The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 60 (Jara)
It’s not possible. It can’t be possible. How would Mila have been able to sneak a child out of her pack without anyone knowing? How could I not have known? How could my parents not have known?
I look at Mason. “We’ll tell your parents together, love,” my mate tells me, pulling me against him and holding me as he pushes his strength into me.
Others begin walking over to me, some are worried about me, and some are as confused as I am about how this could have happened.
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I feel like I’m in a daze and I realize how long I’ve been standing here talking to people when Seth and Hana walk in. They would have come from their pack as soon as they heard.
Everyone clears a path and I walk to Hana, hugging her t*ightly before turning to Seth.
“Seth,” I say as he pulls me into a hug. “I know, Jara. I called our parents, they’re on their way.”
“You told them?” I ask, pulling back to look at him.
“No, that’s not a conversation you have over the phone. I figured you and I could tell them together,” he says, watching me closely. “I want to meet her. I….I need to see for myself if she looks anything like Mila.”
I nod. I was feeling the same way. I turn, seeing Jordan.
“Jordan,” I say, reaching my h*and out to her and pulling her into our circle.
“Uncle Seth and I need to meet Gianna. Can you be our liaison?” I ask her, stroking her cheek. I can see that this information has hit her almost as h*ard as it hit me.
“Yeah. I think she’d be willing to meet with you,” she looks at Seth. “Maybe not you, Uncle Seth, but if I tell her what’s going on…”
“I don’t know that that’s such a good idea,” Mason says, walking up.
Jordan turns to look at her father, and I have to fight a smile. I’ve watched my daughter grow into the amazing Alpha she is, and I know when she’s about to stand her ground to fight for what she believes in, even if it means taking on her father.
“I have gained her trust by telling her the truth, dad. I’m not going to risk that trust, risk the small inroads we’ve made because it makes me and others uncomfortable. The woman deserves to know that she’s not only a werewolf, but also a…. a relative. She already knows that we’re werewolves. Even before I knew she was a werewolf, I thought she would have been a great wolf. I won’t risk the bond that we’ve made or a future bond with my cousin because people are scared of what they don’t understand,” she says.
Mason looks at me and as much as I try to stop the smile from spreading, it does anyway. He raises his eyebrow then looks at Jordan.
“You are so much like your mother,” he says, pulling her into a hug. “Come on, I’ll walk over there with you, but if she’s willing to allow a male into the room, it should be Seth,” he says, keeping one arm wrapped around Jordan and wrapping the other around me, k*issing the top of my head.
With each step we take, I get more and more anxious. What if she’s not my niece? What if she is? If she is, will I recognize her? Or will she look like Typhon? Will my sister’s daughter look like the horrible man that has done nothing but hurt our family, even after he’ s dead and gone.
When we get to the hospital, Jordan asks us to wait as she goes to talk to Gianna. Mason pulls me into his arms, wrapping me in his love and purring at me, helping to calm me.
‘Follow my breaths, Jara. You can do this. You are the strongest woman I’ve ever met, although your daughter is giving you a run for your money,’ he says in our mind link.
I chuckle and I know that was his intention.
When the door opens, and Jordan walks out, I pull away from Mason and turn to her.
“I’ve explained what Dr. Braxton told us and I’ve explained what I can to Gianna about Aunt Mila. She’s never had a real family, so she would like to meet you both,” Jordan says, looking at me and Seth.
Seth holds out his h*and to me and I step up, ready to be whatever I need to be for my sister’s daughter. I will be her Aunt, her mother, her friend, her confidante, anything, just please don’t let this be false.
Jordan steps into the room and holds the door open. I step into the room and instantly stop.
My h*and flies to my m*outh and tears spring into my eyes. There, on the bed, is a lighter skinned, female version of Seth when he was a young man. While I was darker skinned than both my siblings, Mila always looked more like Seth.
There is no more doubt in my mind. This is Mila’s daughter.
(Elijah POV)
After the bomb drop, Dr. Braxton told everyone that he would need to do more tests to make sure that his data is accurate, but when pressed by Jara, he felt confident that his assessment of this young woman is correct.
When the meeting ends, Layan and I stand, hugging Jara and letting her know that we’re here for her, whatever she needs. We do the same with Jordan and Jaxon as well. They’ve all just received a huge blow.
I wait while Jace speaks to Jara, letting her know that he’s here for whatever she needs. I’m pretty sure she tells him that what she needs is for him to make sure that Jordan is okay.
When he steps back, I call to him. “J ace.”
He walks over to me.
“While they’re dealing with all of this, do you want to tell me what you and Jordan needed to talk to me about?”
“Yeah,” he says, looking around. “Let’s go to my office.”
He turns to Jordan, who’s head pops up. She looks at him, then at me, and nods. “Let’s go,” he says, and I follow him to his office. Since he stayed in the same office, it feels normal walking in. Walking in to find Victor in my old office feels weird.
When we get to his office, he pours a couple of glasses of bourbon and comes to sit across from me. He hands me one of the glasses and sits back, taking a long sip.
I watch him, swirling my bourbon and sniffing it. It’s the bottle Mason and I got him when he took over as Gamma. It’s an expensive bottle, not one you drink for any occasion.
“Is this for what we learned tonight in the meeting, or for what you’re about to tell me?” I ask, holding up my glass.
I know Jace. He and I have worked together for the six years he’s been Gamma. We both work h*ard, we both do what is needed for the pack, and we’ve created a strong bond. So, I know something is bothering him.
He leans forward, setting the glass on the table.
“I need you to hear me out, listen to what I’m going to tell you and then we can talk about it, okay?”
I look at him a moment before slugging back the bourbon and setting my glass on the table beside his.
“Tell it to me straight. That’s how we’ve always done things.”
He nods. “First, let me say, I have yet to corroborate what I’m about to tell you. But…I believe it.”
I watch him, waiting.
He takes a deep breath and huffs it out. “I think Carter is betraying the pack.”
I feel like all the air in the room suddenly gets s*ucked out. It seems like the walls come closing in on me and I can’t breathe.
I reach down, taking what’s left of Jace’s drink and slug it back.
“Tell me,” I say, as I slam the glass back down on the table.
Jace gets up, grabbing the bottle and bringing it back, pouring two more glasses.
He tells me about the patrol that reached out to him, letting him know that Carter had returned safely after checking on the rogue trails.
“Who was the patrol that contacted you?”
“Charlie.”
“So, a younger pack member,” I confirm, standing and beginning to pace. “Why? Why would he do that?” I ask, not really expecting an answer.
“I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that he doesn’t respect Jordan as Alpha and I’m guessing he thinks that having a human in the pack isn’t a good idea. If I had to guess, he knows enough to know that the rogues want her and he’s willing to give her back thinking it will make himself look good before the Beta Trials.”
I run my hands through my hair. “That would be bad enough if he did it because she’s a human. But now? If she’s related to Jara and Seth, to Jordan? She’s an Alpha female. An heir to Typhon’s pack. If this rogue Alpha realizes that she’s his half-sister, he might just decide to kill her. Even if he didn’t, she was still held captive and raped by the rogues.”
I throw myself back in the chair. “There’s no way to spin this in a positive way. There’s nothing about this that could be redeemed,” I say.
“I know. I don’t know what Jordan will decide, but if it turns out that he really is betraying the pack, betraying her, he’ll be banished. We can’t have him in our pack and none of the other packs would have him now either.”
Where did I go wrong with my son? How did a raise a man that acts this way. And more than anything else, what will my sweet mate say? She adores her children, the children she never thought she could have. It will break her heart, and I will have to be the one that tells her. “You said you haven’t confirmed it. What are you doing to confirm it?”
“I’ve put someone on him 24/7. No matter what he does or where he goes, we’ll know. Elijah, you know you can’t tell him.”
“Yeah, I know. And Layan won’t either. She won’t believe it anyway. She’ll want to believe that it was a misunderstanding. I only wish that I could believe that. But his actions of late have proven that he’s not the man I thought he was, not the man I raised.”
I stand and turn for the door. Now I have to find a way to tell the sweetest, gentlest, kindest woman I’ve ever met that her son is a traitor.