The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 91 Gianna
When I had gone into labor a week ago, Ezekiel, the strongest man I’ve ever met, freaked out. He had snatched me up and raced me to the pack hospital, yelling that I was having a baby as he raced me inside.
My son didn’t make his appearance for several hours after that, and Ezekiel never left my side. When the doctor laid my son in my arms, I had tears streaming down my face. The child I never thought that I would have, is now here in my life.
When I looked, Ezekiel also had tears in his eyes.
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“What are you going to name him?” he asked me.
I had thought about it a lot, not really coming up with anything that stuck. I had no parents growing up, no one who stood out as someone I would name my child after. My son’s father was a crazy rapist, so I refuse to name him after that man.
“I looked up my name to see what it means. It means gracious. So, I looked up boy names that mean gracious. So, I was thinking maybe Zane. What do you think?” I asked him.
He had looked at my son, stroking his head gently. Then he leaned in and k*issed the top of his head before turning back to me.
“You’re my mate. Even if he’s not my blood, that makes him my son. His sperm donor might have been a piece of s*hit, but that doesn’t mean that he has to grow up feeling like he isn’t good enough, or that he isn’t my son because I didn’t give him life.”
He leaned in, k*issing his head again and breathing in his scent.
“What would you think of naming him after me?” he asked.
“You’d be willing to give him your name?” I asked, shocked.
“He’s my son as much as he’s yours. This way, he’ll never doubt it.”
This man, this sweet, incredible man, had given our son his name. Zeke.
I had known in that instant that I would never be able to live without this man in my life. I had been falling in love with him, very quickly, but I had been worried after my relationship with my ex-husband and how quickly I had fallen in love the first time.
But Jordan, Aunt Jara and the rest of my family had been very clear that wolves mate for life. Ezekiel would never leave me, he would never fall out of love with me, and apparently, he intends to be a father to all of my children. And wow, do I hope I have a lot more children with this man.
I had leaned in, k*issing him as he held the two of us in his arms.
“I love you,” I had whispered, and he had smiled a smile so bright, it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.
“I will always love you,” he had said, and I knew he meant it.
“What are you smiling about?” Jordan asks me, pulling me from my thoughts.
I’m in her office, nursing Zeke. My recovery time had been incredibly quick, especially knowing how long it took for Emily and Bailey after their miscarriages.
“I’m thinking about Ezekiel,” I say, smiling shyly. Ever since I had Zeke, my love for Ezekiel feels like it’s growing every day. This morning, it was almost unbearable how much love I felt for him. I had wanted to make love to him, wanted to feel him inside me, but he had insisted that I needed to see the doctor first, to make sure that I was healthy enough.
I had started to feel rejected until he had crawled under the blanket and oh, goddess above, what that man can do with his t*ongue. Then he had embarrassed me by crawling up my b*ody and licking his l*ips, before telling me how delicious I tasted. The man does love his toffee and apparently it isn’t just my m*outh that tastes like it.
“Whatever you’re thinking about now, I don’t want to know,” she says as I blush remembering this morning.
“Wolves are, um, very sensual creatures,” I say.
Her m*outh tips up into a smile. “We’re driven by our senses and everything about our mates, their smell, their taste, their t*ouch, is incredible to us. So, yeah, to you, it probably seems like we can’t get enough of each other, or in your case Ezekiel can’t get enough of you. But it’s just how we are,” she says.
“It’s so much better than being a human,” I say as Zeke’s m*outh disconnects from my b*reast. I lift him, tapping his back until he burps, then I put him in the bassinet in Jordan’s office. I’ve been trying to help her with some of her work while she’s pregnant and since I need something to do now that I’ve given birth, she was happy to have me help.
“When does Gabriella arrive?”
“Tomorrow, sometime. Probably in the afternoon. It will be so good to have our ranked members in place. The pack can finally settle.
I laugh. “The pack feels pretty settled already, this will just make it more settled for you, I think.”
“Maybe. I’m definitely feeling a bit like I’m trying to prepare for being on an extended vacation,” she says.
“In the human world, they call it nesting when a mother begins preparing the things around her for her delivery, specifically the nursery, but I think it encompasses everything. You want everything in place when your little ones arrive,” I say. I take a breath, needing to ask Jordan something, but not sure how she’ll respond.
“I was wondering…” I say and stop. I had mentioned this to Ezekiel, and he basically said that wherever I go, he goes, so I already know that he’ll go with me and Zeke.
“About?” Jordan asks me.
“Well, I know Jaxon and Eve took over the pack lands that my mom used to live in. I was wondering, and I’ll talk to Jaxon and Eve about it too, of course, but I want to go visit the pack lands. See the place where my mother lived and died, where I was most likely born.”
“You don’t need my permission to leave, Gianna. You’re free to go wherever you want to go.”
“Well, so, that’s the other thing that I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t really have a life to return to in the human world, and my son and my mate are here. I don’t want Zeke growing up like I did, not knowing who he is. I want him to be around other wolves, to grow up understanding the pack dynamics and being a part of something that makes sense. So, I was wondering if maybe I could join your pack?” I ask tentatively. Ezekiel told me that it would be up to Jordan and Jace if I and therefore, he, could join their pack. He said I would need to ask her but if she said no, that was okay, we’d find a pack to live in. He thinks Nolan could talk to Taylor and we could live there, but, while Taylor’s family, Jordan feels more like a sister to me.
“You want to join my pack?” she asks me.
“I do, and Ezekiel would as well. We’re a package deal.”
She smiles at that. “You know it’s forever. The only way out of a pack is to reject me as your Alpha and the pack as your home.”
“This place here, this pack, feels more like a home than I’ve ever had in my life. You feel like the sister I never had and while I wouldn’t have chosen to find you this way, ever since I escaped from those rogues, my life has never been so good.”
She gets up and comes to sit beside me. “I would love nothing more than to bring you into my pack. Ezekiel is welcome too. If you’ re truly serious, we’ll include you in the Beta ceremony tomorrow night and the two of you will become official pack members.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m thrilled that you want to stay here. And I have no problem with you going to visit Jaxon and Evangeline’s pack lands. You’ll have to get their approval, since it’s their land, but I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you there, especially if they can get Ezekiel to work on the new packhouse while you’re there.”
“Eeee!” I say, clapping my hands excitedly.
“I’ll have to go into the human world, make sure there’s nothing outstanding for me to do and get my few things, but then I’ll bring everything back here, and that will be that.”
“That’s fine. I’d ask that you wait until I’ve delivered my pups, and then we can make a plan for you to be gone for an extended period of time.”
“Thank you, Jordan,” I say, getting up and hugging her. I hear her stomach growl and mine does as well.
“You can thank me by going to get us some lunch. I’ll watch Zeke, not that he’ll be awake for another couple of hours,” she says.
“Will do. I’ll be right back,” I say, heading to the door. I stop and turn, looking at her. “And Jordan? Thanks again.”
“That’s what family is all about, Gianna.”
I skip down the stairs, excited for the future that is laying itself out in front of me, a home, a family, a man who adores me.
I’ve just had the thought when I catch the scent of p*umpkin pie. I feel every molecule in my b*ody go on alert and I become laser focused on the scent, turning and heading outside.
I vaguely hear people speaking to me, but I’ m on the hunt. I want that smell. I have to know where it’s coming from.
As soon as I step outside, I lift my nose in the air and zero in on where the scent is coming from. I look out across the grass and see Ezekiel walking toward me, his head tilted to the side, a small frown on his face.
“Gianna?”
“Mine!” I snarl and take off, rushing to him. He will not escape me, no one else will have him, he is mine.
I leap into his arms, wrapping my arms and l*egs around him as I feel a sting in my gums just before I latch onto his n*eck, tasting his blood in my m*outh.
His arms come around me, one holding my head to his n*eck the other around my waist. ‘Yes, I am yours,’ I hear his smug voice in my head.
I jerk, realizing what I just did. I start to pull my teeth out of his n*eck, but he holds me in place.
‘No, not yet. Let your instincts guide you, my love. Your wolf is still weak, but you want to p*ump your venom into my b*ody. It will change my scent, making me smell like you,’ he says, making me growl possessively.
I hear him speaking to someone, but I don’t pay attention. He wants to smell like me, and I want him to smell like me so no other she-wolf can have him. He is mine.
I hear him chuckle, growling happily. He sits down, settling me in his lap. I can feel a damp spot on his shorts, but he’s h*ard underneath me.
When I finally feel my teeth, my canines, recede, I pull my head back, looking at him. “I don’t know what happened, I just….”
He strokes my face. “Your wolf is awakening, she smelled her mate, and she took what was hers,” he says, watching me. “I like it. I like this Alpha in you. Do you feel better now that your mark is on me?” he asks, and I look at his n*eck, feeling very smug as I see the fresh mark from my canines. I bring my f*inger to my m*outh, rubbing it over my gums.
“They’re gone now, but eventually, you’ll be able to extend and retract them at will.”
“Your smell, it was so strong, so m*outhwatering. Is that what it’s been like for you this entire time?”
“Yes, but I’ve had my wolf for decades. I understood what was happening, you didn’t and acted on instinct.”
“You’re not mad?”
“That you claimed me? Never. But I really want to claim you now too.”
“Zeke?” I say, worried about who will look after him.
“He’s with Alpha Jordan. I let Alpha Jace know that we needed some time alone. They understand.”
I rub my f*ingers over the spot on my n*eck where he would leave his mark.
“You want to make me yours forever?” I ask him.
“You are mine forever, that will just let every unmated male know that if he t*ouches you, his life is forfeit.”
I bite my lower l*ip, more ready to take this man as my mate than I’ve ever been ready for anything in my life.
His low growl sends waves of p*leasure through my b*ody.
I begin unbuttoning my shirt, his eyes following my f*ingers.
“I went to see the doctor this morning. She said I’m cleared for whatever activity I feel up to,” I say, and his eyes snap up to mine.
I wiggle my h*ips on his e*rection. “Feels like you’re up for it too,” I say and laugh as he picks me up, carrying me to the bed.
We spend the afternoon making love, marking and remarking each other, only stopping in the evening so Ezekiel can get food and Zeke, bringing him back to our room. After I nurse him, Ezekiel puts him to bed, and we continue our marking and mating throughout the night.