The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 71 (Ezekiel)
When the other fighters and I had arrived at the pack, the howl of attack had just gone up. We had all begun to run to where the gathering was, bypassing the patrols who were required to stay at the pack borders to protect the members there if they were attacked.
We don’t work together a lot, but we’re a small, t*ightknit group of warriors, the elite fighters. None of us belong to a pack because we are always traveling around and don’t want to be bound to one Alpha. But because of who we are, we all know that we need to spread out, giving the pack warriors a better chance in the fight if our special forces are available across the area.
However, as I’m running, I smell the most delicious scent I’ve ever smelled in my life. Toffee. My m*outh begins to water, and I feel my wolf pressing forward, wanting to find our mate. After so many years, so many places that I’ve visited and never found her, she’s here.
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Then I see her stepping back from a rogue who is coming for her, coming for what’s mine. I shift mid-stride then leap over her head to put myself between her and the rogue.
The rogue shifts too, but it’s too late for him. He came for what is mine and now he will die. I circle around him until I find my opening and then I lunge, my teeth clamping down on his throat. Blood sprays onto my fur and floods into my m*outh. He smells and tastes disgusting, but I’ve killed a lot of rogues in my life.
I rip out his throat then look to make sure no one else is coming for my mate. I hear the howl of retreat, and I shift, turning to look at my mate.
“Mate,” I growl, then look down, her hands protectively covering the child growing in her belly.
I snarl. Someone else thinks they can have what is mine. I won’t allow it.
I’ve just taken a step toward her when Alpha Jordan leaps in between us, blocking my view of my mate.
“Ezekiel, no! She’s with me,” she yells, her hands out in front of her.
I’m still pissed off that someone has been with my mate, but I look at Alpha Jordan. If this woman is under her protection, I need Alpha Jordan to understand.
“She’s my mate,” I say, my eyes going back to my mate.
“Who is the father? Who do I have to kill to claim you?” I snarl, because she is mine. I don’t care if I have to kill an Alpha, I will. I refuse to give up my mate to another. Although, I notice now that she isn’t marked, which makes me feel a bit better. I’m not thrilled that my mate may sleep around, but I’m not one to judge. I may not have found my mate, but I’m still a man and there are plenty of willing females who want to warm the bed of an elite fighter.
My mate points to the ground at my feet.
I look at the dead man at my feet, then back at her. “He’s a rogue.”
I lift my nose in the air, sniffing. “You’re not a rogue, but….where is your wolf?” I ask, my heart breaking. I can’t be mated to a human. That’s not possible.
“Ezekiel, it’s a long story. There’s a lot to discuss, but now is not the time or place,”
Alpha Jordan says calmly.
“I’m not leaving,” I growl. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to walk away from my mate. I don’t know that it means that she doesn’t have a wolf, but I’ve waited too long to find her to just walk away. “I’m not asking you too,” she says as Luna Jara comes jogging up.
She looks between us. “What’s going on?”
“Ezekiel is Gianna’s mate,” Alpha Jordan says. Gianna. My mate’s name is Gianna. “Ezekiel, you are mated to my niece. That means that you will become family if she accepts you. She has been raised as a human and has only learned about the existence of our kind in the last couple of days. However, Dr. Braxton has tested her DNA and that is how we know that she is the daughter of my dead sister Mila,” Luna Jara says.
I know the story of Luna Mila. Everyone does. She died without giving birth, having literally been bred to death. I know I’m frowning by the time she’s done. Apparently, there is a lot for us to talk about, and based on what I just heard, this is definitely not the place.
I nod, looking at Alpha Jordan. “We do have a lot to talk about. Can I speak to my mate, Alpha?” I ask, hoping she’ll move aside and let me speak to her. Her protectiveness makes a lot more sense now. This is her cousin. It still doesn’t explain why she doesn’t have a wolf, but we’ll get to that. What I do know is that, if she’s related to Luna Jara and Alpha Jordan, then she’s not a human.
Jordan steps aside and I step forward, extending my h*and, hoping she’ll take it. “My name is Ezekiel. I am one of six elite fighters,” I introduce myself, wanting her to know that she is mated to a strong, powerful wolf.
“I apologize for scaring you. I didn’t expect that when I finally found my mate that she would be pregnant with another man’s child. Please give me an opportunity to hear your story and tell you more about me before you make any decisions about accepting me,” I say, hoping that my sincerity is reflected in my eyes.
Jordan looks at Gianna. She looks at Jordan before extending her h*and to me. I take it, holding on to it, feeling the electric tingles I’ve heard so much about. “I don’t know what you mean about accepting you and I didn’t choose to have s*ex with that man,” she says. I snarl before I even think of it. This rogue raped my mate.
She tries to pull her h*and away, but I hold on, cutting off my snarl quickly and clenching my teeth together.
“Please don’t be afraid of me. I can be vicious, but I will never hurt you,” I say, meaning every word. I am vicious, all of the elite fighters are, but I can be gentle, I want to be gentle with her.
She stops trying to pull her h*and away. “Why do you smell so good?” she asks and then looks shocked that she spoke the words out loud, but my heart soars. “What do I smell like to you?” I ask. “P*umpkin pie.”
“Do you like p*umpkin pie?” I ask, taking a cautious step toward her, not wanting to scare her.
She nods and I smile, thrilled that she likes my scent.
“You smell like toffee to me,” I tell her. “Do you like toffee?” she asks.
I look behind her, searching the ground until I find the h*ard toffee candies that fell out of my pocket when I shifted. I find a couple and pick them up, showing them to her.
“My secret addiction. H*ard toffee. I always keep them in my pocket, which shredded when I shifted and leaped over you.”
I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in my life.
I hear someone clear their throat. “Ezekiel, why don’t you take Gianna back to our pack. She’s staying with us,” Jace says.
I hold out my arm for my mate. “May I escort you?”
“I would like that,” she says, putting her arm through mine.
I begin escorting her back to Alpha Jordan’s pack, having a h*ard time pulling my eyes away from her.
“Ezekiel!” I hear Alpha Jordan’s new Gamma say, as he rushes up. I snarl at him, pushing my mate behind me.
He stops, looking at Gianna then back at me.
“I just wanted to know if the battle is over,” he says, looking between me and my mate.
“Yes, the rogues retreated,” I say, not moving.
“Gianna, is everything okay?” he asks, and I can tell that even though he has no chance of defeating me, if she says she’s not okay, he will attack me. She is under his Alpha’s protection, after all.
I reluctantly step aside, letting her speak. “Umm, yes. Ezekiel is apparently my mate. I’m still not exactly sure what that means, other than he smells really good,” she says, making me smile.
“Oh, wow! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised your mated to an elite fighter. You’re a true Alpha after all,” he says.
I frown, looking at her. “You are?”
She shrugs. “I guess. My mother is Mila, as Aunt Jara told you, and my father’s name was Typhon.”
“So, they did have a child? How did no one know that?” I ask her.
“I don’t know, but it probably has something to do with the amulet.”
“What amulet?” I ask, getting more confused.
“Come on. I’ll find an office where the two of you can talk. It sounds like you have a lot to discuss,” Gamma Victor says and turns.
“Actually, my mate is pregnant, and this has been a trying night. We can talk in the morning, Gianna. For now, why don’t you let me walk you to your room. I’ll make sure you’re safe and then you can find me a room nearby, Gamma?”
“I’m staying with my aunt and uncle,” Gianna says. “In their house.”
“I’ll take you there and if they don’t have a place for me to stay, I’ll sleep outside your window. We have a lot to talk about, but just know that until you’re wearing my mark, I’ll need to be close to you, to protect you and your pup.”
She smiles at me and it’s so sweet and so beautiful that it makes my heart flutter.
“Thank you, Ezekiel. It’s been a long time since someone was worried about my well-being. I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot coming here and finding family and now you.”
I walk her to Alpha Mason and Luna Jara’ s house and get her settled in bed.
“I’ll be close, if you need anything at all, call out and I’ll be here,” I say, leaning in to k*iss her forehead. At the last minute, she lifts her face, and our l*ips meet. I deepen the k*iss, sliding my t*ongue into her m*outh and tasting her delicious toffee taste.
When I stand and walk out of her room, closing the door behind me, I know that those toffee candies will never be enough for me again, not after tasting my mate.