The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 50 (Jordan)
‘Now, Jace,’ I say in our mind link, knowing she needs a moment to regroup. “I’ve got water and food here!” he shouts a moment later, making Gianna jump.
“I’ll get it, you stay here,” I say, going to get the food and water.
“Keep it up, you’re getting more from her than anyone else has so far,” Darryl says to me softly.
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“That’s because she thinks she’s getting away if she talks. I just hope that I can convince her to stay,” I say, balancing the trays of food on my arms and taking two glasses of water in my other h*and.
I step back inside the cave and sit in front of Gianna.
“Can you help me, please?” I ask her, holding out the waters. She takes them from me, and I can tell by the way she swallows h*ard that her m*outh and throat are dry. I set the plates of food down in between us and then look at the water. “You pick which one you want me to try,” I say, and she looks at me then back at the water. She reaches out, taking a glass and handing it to me.
I take a sip, realizing it’s from the lake. I set the glass back down. “It’s fresh water from a lake nearby,” I tell her.
“The big one at the bottom of the mountain?” she asks.
“Yes, the snow melts and fills the lake every spring, keeping the water fresh,” I say.
She looks at me a moment longer before taking the glass and downing it all in one go. When she’s done, she looks at the second glass.
“Do you want me to test that one for your too?” I ask her.
She looks at me before picking up the glass. She sniffs the water before downing that one too.
“How about some food?” I ask her. “I can get you some more water,” I say, and I hear Jace going to get more.
“You first,” she says. “And yes, more water would be good.”
I turn and shout “More water, please,” knowing Jace is already getting it. Then I turn back and look at her.
“What would you like for me to try?” I ask her, looking over the strips of meat and root vegetables on the plates.
“What kind of meat is that?” she asks me. I pick up one, sniffing it, already knowing it’s deer meat.
“Smells like venison to me,” I say, picking up a smaller piece of meat, already knowing it’s rabbit. They gave her the most likely meat options that she would eat. “And this smells like rabbit.”
She frowns, picking up a piece and sniffing it. “You can smell that this is venison?” she asks. S*hit, can’t humans smell the differences in meat?
“Uh, yeah, it’s gamey in a way that is similar to the rabbit, but obviously the rabbit meat is in smaller pieces,” I say, trying to cover my mistake.
“This one,” she says, handing me a piece of deer meat. I take a bite, chewing it slowly and longer than is necessary with my sharp teeth. When I swallow it, I h*and it to her. She watches me until Jace announces that he has more water.
I go get it and when I come back the meat in her h*and is gone. I look down and realize that she not only ate that one, but another one in the few moments I was gone.
I h*and her a glass of water, when she doesn’t immediately take it, I offer the other one and then switch them again, smiling at her.
She huffs but takes it and then reaches for another piece of meat. Noticing that she’s eating the deer, I take a piece of rabbit and eat it as I sit back down. “What happened after they captured you?” I asked her.
She takes another bite of food and then continues, “I don’t know where they took me, they knocked me out and when I woke up, I was in some dark, damp place.
There were two other women there at the time. They brought another one in while I was there. The one was already pregnant. She said it was by the leader, that he chose her, and he’d raped her until he could ‘smell his pup’ on her, whatever the f*uck that means,” she says.
“Do you know what that means?” she asks, eyeing me closely.
“These….men think of themselves as wolves. They live in the forest, and they are wild, doing what they want without regard for others. I’d guess they then think of their children as pups,” I say, trying to keep from giving away too much but still answering her question.
“F*ucking freaks,” she says, and I flinch. ‘Easy, Jordan,’ Jace says in my head. ‘She’s human, she doesn’t understand,’ he says, calming me.
“So then, I was chosen, and the same guy basically came to get me every night until he could smell his pup on me too. Like I’ m carrying a f*ucking dog in my stomach or something. After that, thankfully, they leave you alone. They would feed us, but it was always raw meat. It made me gag, especially once the dog-baby started to grow,” she says, but there’s no venom in her words and this time, she strokes her stomach tenderly.
“I couldn’t have children with my husband, and he divorced me because of it. It took me being raped by a freak to finally get pregnant with the child I’ve always wanted,” she says sadly.
She looks up at me. “You said you would explain to me why I need to stay with you, that those men are sick. Does that mean that my baby is sick too?” she asks, and I’ m surprised that her voice is soft and wavering with her concern for the child.
“Yes, and so are you, most likely. What do you know about rabies and distemper?” I ask her.
“Are you f*ucking kidding me? The men who relate as wolves, no…they aren’t good enough to be called wolves, they are mutts, you’re telling me that they have rabies and distemper?”
“Not exactly. But both of those are viruses that can transfer to humans and can cause all sorts of problems, including…”
“Death,” she says, interrupting me. “Yes, to you and your baby,” I say, noticing that she hasn’t stopped rubbing her stomach. “What they have are strains of those two viruses. Their bodily fluids would have transferred that to you, and you and the male would have transferred those viruses to your unborn child,” I tell her.
I watch as she looks down, trying to hide the tears that fall from her eyes. “Can you save my baby? I know many people wouldn’t want a child from a rape, but for some reason, this is how I get to have my child, and I want him or her. I really want this child to live and to be healthy.”
“I can’t guarantee that, but we do have a doctor who has been working on these very viruses, creating a vaccine.”
Her head snaps up. “You’ve found other women like me?”
“No, we didn’t know they were kidnapping women, or we would have been trying to find you before now. But the men who captured you have bitten some of the men that found you. They became infected and had to be treated. I’d like to bring our doctor in and have him look you over. His daughter is here as well. She can stay with you while he’s here, or I can, if that makes you more comfortable. He’ll need to draw your blood, but I don’t know what he’ll need to do for your baby.”
“I’ll see your doctor, if it could help my child,” she says, and I stand.
“I’ll go get him. The sooner he tests you, the sooner he can start making the vaccine that will heal you and hopefully your baby.”
I start to walk away, feeling Jace about to speak in my mind when she calls out to me.
“Jordan? One more thing.”
“What’s that?” I ask her.
She looks down, still rubbing her belly.
“I was only in that place for two and half months. How is it that I look like I’m 6-7 months pregnant? Do you know the answer to that?”
I hold her gaze. “Let’s get you and your child healthy and then we can talk about that, yeah?”
I see a flicker of fear in her eyes, smell it in the air.
“It will be okay, I promise,” I tell her.
She nods. “Okay.”