The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 26 (Jordan)

Jace is letting these bears get under his skin and they’re enjoying taunting him. They found his b*utton almost

instantly and they just keep pushing it. Me.

Except, I’m not playing along. I hadn’t intended to say that I’d be sleeping with Jace, but I was hoping it would let

Balor know that I wasn’t interested.

Instead, he caught me in my lie and he made sure that I knew it.

Overall, though, I like the bears. Darryl and Apollo have more restraint than Jusan, but if I’m right, they have some

years on him too. I wonder if he’s a younger brother of one of them. I turn, looking at all of them and when I turn

back, Balor is looking at me.

“Something on your mind, little wolf?” he asks me.

“Yes, big bear, I was wondering which one of you is Jusan’s big brother,” I say, taking a risk. But the moment I say it,

I know I’m right. Balor barks another one of those belly laughs.

“Damn, little wolf. Are all Alphas as smart as you?” he asks me.

“That’s a matter of opinion, I guess,” I say.

“Whose brother do you think he is?” Darryl asks me.

I look at all of them, but now they are being careful not to show any outward signs to clue me in.

“Yours,” I say to Darryl.

“You got some fox in you, little Alpha?”

Apollo asks me, giving me a big bear smile.

“I don’t think so,” I say.

“Do you have any brothers, little wolf?” Balor asks me.

“A twin, actually,” I tell him.

“How is it that a she-wolf became Alpha over her twin brother,” Darryl asks me.

“I was born first. My parents made an agreement before we were born that the first born, regardless of gender,

would be named Alpha. Of all the packs, only my parents remained firm in the belief that it doesn’t matter if an

Alpha is a male or female, what matters if their heart and their ability to lead,” I tell them.

“So, your brother, he’s okay with you getting the Alpha position while every other pack gave theirs to the oldest

male?” Apollo asks me.

“I think it bothered him,” I tell them honestly. “But we had several packs that were vacant, and he won one of them.

It’s actually fairly close to here,” I tell them.

“Where is it?” Balor asks, looking at me intently.

“On the other side of that mountain over there,” I say pointing. “My brother and his mate got one pack and another

second son and his mate got the neighboring pack,” I say.

Balor looks at Darryl and Apollo. “What?” I ask as we come up to a cliff face full of caves.

Balor holds up a finger, telling me to wait.

“Attention everyone!” Balor says as we walk into the clan of bears. “This is Alpha Jordan and her Gamma, Jace.

They are my guests, and you will treat them as such. Any act of disrespect to either of them will be considered an

act of disrespect towards me.”

‘Oh, so he does know my name,’ Jace says in the mind link.

‘Jace…’ I warn.

‘I’ll behave Jordan,’ he says, as we walk through the clan.

I’m used to being stared at, assessed by others, and constantly underestimated, so their stares don’t phase me. I

keep my head high and I make eye contact with everyone here.

Balor takes us to the entrance of a set of caves with a large firepit outside of it. The fire is going and there is m*eat

roasting on a spit.

Balor gestures for us to sit and we all sit around the fire, Balor sitting on one side and Jace on the other.

“What was that look before?” I ask, getting back to our previous conversation.

“You said your brother had moved into a pack land that’s on the other side of the mountain?” Darryl asks.

“That’s correct,” I say.

They all look at each other again. “That’s where one of the wolfpacks that’s been attacking our kind was living,”

Balor says.

“How do you know?” I ask.

He taps his nose. “Keen sense of smell.”

“When’s the last time you were there? My brother and his mate have been building a packhouse on the lands,

having demolished what was left of the old buildings out there.”

“It’s been a while, but we do know that there are at least two wolfpacks,” Apollo says.

“How do you know?” Jace asks.

“They don’t live together, but they sometimes hunt together,” Darryl says. “Do you have any idea how many wolves

we’re talking about?” I ask Balor.

“I’d say at least thirty in each pack,” he says, and I look at Jace.

“I’ll call Councilman Jason,” he says, standing up and moving away to make the phone call.

I turn to Balor. “Have any of your clan been bitten by these wolves?” I ask. “Yes, several were bitten and survived,”

Balor says, but Jasun snorts.

“If you can call it survival. The bite makes them crazy,” he says.

“Crazy how?” I say, a sick sense of fear pooling in my gut.

Apollo’s intense gaze holds mine. “Crazy, like rabid,” he says. “Only, these wolves aren’t rabid.”

“F*uck,” I say quietly, leaning forward and scrubbing my hands over my face. “Little wolf…” Balor begins, but I hold

up my finger like he did to me earlier. ‘Jace, tell Councilman Jason that we need Dr. Braxton and Kyra out here as

soon as their done with their tests on my pack members. It sounds like the bears are not immune to the feral-

fever. ‘

‘Well, shit,’ he says, and I turn back to Balor.

“I’m going to give you the best overview I can from a non-clinical person, but I’m asking you to allow our scientist to

come here and run some tests on you and your clan. He’s made significant progress in our packs, and he’s testing

my pack members that were attacked recently to see if they are infected. We call it feral-fever,” I say, and I begin

to tell them about our history and what we think has happened and how these rogues are alive.

While I talk, Jace comes back and Jasun pulls what looks like a wild hog off the spit and begins cutting it up and

passing it around.

“Ladies first,” Balor says, not letting his clan members eat until I start.

I take a bite of food, so they’ll start eating and then turn to Balor.

“I have to admit, you’re a lot different than I was expecting,” I tell him.

He looks at me, his milk chocolate-colored eyes intense as they focus on me.

“What were you expecting?” he asks.

“I’m not sure, but a gracious gentleman wasn’t it.”

“So, you’re pleasantly surprised?” he asks, and I can tell my answer means a lot to him. He may not know me well,

but his reputation is obviously important to him.

“Very pleasantly surprised,” I say.

“Good. The offer of sharing my bed remains, but if you want to sleep with the pup, I have a space for the two of you

to share. Tomorrow, we should go to your brother’s pack lands. I can show you where the scent is for the other

pack. Once you have it, it’ll make it easier for your elders to hunt them.”

“Thank you, I’d appreciate that.” I say.

When we get to the space that Balor provides for us, Jace fills me in on his conversation with Councilman Jason. “Dr.

Braxton has completed his first round of tests. While he found a new strain of the virus in the group that has been

bitten, their antibodies seem capable of fighting it. He was able to determine that it was from the bite, since several

of us also gave blood and we aren’t showing signs of the new strain. He also said that your blood seems to

eradicate the virus, so he’s hopeful that even if this strain manifests into feral-fever, your blood and that of the

other females will create a new immunity and protect our population.”

“Good,” I say, grabbing my bag of clothes and checking to see what I have to sleep in. “That’s good.”

All I have are pajamas which will require me to strip completely and change. I’m not embarrassed, but I know that

Jace’s feelings for me are strong and mine for him are…confused. Jace turns his back on me. “Go ahead and

change, Jordan,” he says. “And I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“No, you can’t, Jace. The bears’ sense of smell is crazy good. They’ll know if you don’t sleep in the bed with me,” I

tell him as I quickly strip and change into my night clothes.

Once I’m dressed, I crawl into the bed and turn away, so Jace can change. I hear the rustle of his clothing and then

I feel the bed dip as he climbs in. He lays beside me but doesn’t t*ouch me and the electricity in the air is almost

too much to bear.

I’m not sure how much time has passed, but I’ve just about decided to roll over and lay my head on his chest, when

I hear it. The howl of attack followed closely by thundering paws and the snarl and snapping of multiple bears.

Jace and I are up and racing toward the fight in an instant. The moment we run out of the cave, I leap and shift,

landing on four paws and pushing h*ard to get to the fight. Why are the wolves here, now? Are they here for me? Is

this the same wolf that attacked Taylor’s pack?

I can see several bears taking on the wolves, all of them are big, but one is bigger than the others. Balor.

I realize that the wolves are targeting him, and I don’t think. I push myself h*arder and leap over top of him, landing

in front of him, the hair on my back raised as I lower my head and snarl at the wolves in front of me.