The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 45 (Jace)
We walk outside and up onto the stage that has been set up for Jordan’s announcements. There’s a lot to cover and I’ll be interested to see how everyone feels about the change in leadership. I know the gossip hotline went around the pack like wildfire when Carter was removed from the Beta floor, and the pack would have felt the change when I moved into the Beta position and Victor took over as Gamma, so that won’t be new information, but it will be interesting to see what their reaction is.
When we get on stage, Jordan stands just off center, with me on her left and Victor on my left. Elijah stands on Jordan’ s right as we face the pack.
“Good evening, everyone. I have several announcements tonight. First, I’m sure all of you have felt the change in leadership. Jace has been moved into the Beta position of the pack and Victor has been moved into the Gamma position. As you may or may not be aware, Carter will be entering the Beta Trials, so the Beta position, filled by Beta Elijah, was available,” Jordan begins.
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Elijah nods at her, showing his consent to the change in front of the pack.
“You would have felt the change in leadership, but it is on a trial basis. We will not complete the Beta and Gamma ceremonies tonight. I’m giving both men the opportunity to show me that they are ready and able to take on their new roles. Any questions?” she asks.
“Victor, I thought you were joining the Beta Trials,” a pack member calls out.
I look at my brother, who steps forward. “I will tell you what I told Alpha Jordan. I would rather be her Gamma than another Alpha’s Beta. This is my pack. I love it and intend to serve it well.”
I reach over, grasping my brother’s shoulder. I’m so proud of him.
“And what happens if they don’t prove their worth to you, Alpha Jordan?” another pack member asks.
“I intend to give my brother a run for his money. But, if our Alpha determines that he is a better Gamma than I am, then I will step down. We are a pack, everything we do should be to the betterment of the pack, not our individual selves,” Victor says again.
I’m not sure if that’s a dig to Carter, the person asking, or if my brother really is that friggin’ awesome. Either way, my heart feels like it will burst with my pride for him.
“As you can see, Victor is already more than capable of being your Gamma and managing this pack with true leadership. His parents are true Betas, who took over as Gammas of this pack. I have no doubt that Victor will show Alpha Jordan, me and every one of you that he is more than deserving of the Gamma title,” I say, adding my support of Victor taking over my previous position. Since I have no intention of returning to that position, I don’t feel threatened at all. And even if I wasn’t planning to be Jordan’s mate for life, I wouldn’t allow myself to fail in the Beta role.
“Yes, but, what about…”
Jordan raises her h*and. “The leadership of this pack falls to me to decide. For now, these are your leaders, and you will treat them as such. In the interim, Beta Elijah will be teaching Beta Jace the differences between how to be a Beta versus a Gamma and Jace will be training Victor on how to be a Gamma.”
Everyone quiets down and nods.
“Next order of business, the Council has decided that any pack members who would like or who are considering moving to one of the new packs will have the ability to do so quickly. In one week, there will be a gathering of all interested individuals who can talk to the new Alphas, their mates, find out about their packs, and their plans for the future. My brother, Alpha Jaxon, will be there along with my sisters, Rowan and Raelyn. Teagan, as you know, is part of an existing pack. Many of you are friends with my siblings and some of you would love a new adventure. There will be no retribution if you choose to leave this pack, even temporarily, to see if you would like to be part of one of the new packs. If any of you have even an inkling of a d*esire to change packs, I would recommend that you go to the gathering. Patrols that are scheduled for duty that night, see me or Beta Jace to get rescheduled with someone that is not planning to attend. We are still under threat of attack from the rogues, and this is why the council is having this gathering now. The progression of the new packs is on hold until we can put enough pack members into the new packs so that they can support and protect themselves. After the choices are made, we will begin to evaluate if additional patrols are needed to protect the pack and you may be asked to assist with patrolling packs that are not ours. That is in the future and won’t occur until after the Beta Trials. Questions?”
While Jordan answers some questions about the gathering, I look around, seeing who is interested in the gathering. There are only a few that surprise me, the rest are ones that I already expected would leave to follow friends or mates. “My next announcement is about the bears,” Jordan says and the crowd stills. “Beta Jace and I went to the bears’ lands. We met with the bear clan leader, Balor, and we were able to make an alliance with the bears.”
The pack cheers about this. None of us wants to fight, especially when we didn’t start the battle and have no love for the rogues.
“One thing we did realize while we were there is that bears and wolves can become mates,” Jordan says, and the pack goes silent for a moment before the murmurs begin.
“Balor, the clan leader, found his mate in a younger she-wolf. It’s unprecedented, but it bodes well for our future and our alliance with the bears. While bears don’t have mate bonds like we do, it appears that if they are mated to a wolf, they feel some part of that bond. Balor is willing to wait until his mate comes of age and as part of our agreement with the bears and Balor’s need to protect his mate, they will be providing security during the Beta Trials.”
“Who is his mate?” someone asks. “Kyra, Dr. Braxton’s daughter.”
More murmurs go through the crowd. “Dr. Braxton is more than capable of looking after his under-aged daughter, as are any of you who may have children mated to the bears. We won’t know if this is a one-time event or if the bears and wolves are commonly mated, but the opportunity to meet the bears and see if any of them are your mates will be available during the Beta Trials,” I add, hearing the concern from some of the parents in the crowd and the excitement from the unmated pack members.
“I know you haven’t met them, but the bears are very polite, very amenable to our alliance. They will not try to force our underaged wolves into mate bonds. Balor, as their clan leader, won’t allow it, but it’s also not who they are. If they weren’t honorable, we wouldn’t have entered into an alliance with them,” Jordan adds.
“Are they as big as we’re told they are?” someone asks and Jordan glances over at me, a smile twitching at her l*ips. “Yes,” I say. “Most of them were easily twice my size,” I tell them. I’m not small, but I’m not as large as an Alpha. However, no Alpha is twice my size.
The murmurs start again but Jordan raises her h*and.
“Which brings me to my last announcement. The Beta Trials will begin in one month’s time. The wolves’ elite fighters have been recruited to provide protection and as I mentioned, the bears will be providing added protection as well. Anyone who is not in the Trials, but would like to participate in the protection details, please see Beta Jace or Gamma Victor,” Jordan says.
She finishes her announcements, answering questions and then she ends the pack meeting.
Victor and I walk off stage, waiting for pack members to come ask us questions, talk to us about rescheduling their patrols so they can attend the different events and generally answering questions about the changes in the pack.
I look over and see that Jordan is also surrounded by pack members as is Jaxon, which isn’t too surprising, since he was acting Alpha and will have a start-up pack for people to join.
When everything finally settles down, I head to my room, ready to grab some things and go to Jordan’s room, soon to be my room too. When I get to my room, I’ m shocked to see that it’s empty.
“I took the liberty of having the omegas move your things to my room. Our room,” Jordan says, coming up behind me. “I hope that’s okay.”
I turn, pulling her to me. “I think that’s why there were so many questions about the leadership and why I shut it down,” she says quietly, looking up at me, her arms going around my n*eck.
I hear people moving around nearby, I hear Victor coming up the stairs and I expect Jordan to step back, but she doesn’t.
“I said I’m willing to give this a try, and I am,” she says, feeling my surprise.
“In that case,” I say, sliding my h*and in her hair and taking her m*outh in a possessive k*iss, not caring who sees us.
When I pull away, I hold her gaze, but I can see and sense the surprise in pack members who see us. Those who haven’t heard yet, will have heard by morning that Jordan and I are together.
“Let’s go to bed, Jordan,” I say, taking her h*and and leading her past the pack members who are standing by stunned, and leading my mate to our room.