The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 112: Battle Part Il Brooklyn

When the call to battle had gone up, I'd been in Caspian's arms, in his bed. We had both leaped out of bed, but

he'd grabbed me, toldto be safe and kissedwith much less reserve than he'd ever kissedbefore.

"I love you. | want you to know that, just in case..."

| had put my hand on his mouth.

"Tellafter and then we'll talk about you marking me," | had said and watched his eyes widen. He'd taken

precious moments to kissagain, fiercely and possessively before turning, shifting, and racing off to battle.

I'd thought about it while | laid in his arms. | know I still have a lot to get over after what Owen did to me, but

he's dead now, and Cas isn't anything like Owen. | deserve to be happy and so does Caspian. We haven't known

each other long, but war makes you realize important things, makes you realize what is important. And there are

two people in this world | can't live without, my mother and my mate.

| know Brutus will do everything in his power to keep my mother safe, so | have to hope that giving Caspian

something to live for will keep him alive as well. That's my hope anyway, as | rush to the packhouse and begin

checking off my roster as the people assigned to my safe room enter.

Chapter 112, Battle Part Il

288 Nouchers

When my mom rushes up, | hug her tightly, telling her I love her just before Beta Kinsley arrives to check on the

status of my room. We get the last three people in just after Luna Sophie tells us that the packhouse has been

breached.

I look at my mother one last time, hoping that | can convey with my eyes that | love her, and | need her to be

alive when | open these doors again.

After | close the doors, | turn around to make sure that everyone is settled. There is muffled crying in the room

with young mothers cooing at their pups, trying to help them calm. We can hear the sounds of fighting outside

and periodically, we all jerk when we hear the sound of something banging against our safe room door.

I'm not sure how long it's been when we hear the sound of something battering against our door. Sof the

people in the room cry out, sbegin crying as the sound is repeated over and over. Someone is breaking into

our safe room.

| stand, moving in front of everyone. "Stay calm," | say, taking a deep breath like Caspian taughtto do when

there's a trauma. 'You can't help someone else if you're panicked, Brooke,' he'd said to me. Luna Sophie put her

faith into be the Lead in this room. There will be wolves who need my help when this war is over. | need to

stay alive, and | need to protect those in this room who are with me. | stare at the door as | pull the gun from

where | had tucked it in the back of my pants. | hear the gasps of the women behind me, but | stay focused on

the door as it begins to give, the screeching sound of claws cutting through steel makes me

Chapter 112

Battle Part II

1288 (Vouchers

want to cover my ears.

I quickly look down, making sure my gun is loaded, and that the safety is off before holding it facing down in

front of me. | spread my legs apart, steadying myself and taking another deep breath. When | see the claws

puncture through the steel, | raise the gun, ignoring the screams from behind me. All of my attention is on the

door and the person or persons who are trying to get inside and kill these people, my pack, my family.

When the steel rips apart, | wait. | remember a calm falling overwhen I shot my father. | knew what | was

doing was the right thing, | was protecting my mother. And now, I'm protecting my pack. So, when the steel of

the door is pulled open and | see the wolf's face, | don't hesitate, | shoot the gun, the silver bullet hitting him

right between his eyes.

The sound ricochets around the room, making my ears ring, making it impossible forto hear anything.

However, the wolf behind the one I shot shifts, looking down at his friend and then at me. | don't need to hear

him to know that he just calleda f**g b**h.

"Cat me. | dare you," | snarl at him.

When he takes a step, | don't hesitate to fire again.

NN

Ezra POV

Chapter 112 Battle Part!

2811 (Voucher

My entire focus is on Joshua in this fight. | need him out of Margot's life. | know that if anyone else gets to him,

they'll kill him and that may very well kill her.

| found her this morning when the howls went up, telling her to stay by my side in the battle. Reyna isn't at full

strength yet, and we didn't have a chance to practice in her wolf form, but she's strong and surprisingly, she

does as | ask and stays by my side.

However, when | see Joshua's wolf attacking Hunter, | leap, needing to be the one to take him out. | know Hunter

will kill him without a second thought.

When Thorin rips Joshua's wolf off Shaw, he stands, snarling, his head lowered facing off against the other Alpha.

| watch as the other wolf's nose twitches, probably smelling Margot's scent on me. Good, now he'll focus on

trying to kill me. | may be older than Joshua by a couple of years, but that just means | have more experience.

From somewhere behind me, | hear the howls of new wolves, Carter's pack has arrived. | don't let it distract me,

but | see that Joshua makes a m**| note but doesn't seem surprised. I'm guessing that means that we were right,

Robin's and Dutton's packs will be attacked too. | hope they're ready.

| leap at Joshua, needing to end this quickly so he doesn't get killed. | refuse to allow Margot to die. Thorin grabs

him by the scruff of his neck tossing him aside before leaping on him again. He's fast and quickly moves out the

way before Thorin can sink his teeth into his leg.

Thorin spins around snarling viciously as Joshua leaps at us his teeth snapping at our throat. Thorin drops to the

ground, letting Joshua leap over us, but lifts his head, finally getting hold of the 0903)

Chapter 112, Battle Part Il

208 Vouchers

wolf's back leg, snapping it in two.

He howls in pain before yanking his leg out of Thorin's mouth and turning to face us again. One leg down, three

to go. | wasn't joking when | told Margot that I'd remove his arms and legs and keep him alive. I'll put him on a

f+ IV drip for the rest of his life if that's what it takes to keep her safe.

Now that he's wounded, the rest should be easier. However, he surpriseswhen he pulls the shift, standing up

on one leg and glaring down at me.

"You can't have her. She's mine," he snarls at me.

Ishift, standing to face him. "She rejected you because you're a s**t mate and a s**t Alpha.”

He laughs. "Killingwill only kill her. | never accepted her rejection," he says smugly.

"I have no intention of killing you. | can make sure that you live a long life as a vegetable in my pack hospital," |

snarl and smile at the shock on his face.

"And you're so arrogant, that it never occurred to you that | would be the one to kill you," | hear Margot's soft

say. I'd been so focused on Joshua that | hadn't seen her cup behind him, and there is so much blood and

saliva all around that | couldn't smell her scent over the fighting.

Her arm is wrapped around Joshua from the back, her claws extending into his throat. He growls in frustration

that she has him in a vulnerable position where he can't move, or he risks death. Chapter 112: Battle Part Il

1288/Vouc

"You're such a f**g b**h! You are nothing. You couldn't even givea pup," he says.

She chuckles, leaning in to get close to his ear. "Oh Joshua. | never gave you a pup because | refused to bring a

child into a world where you were their father" she says. | see the sshock on his face that | feel. She kept

herself from getting pregnant?

"Goodbye," she says, but this time, she's looking at me.

"NO!" | scream and as if in slow motion, | see her claws clench, slicing into Joshua's throat before ripping it out.

He falls aside as Margot screams, clutching her chest with her b**dy hand. | race forward, catching her before

she hits the ground.

"I'm sorry," she says to me, and | can feel her life slipping away.

"No. I'm sorry. | told you | refused to lose another mate in this lifetime, and | meant it. This isn't how | wanted to

mark you. We' Il figure it out. | promise, we'll figure it out. I'm sorry," | say watching her eyes go wide before |

pull her head to the side and sink my teeth into her marking spot.

She screams, but | don't let go, holding her in the middle of a b**dy battlefield, pumping my venom into her

body, refusing to let her die.