The Claiming by Cooper

Mason

To say that things were tense after Alpha Typhon walked into the dining room would be the

understatement of the century. The smug smile fell off his face as he felt the animosity from nearly

everyone in the room. No one thinks that he should be allowed to participate. He mistreated one of the

few remaining Alpha females and now she’s dead. None of us can afford to lose any of our remaining

females, especially not Alphas.

He had gotten some food, but he didn’t last long in the dining. room. I can’t say I blame him. The hatred

pouring off Seth was palpable, causing everyone at my table except me and Elijah to leave. When

Typhon had finally looked up and saw the raw fury coming from Seth, he intelligently decided to leave.

“Looks like he got himself a new Beta.” Elijah says quietly to me as we watch Typhon and another

ranked member leaving the dining hall.

“Hope this one knows to watch his back.” I reply.

The next morning over breakfast, the excitement is back. Today we get our first glimpse of the females in

this year’s claim. Not only that, but they’ll be also interviewed on stage for us today and will answer basic

questions about themselves and their positions in their packs.

Personally, I only care about Jara. I am, however, interested in the other females as potential pack mates

should one of my pack members claim them. Today we’ll find out who the first female is that will be up for

claiming. They will also pull her lottery of 20 which will give them time to get to know each other this

week before she goes into the claiming territory.

Today we’ll also find out which of the Alphas is here solely for one of the ranked members. I expect that a

large majority will exclude themselves from the other lotteries in the hope of catching the last Alpha

female. Of course, if they are pulled in the lottery and don’t claim the female, they are still eligible to join

Jara’s claiming.

It’s a risk for me. If I’m pulled for a lottery for one of the omegas, the likelihood of me catching her is high.

But I truly believe that having a strong female, an Alpha female, as my Luna will strengthen my pack and

keep my pack members from going feral.

After breakfast, we head over to the pavilion set aside for this week. There’s a fence with a line of guards

that will keep us separated from the females along with a separate area set aside for the claimants

pulled in the lottery. While the omegas will only spend time with the males in their lottery, Jara will have to

split her time with the rest of us. The Beta, Hana, will also probably have to divide her time among the

large majority of us as her lottery won’t be pulled for a few more days.

Once we are all in place, the Elder from last night takes his place on the stage in front of a microphone.

“Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this year’s Claiming. I am Elder Carson and as you are aware, I

am in charge of making sure this year is a fair and safe claiming event for not only our eligible pool of

females, but also you as this year’s claimants.”

There’s a round of applause. “Let me reiterate that if you do not follow the rules set aside for The

Claiming, you will be disqualified at best, put down at worst. Rest assured I am absolutely serious about

this. Neither I, nor my team of guards, will hesitate to put you down if you threaten to or actually cause

harm to one of the females in this year’s claim.”

He pauses a moment to let that sink in. “Now, let me introduce you to our Master of Ceremonies for this

year’s Claiming, Beta

Dividing

Michael.” Another man walks onto the stage. He’s as old as and rugged looking as Elder Carson. We all

clap again.

“Let the festivities begin!” We all begin howling and stomping our feet.

Elder Carson steps back and Beta Michael steps forward.

“Good morning, everyone. How about we get started with the real reason we’re all here!”

As he’s talking two SUVS pull up, surrounded by another eight vehicles. As we watch, a guard gets out

of the passenger side of the first SUV and opens the back door. An omega exits. She’s beautiful and has

raven black hair and dark green eyes. There’s a moment where you can see that she’s overwhelmed by

the sheer number of wolves that are here before she pastes a smile on her face and waves at the crowd.

She is instantly surrounded by guards as a chorus of wolf whistles vibrate through the air. As she moves

out of the way, a second omega steps out. This one has dark blond hair and even from here her eyes are

stunning. They are almost the color of lapis. Another beauty. She smiles shyly, raising a hand in greeting

as more wolf whistles ring out.

The third omega emerges as the second is escorted to stand beside the stage with the first. This one

instantly pulls on my instinct to protect. As an Alpha, I feel the need to protect all my wolves, but omegas

in particular as they are the weakest of the pack. While I felt the pull to the first two, this female looks

particularly delicate. She has light blond hair and hazel eyes. I’m not surprised when her eyes dip to the

ground and she blushes bright enough that I can see it from here.

“Is it me, or do you have the intense desire to protect that last

omega?” Elijah asks me.

“Very much so. I hope whoever claims her is gentle with her.”

I think I’ll keep myself in her lottery.” Elijah says, surprising me.

I turn to look at him. “Really?”

He continues watching her. “Yeah. There’s something about her…”

He trails off as the guard from the second SUV gets out and opens the back door. While the omegas

were beautiful, there is a difference between them and the Beta as she steps out, her head held high her

light brown hair blowing in the breeze. Her eyes are startling in their color. They are brown with yellow

rings that shift to green. There is an elegance and grace that comes with ranked wolves. She ignores us

as if we aren’t even here. I like her immediately. The increase in the whistles, growls and howls is

obvious as the males see one of the top prizes of this event.

I see a leg step out of the SUV and tear my eyes from the Beta. The gorgeous beauty that steps out

takes my breath away. She’s stunning with her dark brown hair and amber colored eyes. And she is all

Alpha. I have to smile as she makes a point to look over us as if we are vermin and she is a queen.

“Holy goddess above.” Elijah says reverently.

My sentiments exactly. She’s perfect.

This time, there’s a lot of growling and purring as the males in the crowd see their top prize.

There’s a shift as the males all start to push forward, wanting to get to these two females. The guards

growl loudly, aiming their guns into the crowd, forcing us to stop our forward motion.