The Claiming by Cooper Book 6
The Gamma Tournament by Cooper (Ezekiel & Gianna)
Chapter 15 Ezekiel
I can only imagine what Levi is going through. For so long, it has been forbidden for the wolves to mate with the humans, but now, that seems to have changed. I know how h*ard it was for me to wait for Gianna, knowing that one day she’d have a wolf and I could, hopefully, take her as my mate. Until today, Levi didn’t even have that hope.
I watch as he pulls Emily onto his lap while Luna Jara redirects the conversation to Desmond. I refocus on the conversation. Since Gianna and I are the ones that asked for him to be here, I need to be prepared to speak and defend our actions. I don’t want Gianna involved in case things get heated. While I know she could handle it, I don’t want to do anything that might disrupt her pregnancy.
“Desmond Simmons is a police detective who has lived his life in the human city. His mother escaped from the packs and was later murdered by pack members. Desmond was then taken to his aunt, who raised him. While she is not a wolf, she knew of our existence because of her sister,” Luna Jara begins.
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“Excuse me. How is it possible that one sister was a wolf, and one wasn’t?” Alpha Asher asks.
“It’s not,” Dr. Braxton says.
“But it’s true. My aunt wasn’t a wolf, but she said my mother was,” Desmond says.
“Have you ever shifted, young man?” Dr. Braxton asks him.
“No, my aunt suppressed my wolf with Blue Rocket, which I understand now is wolfsbane,” Desmond says.
“Your aunt gave you wolfsbane? For how long?” Kyra asks.
“From the time I turned ten,” he says. “And how old are you?”
“Twenty-two,” he says, looking around. “Does that matter?”
“Ezekiel has agreed to train Desmond and make him stronger. Desmond has already said that since his aunt’s death, he has felt more of a draw to the forest. We’re hopeful that his wolf will be strong enough to emerge as Desmond gets stronger,” Alpha Jace says.
“Would you be willing to let me run a full workup on you, Desmond? I might be able to get some information about your heritage from your blood work. If your parents’ information is on file, I can match it,” Dr. Braxton says.
‘Absolutely,” Desmond agrees.
“You don’t know what pack your mother was from, or who your father was,
Desmond? That would be the easiest way to find out where you came from,” Councilman Antonio says.
“I don’t. My mother was murdered less than a year after she left the pack. I was still a baby, and my aunt didn’t know anything about my father,” Desmond says.
“What was your mother’s name?” Alpha Seth asks.
“Clara. Clara Simmons.”
“Simmons?” Seth says and looks at Alpha Mason and Luna Jara. Mason shakes his head.
“I didn’t recognize the name either, but we still have some individuals from the decimated packs who joined our packs. I was hoping this group would be willing to ask around and see if we could find out something, anything that may help Desmond find out where he comes from.”
“This would have been during the time of the claiming. If your birth was kept a secret, maybe that was because your father and mother were together without her being in the claiming. Back then, it was punishable by death if a male took a female outside of the claiming,” Alpha Saul says.
“That is very true. Any pregnancy that occurred during that time would have been considered taboo. It’s likely that she ran from the pack to escape the claiming or possibly to keep you a secret to save the life of your father,” Alpha Jonas says to Desmond.
“I would really love any information that I could learn about my parents, but I’m also hoping to learn more about my real heritage,” Desmond says.
“I would like to learn more about your Aunt, Desmond. I’m assuming that since you are in a room with many Alpha wolves, that they can smell a wolf on you. It’s not possible that your mother and aunt were full blooded sisters and that your aunt was not a wolf. I guess it’s possible that she was wolfless, and that might explain why she wasn’t living in the packs. However, again, during that time in our history, she-wolves were very rare. I can’t imagine that a pack, any pack, would have knowingly agreed to letting a female leave,” Dr. Braxton says.
“Dr. Braxon, Gianna and I are planning to return with Alphas Jaxon and Evangeline when they go back to their pack lands. I understand that you spend quite a bit of time in the bear clans now. If everyone is willing, I’d be happy to bring Desmond with us. That way, he’d be close to you for testing and follow up and if Emily and Bailey come as well, they could show him the area where they were held.”
The women nod and Emily leans against Levi. “You’ll come too, right?” she asks him quietly.
“You couldn’t keep me away,” he says, just as quietly.
“That would work, but in the meantime, I would ask all of the packs to speak to any pack members they have from the decimated packs. See if they recognize the name of Clara Simmons from back when we were young and the claiming was still in place,” Councilwoman Jara says.
Everyone agrees.
“Is there anything else for the large group tonight?” Jara asks.
When no one says anything, she adjourns the meeting. “Council members, please remain so we can have our vote on Emily and Levi as well as our first discussion on other topics that have been on hold waiting for our election.”
The rest of us stand and begin filing out of the conference room.
We step outside the room and almost immediately, Bailey is in front of us. “I definitely want to go with you, Gianna. It’s not that I don’t trust the pack members here, but you are the one I feel closest to.”
“You need to understand that it’s going to be rustic out there, peeing in the forest, bathing in the lake, that sort of thing. Until we can build a true packhouse, there won’t be a lot of amenities like you have here,” I warn her.
“That’s okay. I’ve always been an outdoorsy kind of girl. I can put a tent up and sleep there. Bathing in the lake is fine, I even know how to make natural soap and can do that for everyone there if needed,” she says. “Works for me,” Gianna says, looking at me. “I can’t imagine that Alphas Jaxon or Evangeline would have a problem with it,” I say.
“Do you like babies?” Evangeline asks, walking up with a newborn in her arms. “I do,” Bailey says.
“They you’re welcome to join us. But Ezekiel is right, it’s rustic and you need to remember that the rogues are still out there,” Evangeline says.
“But you won’t be alone,” Desmond says, walking up behind me. “I may not have my wolf, but I do know some basics on how to fight,” he says.
“Well….” both Levi and I say, looking at him. “Let’s see how tomorrow goes,” I say to him.
“Sure, but I’ve been trained in fighting techniques for years,” he says.
“Human fighting techniques,” Levi clarifies. “Yeah, it’s different,” Gianna says.
“Very different,” Bailey says and Emily nods. “Fighting is fighting right?” he asks.
I’m not sure what my face looks like, or Levi’ s for that matter, but Gianna is suddenly in front of me, stroking my c*hest.
“Easy baby. He knows not of what he speaks,” she says, making me smile down at her.
“No, he doesn’t,” I say, looking back up at Desmond. “But you will. Tomorrow, you will,” I say as the door opens and Councilwoman Jara comes out.
When she sees us, she smiles, looking at Levi.
“The council voted five to zero, in favor of you being allowed to mate with Emily,” she says to him.
His growl of excitement reverberates throughout the room, and he snatches Emily into his arms racing her away, presumably to their room, leaving us with only her laughter.