The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 83 (Jace)
After dinner, we all begin to mingle again, getting a chance to talk to the contestants. The first one we get to is Celine. I like her immediately. Of the Alpha female contenders, she’s the oldest. She’s confident and reminds me a lot of Jordan. She’s the oldest of her siblings, but was also passed over by her father, Alpha Zaire, and the position of Alpha was given to her oldest brother, Aiden.
At 24, she’s mature, understands the need for strong leadership and she’s ready to take on the challenge of being a Beta. When we walk away from her, I look at Jordan.
“I like her,” she says.
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“She doesn’t meet our needs,” I tell her.
“What do you mean?” she asks. “She’s too much like you. She’d have made a good Alpha, but her skills and yours are very similar. I think we need to look at someone else.”
She smiles, leaning her head against my shoulder. I stop, k*issing the top of her head.
“Are you tired?” I ask her.
“Yes, but I’m not leaving yet. Did you know that Celine found her mate yesterday?” she asks.
“What? No! Who is it?” I ask, looking around. I had seen the mark on her n*eck but hadn’t realized that it was a recent marking.
“Mateo. When he arrived for his protection duty, he hunted her down, sniffing her out. Apparently, they’ve never met and since both of them have been waiting for their mate for years, well, they were marked and mated within the hour… or so I heard.”
“Damn….any of the other fighters find their mates? That’s three of six.”
“I heard that Jameson found his mate, a warrior who is in the Beta Trials, but even more exciting is that Haley is mated to Apollo.”
“The bear?” Jace asks.
“Yep, so I think she’s hoping to be chosen by Jaxon and Eve or Tobias and Flavia’s pack so she can be close to him,” Jordan says.
“Love is in the air,” I say to her, holding her close.
“It was the same at the contest. So many came together and found their mates. It’s kind of exciting. It’s like, instead of an annual claiming, we should have an annual mate gathering so those from other packs can meet each other,” Jordan says.
“I think you’re on to something, my sweet little mate,” I tell her.
I can feel her fatigue, but I know we need to at least say hello to Gabriella before we go to bed. I begin weaving the two of us through the throng of people, making our way to Gabriella. She’s talking to Tobias and Flavia as we step up.
“Alpha Jordan, and….Alpha Jace?” she says tentatively.
“Yes, we’re co-Alphas,” Jordan tells her. “How cool is that? The first Alpha female in however many generations and now the first couple that is called co-Alphas.”
“That doesn’t bother you?” I ask her.
“Why should it? The standard option would be for Alpha Jordan to lose her credentials as an Alpha and how fair is that? It’s her birthright more than yours. But as her equal, it makes sense that you would be a co-Alpha, not some masculine version of a Luna. The duties are divided between two people and need to get done. At the end of the day, does it really matter what your titles are, as long as the pack is happy, healthy, and the work gets done?”
“Your mother was an omega when she was claimed by your father, wasn’t she?” Jordan asks.
“She was, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t become an amazing Luna to our pack. And now, Paolo and Noelle are Alpha and Luna, and they are just as strong and powerful a pair as my parents were,” Gabriella says.
“And what about you, Gabriella. What do you want in your life?” I ask her. “I hope to find my mate someday soon and have some pups. But almost as much as that, I want to be a leader in a pack. Obviously, I’m not meant to be an Alpha or a Luna, and I’m okay with that. As the youngest of my siblings, I never really expected to be either. But as long as I have a purpose, as long as I can have an impact on my pack, that’s all I really need,” she says.
I turn, watching Tobias and Flavia talking to other contestants. “And do you expect your sister and Tobias to choose you as their Beta?” I ask.
“I hope they don’t. I’m not sure I would accept it. As the youngest, I’ve always been treated as the baby of the family, and I’d worry that my sister would still look at me that way. I want a new pack, a fresh start, a place where I can make a name for myself, make my own way,” she replies.
“That would exclude you from two of the eleven packs that need Betas, since your brother, Cillian, is also looking for a Beta. It’s a big risk, Gabriella,” Jordan says to her.
“You’re the oldest, Alpha. You’ve always known that your role was to be an Alpha. Did you truly feel like an Alpha when your father was still running the pack? You had the title, you had some of the responsibilities, but were you really an Alpha?” she asks astutely.
“No, I wasn’t,” Jordan says.
“Exactly. It would be the same for me if I became Beta to my sister or my brother. That’s not what I want, and I hope that my skills prove to the other nine Alphas that I’m worthy of being their Beta.”
We finish talking to her as Caleb and Magdalena walk up. I know Caleb’s probably feeling the need to get Magdalena to bed as much as I’m feeling the need to get Jordan to bed. I can feel her exhaustion in our mind link.
“Thank you for speaking to us, Gabriella,” I say to her.
“Thank you. I hope to speak to you again soon,” she says as I guide Jordan away. “Well, she just went to the top of my list,” Jordan says as we walk away.
“Mine too,” I say looking around. “Anyone else you feel the need to speak to tonight?”
“Even if there was, I’m too tired,” she says.
I wait until we’re out of the room before I scoop her off her feet and carry her to our bedroom. Then I get her tucked into bed before crawling in and curling up behind her, resting my h*and on her stomach over our pups. Her stomach has the very slightly bump to it, making me smile.
The next morning, the Beta Trials begin. As Councilwoman Gia said, the 300 candidates are divided into 30 groups of 10 people. The Alphas are all in separate groups, making it more fair to the others in the competition.
For the first day of competition, the leads have to teach their group a new sparring move. The move is one that was provided by one of our elite fighters and isn’t that common in normal sparring matches.
They give the leads two hours to complete the task and then they call five groups at a time, giving them one hour to showcase that they have taught their group the skill requested. Each Alpha has a scoring sheet and is able to keep track of the Beta candidates.
Six hours later, we’ve watched the first group of 30 leaders as they’ve each lead their groups through the sparring matches.
At the end of the first day, Jordan and I have eliminated 25 of the 30 candidates. That night, most of the Alphas do what Jordan and I do. After dinner, we approach the candidates that we’re interested in, getting to know them.
At the end of the first night, we narrowed the first 30 candidates down to one, Damien. Now that we have a better understanding of how the Trials will run, Jordan and I begin talking through our elimination criteria for tomorrow’s group.
At the end of the second day, it’s much the same. We end up talking to the contenders that made our cut and we end up with two out of that day’s 30 contestants. In that group, Haley moved forward.
The following day, the rogues attacked.