The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 78 (Gianna)
I’ve never had someone that was so intently focused on me in my life, not even Daniel, my ex-husband. I’m trying not to fall h*ard and fast for this man, but he’s making it h*ard. He’s not tentative and he’s not giving mixed signals at all. Actually, he’s been very clear about what he wants. Me.
It makes my heart flutter that he’s so forward about his d*esire to be with me.
As we walk out of the packhouse, I watch the way he outwardly holds my h*and, almost as if he’s daring anyone to deny that he’s my….mate? It’s such a strange word and it obviously means something very significant to them, basically like being married to a human. I guess. “So, you’re an elite fighter?” I ask him as we walk out back.
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“Yes,” he says, his eyes moving all around before moving to mine and then back to looking around again. It almost feels like I have a personal b*odyguard, like he’s making sure no one will bother me. The fact that most of the wolves around us give us a wide berth only adds to the strange feeling of having a b*odyguard. “Um, could you maybe expand on that. I don’t know what that means,” I tell him, and he stops, looking at me. “Thank you for bringing that to my attention. If I ever seem short in my response, or my attention is focused elsewhere and I don’t give you a proper answer, please confront me. I want you to understand everything that I say. I want you to feel comfortable with me and know that I’m not brushing you off. You asked if I’m intense, and right now, your safety is what’s most important to me. I’ m also making sure that every unmated male here knows to stay away from you. It’s not a subtle thing for us. You may not see it or feel it, but they do. I didn’t mean to give you a short answer,” he says, turning and starting to walk again. “Being an elite fighter means that I am one of the strongest, best fighters in all of the packs. There are six of us and we each have a specialty that we excel in. Mine is Aikido.”
“Aikido, like karate?” I ask.
“Not exactly. Karate focuses on self-defense, where Aikido focuses on harmony and using your opponent’s moves against them.”
“Maybe, after I have my baby, you could teach me? I took some self-defense classes, but they didn’t exactly help me against a group of rogue werewolves.”
He stops, turning to me again, this time his f*inger gently tucks my hair behind my ear. “Without a wolf, you would have had no chance against a group of wolves, rogue or otherwise.”
“Does it bother you that I don’t have a wolf? What if I never get it?”
“It bothers me because I want you to experience all of the wonderful things that come with having an animal spirit. But that isn’t something that would make me leave you. I told you, the only thing that will make me leave you, is you.”
I watch as he looks at my l*ips, his gaze as intent as always. I l*ick my l*ips, remembering the p*umpkin pie taste that he left on them after my k*iss last night. “I really want to k*iss you,” he says, swallowing h*ard.
I lift up on my toes, pressing my l*ips to his, and it’s as if a dam breaks. One h*and is in my hair, one around my waist as his t*ongue slides into my m*outh and the taste of my favorite pie floods my senses, only this is so much better. I feel a slight breeze and then my back is pressed against a tree.
I lift my arms, my f*ingers stroking over his strong shoulders before wrapping around his n*eck. I’m so overwhelmed by his scent and taste that I don’t hear anything other than the blood rushing in my ears, until I hear whimpering and realize it’s me just before he pulls away, pressing his forehead against mine as we both catch our breath.
“I hope that was okay,” he says.
“That was so much better than okay,” I say.
His eyes open and I see that they are jade green, and currently they are sparkling with excitement.
“Maybe you’ll let me k*iss you again then. Soon.”
“I’d like that,” I say to him, and he leans his m*outh forward, pressing his l*ips to mine again briefly.
“Come on,” he says, pulling away. “I remember they have a lake here. We can sit there and talk.”
We find the lake and he makes sure I’m comfortable before sitting next to me, leaning toward me so his b*ody is brushing against mine as we sit, one h*and reaching out to take my h*and, running his f*ingers over my palm and the top of my h*and with his warm one. It feels incredible.
“Will you tell me about your life? You said you were in foster care. Does that mean that no one ever adopted you?” he asks me.
“At first, I think a family wanted me. I was a baby after all, but the state had to do their due diligence to try and find my parents. Of course, they didn’t and by the time I was ‘available’ for adoption, I was five years old. By then, I had been in three homes and hadn’t really bonded to anyone. Since that’s the time when you develop your first bonds, I guess that just started my life out on the road that it would stay. I never developed close relationships with anyone, never had a real family and after a while, I didn’t bother trying to make friends because when I moved homes, I changed schools.”
I shrug. “So, in my senior year of high school, when Daniel wooed me, I fell h*ard for him. We got married right out of high school and divorced by the time I was twenty. That was two years ago, and I haven’t talked to him since. Although, I heard he got married again.”
“His loss, my gain. I’m sorry you were alone all your life. You won’t be alone now, not ever. You have a lot of family, and you have me.”
It’s overwhelming to think about and I look away from his intense gaze.
He pulls my h*and to his m*outh, k*issing it. “What do you like to do in your free time?” he asks me, changing the subject.
I smile, knowing this will be something we have in common. “I love going on hikes, being outside, going up into the mountains and just listening to the quiet of the forest,” I say, watching his l*ips twitch.
“What?” I ask.
“The forest is never quiet.”
“Compared to the hustle and bustle of a human city? Believe me, it’s quiet.”
“Maybe we could go for a hike sometime,” he says.
I feel sweat break out all over my b*ody. Ezekiel pulls my h*and to his m*outh, k*issing it.
“Are you afraid of me? Are you afraid to be alone with me? That I will hurt you?”
“No. It’s not that. I was hiking when the rogues captured me.”
He leans in, capturing me with his intense gaze. “I would kill anyone that tried to hurt you or your pup. I won’t let any of them near you. You will be safe with me. I would give my life for you, but it wouldn’t come to that. Those rogues aren’t trained to fight. I am.”
I lean in and press my l*ips to his. “Thank you.”
“You have no need to fear anyone or anything when you’re with me. But maybe while you learn that we could go on short walks, near the pack lands. And as you become more secure, we could go out further.”
He’s really trying, really seems to want to spend time with me, but there is something that I need to address. “You haven’t mentioned the problem between us,” I say, watching him. “What’s that?” he asks me.
I gesture with my free h*and down to my pregnant stomach.
He releases my h*and and moves to stroke my stomach, looking at me to make sure it’s okay. I take his h*and and put it on my belly. I instantly feel my baby respond to his t*ouch.
“Oh!” I say and look at him. “Did you feel that?”
“I did,” he says, stroking my stomach as we both feel my baby continue to respond to his t*ouch.
“Is that normal?” I ask.
“I’ve heard that babies respond to the t*ouch of their fathers, but maybe he is responding to me as a wolf. With other pregnant she-wolves, a man would lose his h*and if he t*ouched someone’s mate and pup like this,” he says.
He focuses on my stomach a moment before returning his intense gaze to mine. “To answer your question, I wish this was my pup that was growing in your stomach. But he is a part of you and therefore, he is part of my life too. I will raise him as if he is my own son.”
I frown at him. “Who are you?” I ask, wanting to know how this man who just met me is already willing to raise a child that isn’t his and create a life with me. He looks at me, quizzically. “Ezekiel?”
I laugh, throwing my head back. It’s been a very long time since I felt like laughing like this.
When I look back, he’s watching me, a smile on his face.
I lean in, stroking my f*ingers down his cheek and really liking it that he leans into my t*ouch.
“Ezekiel. Are you real?”
“I will always be perfectly honest with you. You can believe everything I say.”
Wow, he’s intense, but I find that I like it. “I feel very lucky to be mated to a man like you,” I say, leaning in to k*iss him.