The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 66 (Jordan)
I wake with a start, feeling like I’ve forgotten to do something. I jolt up in bed, looking around. Jace rubs his face then looks at me.
“What is it?”
“Did I forget something?” I ask him. “No, you’re probably just thinking of everything you have to do today.”
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I run through the list of things that I need to do in my head, the most important being that I need to tell Taylor and Gianna that they are at risk. The entire family will be here this morning to discuss it.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“Early, the sun’s not up yet, Jordan. Come lay back down with me for a few minutes. You can check in with the patrols and the kitchens while you’re lying on my c*hest,” he says, tapping his c*hest.
I lay back down, snuggling up to him. But, instead of thinking of everything I need to do today, I think of what was on my mind when I walked into the room last night.
I lift my head back up and I look at him. T ve made my decision,” I tell him.
He strokes his f*ingers down my cheek, tucking my hair behind my ear. “That’s great, Jordan. What decision are we talking about?”
He’s watching his f*inger as it trails its way down my face to my n*eck and collarbone.
“About you,” I say, and his f*inger stops, his eyes snapping back to mine.
“What about me?”
I can feel and hear his heartbeat pick up. I stroke my h*and over his c*hest, stopping when I’m covering his heart.
“I know you love me. You show me in all sorts of ways every day. I still don’t know why you didn’t think that you were good enough for me. The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. But you’ve proven to me that you want to be with me, that you will be a good mate to me and just as important, that you will make a good leader for this pack.”
“I don’t want your Alpha title, Jordan. That’s your title,” he says.
“Jaxon and Evangeline are co-Alphas, they lead their pack together. Last night, when things happened with Carter, you didn’t need to contact me, you handled it. We both know that if you had continued in The Contest, you would have won your own pack. You deserve the title of Alpha just as much as I do,” I tell him.
“I don’t care about my title, Jordan. I just want you. I want to make love to you every night, I want to wake up with you in my arms every morning, I want to see my pup growing in your belly and I want to know that I make you proud to be my mate every day. If I have all of those things, then you can call me whatever you want.”
I fight to hide my smile. “So, I can call you my b*itch?”
He growls, flipping me over and nipping at my throat. “If you want,” he says, as he begins s*ucking on the spot where he will leave his mark very soon.
“Just know, that if you call me your b*itch in public, I’ll paint that a*ss red when we’re alone,” he says softly in my ear. There is something about the way he says it that sends a wave of heat to my c*ore.
He lifts his head, sniffing my arousal in the air, and raises an eyebrow at me. “Something you want to tell me, Jordan?”
I shrug. “We haven’t tried that yet,” I say, and he bursts into laughter.
“Goddess, I love you.”
He smiles down at me, then his face gets serious. “When? When can I make you mine?”
“Soon. I don’t want to rush our mating. I want to take my time, savoring it, but I don’t want to keep worrying about the rogue Alphas and I want you wearing my mark. I want to make your position as my partner official.”
“Tonight?” he asks me.
I stroke his long, dark hair out of his face. “I don’t have anything to make it special if we do it tonight,” I tell him.
“Jordan, it will be special because it’s you. That’s all I need. You and me.”
I smile up at him, his love for me shining brightly in his eyes. “Tonight.”
“Good, now, I’m going to celebrate by dining on my favorite dish,” he says and moves his way between my t*highs. I’m exhausted, hoarse and the sun has come up before Jace finally lifts his head.
“Delicious. That taste and you screaming my name should help me make it through the day until I can make you mine tonight,” he says, getting off the bed and taking my h*and, chuckling at me when I stumble on my l*egs that feel like jelly. We get ready and head to the conference room. My family, including Gianna, has already started to arrive. I’ve invited Victor, Elijah, Layan, and Nolan to be in the meeting with us.
Jace heads to the kitchen to make sure the omegas are bringing in breakfast and then he comes to sit next to me. He squeezes my h*and under the table, letting me know he’s here for me.
Then I stand and I reiterate to everyone what I know. Jace tells the group what he overheard from Carter, causing Elijah’s teeth to snap together as he clenches his jaw, and Layan to begin crying softly beside him. Elijah pulls her into his lap, but she turns toward Jace, listening to all of it.
When we’re done, I can see that Gianna’s hands are shaking.
“We won’t let them get to you. The pack will protect you, Gianna,” I say to her.
She looks around the room. “They have no reason to protect me,” she says.
“They will protect you because we will put you under our protection,” Griffin tells her. “Just like they will protect my sister and Jordan. I know you are new to all of this, but we are pack animals. Our wolf spirits make us more instinctual than regular humans. We are stronger because of our pack. They will protect you.”
She looks at me and then at my mother. Mom takes her h*and. “We’ll all be there tonight. One of us will stay close to you at all times. I’m not comfortable leaving you at our house. While it’s not isolated, it’s also not close to the packhouse or where the gathering will be. I’ll feel safer having you with us tonight.”
“And I will be at your side all night,” Nolan says to Taylor.
“I thought you had planned on that already,” she says to him. I’m a bit surprised that she’s not arguing with him, but I’m glad. Maybe the mate bond is working on her.
“I also thought I’d ask Balor if he could send some of his bears to be here tonight. Their sense of smell far exceeds ours. It could give us an advantage if the rogues attack, not to mention, they are huge,” I say.
“I see no reason why we shouldn’t invite them. We’re planning to have them assist at the Beta Trials, right?” my mother asks. “Yes,” I say.
“Then, as a council member, I approve.”
“Thanks mom,” I say, and we spend another thirty minutes talking about logistics and making sure that Gianna, Taylor and I remain safe tonight.
When we’re done, I head to my office to call Balor. I’m surprised when he picks up on the first ring.
“Balor?”
“Alpha Jordan, I was just about to call you.”
“I hope you have some good news for me,” I say, only half joking. I could use some good news, like he’s found the missing humans.
“No, unfortunately.”
I sit back, linking Jace to join me. “Tell me,” I say.
“Are you sitting down, Alpha?”
S*hit, it’s really bad, I think as Jace walks in.
I put the phone on speaker. “Yeah, I’m sitting down,” I say and Jace is instantly on alert.
“We found one of your missing females.
She’s dead.”
“How do you know she’s one of our missing females?” Jace asks. “Her stomach has been sliced open and both Darryl and I could smell the pup on her. She was pregnant and whether they killed her, or she was dying in childbirth, and they cut the pup out of her, I’m not sure, but we now have a mutilated, dead human here.”
“F*uck!” I growl. I throw my head back against my chair. It feels like the s*hit just keeps piling up.
“How long has she been dead?” I ask. “Less than 24 hours,” he says.
I look at Jace. “Would you be willing to bring her b*ody to my pack lands?” I ask him.
“I could bring her there tomorrow,” Balor says.
“I’d prefer it if you brought her here today, which brings me to the reason for my call. I was hoping I could impose upon you to send a couple of your clan members to help us guard a gathering we’re having tonight. A traitor was identified in my pack, and he was giving information to the rogues about Gianna, Taylor and myself. I don’t know when they will attack, but the gathering will be in between three of our pack lands. It’s an opportunity for them to try to get to us,” I tell him.
“Will Kyra be there?” he asks.
I look at Jace who steps away, pulling his phone from his jeans.
“I’ll find out.”
“I don’t want my mate being put at risk. If she’s going to be there, then there’s no choice for me. I’ll be there,” he says as Jace turns and nods his head.
“She’s going to be here tonight, Balor.”
“Then I’ll be on the road with the b*ody in the next hour.”
“Thanks Balor.”
“You can thank me by helping me kill these bastards and telling my mate I want some time with her while I’m there.”
“Deal.”