The Claiming by Cooper Book 6
The Gamma Tournament by Cooper (Ezekiel & Gianna)
Chapter 3 Gianna
That night, after we put Zeke to bed and after my mate and I fight over who gets to taste whom first, we lay curled up in bed together, my head on this c*hest.
“That offer from Jaxon and Evangeline to be their Gamma is something you really want, isn’t it?” I ask, looking up at him.
“Yes and no,” he says, k*issing my nose. “I can see how close you are to Alpha Jordan. You’ve been through so much that I don’t want to take that away from you. I can find my way in this pack, I’m sure of it,” he says, but I know my mate well enough to know that he needs to have meaning in his life, in his ability to help the packs be stronger than they are.
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I sit up, looking him in the eyes, so he can see how serious I am. “Let’s see what it’s like in Jaxon and Eve’s pack. Maybe I’ll love it, maybe you’ll hate it, who knows, but we’ll go in with open minds and see what comes of it. Does that sound fair?” I ask him.
He reaches up and strokes my cheek. “How did I get so lucky?” he asks softly.
“To have such an amazing mate like me?” I ask, being sassy.
“Yes,” he answers seriously.
This time when he k*isses me, it’s so full of love that it makes my heart feel like it’s going to burst. He doesn’t push it past the k*iss, just enjoying the simple intimacy of our m*ouths joining.
When he finally pulls back, he smiles at me. “So lucky,” he says reverently.
I smile and curl up on his c*hest.
“What do we need to do in the city?” he asks me.
“Well, first, I’d like to see if I can find my car. It’s most likely been towed, but if not, I want to see if it will start. I’d be shocked if it’s not gone by now, but who knows, better to not leave that avenue open. I need to close out my bank account, clean out my apartment, if my stuff is still there, and then make sure that the police know that I’m not still a missing person. I’m pretty sure my job would have called, but I can’t be sure.”
“So, we probably need to plan to stay a night or two in the city, and then rent a truck to bring your stuff back here?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, you’ll have to do most of the heavy lifting,” I tell him.
He arches an eyebrow at me. “I’ll be doing ALL of the heavy lifting. You, Zeke and our daughter will be comfortably watching from a distance.”
“I can help. I have a wolf now,” I tell him. “If your stuff is in storage, no one will see me moving it by myself anyway. If we need to get Levi to help me, we can. You are not risking our pup to help move furniture.”
“You’re lucky I love you,” I huff at him.
“Yes, I am. Now get some sleep,” he says, k*issing the top of my head.
Two days later, we take our borrowed car and begin our weekend adventure for me to close out my human life and take on my wolf life. I’m excited in a way that I never have been before. For once, not knowing what the future will bring is exhilarating, not scary.
“Aunt Jara gave me a credit card,” I tell Ezekiel as we drive. Aunt Jara had offered to keep Zeke for me, but I wanted to bring him along. I’m still nervous about having him out of my sight for too long and Ezekiel agreed.
“We’re not using her credit card, Gianna. I have money. I’m an elite fighter and I get paid well doing that job,” Ezekiel says, obviously offended.
“Good, I didn’t want to use her card anyway. While I appreciate the thought, I’ve been taking care of myself nearly all my life.”
“Besides, I already got us a hotel room for three nights. I figured you could show me around the city where you used to live and we could see the sights,” he says, looking over at me.
I can feel the smile spread across my face. “Really?”
His smile answers mine. “Really,” he says, reaching over to stroke my cheek. “What’s the smile for?”
I shrug, looking away. He brings my h*and to his l*ips, k*issing it. “Tell me?” he asks gently. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been around people and felt like the only person that was alone. Maybe you have, being a werewolf who was a lone wolf; around the packs, but never in them. It was sort of the same for me, at least until I met Daniel. My foster parents would take me, or give me money, to go the fair or festivals that were going on and there would be couples of all ages there. I’d see kids from school, parents with their young children and even older couples sharing an elephant ear or an ice cream,” I say remembering.
“This one time, my foster parents had dropped me off, giving me money for food. I told them I was meeting friends, but the truth was, I didn’t have any friends. I was never anywhere long enough to make long lasting friendships. So, instead, I sat and watched as others enjoyed the fair, watched as they rode rides together, k*issed in line while they waited their turn, shared food, whatever it was they were doing, and I wasn’t.”
I turn and look at him. “But now, I get to do that with you. I get to have that romantic night or nights with my mate, sharing our fun experiences together.”
He pulls my h*and to his l*ips again. “Not that I want to hear about your previous mate, but didn’t he take you?” he asks.
“No. He wanted me to get pregnant and he didn’t want anything to impede that. He was afraid the rides would cause me to miscarry, or the egg to not attach, or whatever,” I tell him.
He looks at me, frowning. “You realize that was an excuse, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Baby, no one is that stupid. And no one his age cares more about a baby than they do a fun night at a fair, especially if the night ends with s*ex. I mean, I know I’m a werewolf and not a human, but I would think that a young man would have a decent enough s*ex drive that he’d do anything it took to get you into bed. I mean, the best part of making a baby is the making part,” he says to me, making me laugh.
“I never really thought about it, but now that you say it, we rarely went anywhere together. He never took me out, we never went on dates with his friends. He’d go out with his friends, but I’d always stay home,” I tell him.
I hear Ezekiel’s low growl. “He left you at home? Alone?”
“Well, yeah,” I say, realizing now how completely different my life is. I wouldn’t know what to do if Ezekiel didn’t want to be near me, around me. He would never go anywhere without me.
“Maybe it’s because he’s human,” I say.
“Maybe it’s because he’s a d*ickwad,”
Ezekiel says.
I snort and lean my head on his shoulder as he drives.
When we get to the spot where I left my car that day, I feel nervous, thinking about everything that happened.
“I’m here, baby. No one is going to hurt you,”
Ezekiel says. He comes around the car and opens the door for me.
“I don’t think your car is here, and if you don’ t want to get out, you don’t have to, but it might be good for you to face your fears,” he says, holding out his h*and.
I nod, taking a deep breath and putting my h*and in his. “I don’t want to go far. I don’t want to leave Zeke unattended,” I say. “It’s cool enough to leave him in the car,” he says, closing the door and locking it.
“Where did you park when you came here?” he asks gently.
I point to where my car had been so many months ago. Ezekiel takes my h*and, and we walk to the parking spot at this overlook. “Where’s the path you took?” he asks.
“That way,” I say, pointing in the direction where I went. “I loved hiking, being outside,” I say, leaning against him as he puts his strong arms around me. I let him comfort me as I look out over the landscape in front of us.
“It’s a beautiful area,” he says.
“Yes, and now that I know what I am, I probably won’t return. It’s definitely a well- known area for human hikers,” I say.
We stand, as I take in the beauty of the area, remembering the good things about my time here.
“Someday, if you want, we can take the hike you took, reclaim that part of your life. If you want,” he says.
I turn and look at him. “I don’t feel the need to reclaim that part of my life. As awful as those few months were, they led me to you. I can never regret that, that or having Zeke and now our daughter on the way. If I ever change my mind, I’ll let you know, but for now, I walked through the fire and I came out as a phoenix rising from the ashes on the other side, or whatever the wolf equivalent is to a phoenix.”
He takes my face in his hands and k*isses me as I wrap my arms around him, holding on to him as he pushes his love and pride into me.
When he pulls back, he looks at me. “You have so much strength in you. I don’t think all of it is because you’re an Alpha. I think a lot of that is just who you are. You make me proud every day to be your mate.”
I smile as I feel the tears welling in my eyes. Then, I smack him on his c*hest. “Dammit, you’re doing that on purpose,” I say as a tear falls down my cheek. He swipes it away as he chuckles.
“Doesn’t mean it’s not true. Come on, we still have a couple of hours before we get to the city. I’d like to check in, get settled and go find a nice place to treat my mate for dinner,” he says.
“Is that so?” I ask as we head back to the car.
“That is so,” he says.
“Well then, it’s a good thing I borrowed a pretty dress from Jordan.”
A low growl of p*leasure rumbles through his c*hest.
“I’m going to enjoy taking advantage of that dress my little Alpha.”
“Not as much as I am, my big, strong fighter.”