is just part of the penance that I have to pay and hopefully,

one day very soon, I’ll be rewarded with Jordan’s love and trust. “I can ease your ache, Jordan, but what about your

mother? Weren’t you going to call her?” I ask.

I watch some of the glaze covering her eyes fall away.

“I…I can’t talk to her when I’m like this. I’ll call her in the morning. I need you, Jace.”

“Okay,” I say, and carry her to the bed.