The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 51 (Jace)
“Your girl’s pretty incredible,” Darryl says to me.
“Yeah, she is,” I say as we listen to her talking to Gianna.
“Do you know the difference in the gestation time for wolves versus humans?” he asks me.
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“Five months versus nine months,” Kyra says walking up. “How is she?” she asks, just as Jordan comes walking out.
“She’s okay. She’s scared, but she wants to keep the baby. Hers isn’t the Alphas, but based on her story and how fast he impregnated her, I’d say he’s either ranked in their rogue pack or his father was a ranked member,” Jordan says, her hands on her h*ips. “I need to speak to your father. Do you know where he is?”
“He’s just finishing up with the bears. The vaccine is working wonders on them,” Kyra says.
“Let’s hope it works for her, too,” Jordan says.
“Do you think it’s safe for me to go in there?” Kyra asks.
“Yes. She’s not violent, she’s angry, scared, and pregnant with a wolf hybrid.”
Jordan turns and looks at me. “Did you hear what she was saying?”
“Yeah. Do you want me to call the council?” I ask.
“Not yet, let’s see what Dr. Braxton has to say first and then, based on her choices, we’ll decide what we need to do,” she says.
I step beside her as she starts to walk toward where Dr. Braxton is currently working with the bears. We meet up with him about halfway from Gianna’s cave to where it looks like the bears were just released from their quarantine.
“That’s a good sign,” I say to Dr. Braxton. “They are no longer showing signs of feral fever or the claiming haze viruses and while they need to have 1 -2 more injections, the prognosis for all of them is good. Now, tell me about the human. Did you get any information from her?”
“Yes, she’s about two to two and a half months along in her pregnancy. She’s not showing any signs of the viruses, but I’m not a doctor and the bears can smell it on her. She was held captive and raped, but she wants this baby. Apparently, she wasn’t able to have a child with her human husband, but now she’s pregnant and she wants to keep the child.”
Dr. Braxton looks up at Jordan. “If she got pregnant, then it’s likely that the male is a ranked member, most likely through genetics. Ranked males are more likely to get their mates or partners pregnant than normal wolves and, of course, we, as wolves are more prolific than humans.”
“Meaning, she just needed a stronger male with stronger sperm to get her pregnant?” I ask him.
“Probably, but I won’t know for sure until I test her blood and saliva. Do you think she’ll let me run some tests on her?” he asks Jordan.
“Yes. I explained that the fetus is at risk and she’s willing to do what is necessary to save the child.”
We turn and head back toward the cave. We can hear Kyra talking to Gianna. It sounds like Gianna is asking her questions about the bears and the others that live out here. Kyra, of course, has nothing but great things to say about the bears. But I can’t tell if it’s helping Gianna feel better about being here or not.
“Hey, I need you to stay out here while we go in,” Jordan says, turning and putting her hands on my c*hest.
“I know. I’ll be here if you need me. Holler, so I can hear you,” I say, chuckling.
It has the d*esired effect and Jordan smiles at me. Then she surprises me by lifting up on her toes and k*issing me. I give it a moment, to see if she intends to pull back and when she doesn’t, I lean in and deepen the k*iss, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her closer. Her arms slide around my n*eck, and she continues to k*iss me until we hear Dr. Braxton introducing himself and Gianna and Gianna asking where Jordan is.
She pulls back and looks at me, moving out of my arms. “I have to go.”
“I know. But don’t think I’ve forgotten that I owe you from earlier,” I say, and she blushes a beautiful shade of red, nearly impossible to see with her skin tone before turning and racing into the cave. “I’m here,” she announces loudly as she jogs in.
“Does she have to yell so loud?” Darryl asks, putting his f*inger in his ear and wiggling it like he’s trying to get rid of the ringing.
“Gianna can’t hear apparently, unless we yell,” I say, tuning into the conversation.
I listen as Kyra introduces her father again and Jordan reassures her that Dr. Braxton only wants to help her. There must be something about Jordan’s presence because we could tell that Gianna was resistant at first to letting Dr.
Braxton take her blood, but once Jordan entered the room, she agreed.
When they are done, Jordan asks her if she wants to take a walk around the area, see where she’s staying.
“You’ll let me walk alone?” Gianna asks. “I’d like to go with you. You aren’t a prisoner here, but that doesn’t mean that you’re safe alone. Those…men are still out there and it’s possible that they could track you here. So, I’d prefer to go with you. But I’m happy to show you around, let you see that we aren’t some sort of crazy cult that is holding you hostage,” Jordan says.
“I’d like that. Other than running for my life, it’s been a long time since I’ve been outside,” she says.
‘Make sure no one is crowding around the cave entrance,’ Jordan says in our mind link.
“Move back,” I say quietly, stepping back and watching as the bears do the same. “Look busy,” Darryl says to his bears, and they all begin to look like they are cooking or making a fire or something.
I don’t act like I’m busy, I act like I’m waiting, which I am. But I sit, pretending that I can’t hear where they are in the cave.
When they step out, I stand. “Jordan, is everything okay?” I ask.
“Yes, Jace, thank you. Gianna and I are going to take a walk. Would you mind acting as our guard?” she asks, finding a way for me to join them. It’s not necessary, but I appreciate her attempt to keep me involved.
“Absolutely,” I say, stepping forward. “Did you have somewhere in mind that you wanted to walk?”
Jordan turns to Gianna. “I thought we could go to the lake. It’s cold, but if you wanted to wash off or just have a nice view, it’s a great place.”
Gianna continues to look me over, eyeing me suspiciously. “Okay.”
They turn and begin walking toward the lake. I nod at Darryl, knowing that he’ll be able to track us with his nose and probably have some of his clan members quietly follow along, and then I fall into step behind them.
When we walk out of the general living area of the clan, Gianna leans over toward Jordan.
“If he’s a guard, why doesn’t he have a gun, or some other weapon,” she asks in what I’m guessing is supposed to be a whisper.
“He’s an amazing fighter, one of the best in the world. His weapons are his hands. Trust me, we’re safe with him,” Jordan says, and a moment later I get an image of exactly what it is that Jordan likes me doing with my hands.
‘I’ll keep that in mind for later,’ I tell her in the mind link.
I see her l*ips twitching, but I stop teasing her as Gianna begins asking her questions about the bears and Jordan answers her as best she can, staying honest but also keeping all of our secrets.
“They are people who prefer to live off the grid. They don’t like living in society and they don’t want to have to live by rules other than their own,” she tells Gianna. “So, they are like those other men, only more civil,” Gianna says.
“No, they are nothing like those other men. They would never imprison anyone, would never force a woman against her will. They just want to be left alone to live their lives as they choose, not as everyone else wants them too.”
Gianna turns to Jordan. “And what about you, Jordan? Do you live here?”
“No, but I was here recently, creating a pact of sorts with this group of people. Me and my family all live off the grid as well. It’s beneficial for all of us to bond together, especially when we have a common enemy such as the men that harmed you.”
“So, you live out here, away from everyone and everything and what? You just live off the land?” she says, looking Jordan over. “You have nice clothes, your guard has nice clothes, so you must live partially in the real world.”
“Yes and no. We have to find ways to survive and just because we live off the grid, it doesn’t mean that we can’t dress well or have nice things. It just means that our nice things are handmade by people who choose that as their career. And you can order almost anything you want online. So, I may not buy my clothing pre-made, but we have people who buy bolts of cloth and then can make anything you want out of it including clothing, sheets, curtains, you name it.”
They stop at the lake and Gianna looks out over the water. “That sounds like paradise.”
“That depends on your idea of paradise. It’s a lot of h*ard work and we do have some modern-day luxuries, such as running water and electricity where I live, but then we also need people in our community who can build and fix those luxuries. We work h*ard, but we get to live in what we consider paradise every day,”
Jordan says.
Gianna turns to Jordan. “Where do I sign up?”