The Claiming by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 93
Jara
I could feel Mason’s concern for me, and then his anger when he thought I was being threatened. But it was when his feelings turned to awe that I got confused. Then, it was like his love came blowing through my mind, a windstorm of love and happiness. It’s addicting, feeling his emotions and knowing that these emotions, in particular, are directly related to me.
When we walk into the conference room, I realize my mother has everything under control. I didn’t expect other- wise. I’m sure that this pack has never seen anything like my mother on a mission. When we walk in, Elijah steps up to us, wanting to speak to Mason, and I go to my mother. “You’re doing a great job, mom. Perhaps I should hire you on permanently.”
“Ha! Your father would never allow that. He’s ready to enjoy our retirement, now that you and your brother are settled.”
I watch as Lewis, one of the pack members my mother had told me about, comes over and asks her a question about where to place something. My mother had been keeping me informed of the pack members she has concerns about and Lewis has been her highest priority.
“You’ll learn to feel it, Jara, when they start to go feral. When they do, spend more time with them. Being around us, feeling accepted and loved helps to keep them sane. You can’t do it forever, eventually the feral-fever will take them. But you can give them ten to twenty more years of life before it takes them.”
So, when Lewis comes up to her, seeking her approval and closeness, I step in. “It’s Lewis, right?” I ask him.
“Yes, Luna.”
He’s older than I am, closer to Mason’s age, mid-twenties, which is the usual age when pack members without a Luna begin going feral.
“My mother has told me of all the great work you are doing and how you’ve been helping her. Would you show me?” I ask, knowing my mother will only be here a couple more days and it will be my role to see to all of my pack members. His eyes go wide, and his smile is huge. “Yes, Luna. Right this way.”
I follow him, turning to look at Mason and winking at him as he watches me. That feeling of pride and awe blossoms through our bond again. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about him being jealous of the attention I’m giving our pack members. He seems to understand that is it my role just as his is to lead and protect the pack. As I walk with Lewis, I do as I’ve seen my mother do. I put my hand on his back and watch as he shows me all the work he’s been doing for my mother. As soon as my hand lays on his back, I feel the ripple. This must be what my mother means about feeling it. It’s almost as if my touch is pushing the darkness out of him, like I put my hand in water and the ripples are pushing out and away from my hand. Almost im- mediately, I feel his body relax under my touch.
I look up at her sharply and she gives me a knowing smile, nodding. She knows what I felt. I nod and return my attention back to Lewis. When he’s shown me his work, I begin moving around the room, making a point of touching all of my pack members. In some, I can feel a soft ripple, and in others nothing. Lewis is definitely the one closest to going feral, at least in this group.
When I’m done, I walk back to my mother. “You see what I mean now?” She asks me.
“Yes. Why….why did I never know this before? I could have helped with Seth’s pack.”
“His pack had me as well as the presence of you and Mila for so long that they have been mostly stable. By the time they would have gone feral, there was nothing you or anyone could have done about it.”
“You’ve been rotating most of the pack members to help you over the last few days. Is there anyone else that I need to be concerned about?”
“There are a few. I’ll point them out to you, but Lewis was the worst. He’s still fighting it. I’ll keep him close while I’m here, but you’ll want to keep a close eye on him until you don’t feel it any longer.”
I watch the room a moment longer, realizing the role that I have as a Luna is much larger than I ever imagined. These men, this pack, is depending on me to keep them sane, at least as long as I can.
I carry the weight of that with me as I go to find Mason. He left a while ago, seeing that I planned to stay. I follow his scent to his office and knock before opening the door to find him and my father with their heads together, working on something.
He looks at me, giving me a questioning look. “Later.” I tell him through the mind link as I walk in. It’s too much to discuss right now, especially in front of my father. “What are you two so studiously looking over?” I ask, coming to stand beside Mason, who pulls me into his lap, wrap- ping his arms around my waist and looking at the documents on the table as he rests his chin on my shoulder.
“This is the petition that we have so far.”
I look at what they have put together.
1) a*s*sessments will happen within one month of the claiming.
2) Killing is not allowed and will disqualify the claimant from that and all future claimings.
3) All claiming’s, regardless of the rank of the female, will be limited to fifty claimants.
“Why fifty?” I ask when I get to #3.
“Claims that have 20 only have men killed because some claimants choose to kill their competition. However, in both Hana’s and your claims, the haze took over because of the number of claimants. Fifty is a guess based on some of Seth’s feedback of how long it took the haze to take him versus how long it took to take me.” Mason says.
I nod and continue to read.
4) Males will identify which claims they choose to be in.
Females will use social gatherings with interested males to choose their own lottery of claimants.
“You put it in here.” I say. Hana and I had wanted this. We’d been thinking of Layan and how she would have chosen the claimants very differently for her claiming.
“Of course, I did. You and Hana should have just as much say as Seth and I do, maybe even more.” He says, kissing the side of my head.
The next line is our request as well. It was a huge problem, especially for the omegas. We couldn’t cook or we’d give our location away, and if we stayed in human form, eating raw meat is unpalatable. So, as the week went on, we grew weak- er, making it harder for us to avoid capture.
5) Females will be given a supply of food when entering the claiming.
6) Any male who claims a mate will no longer be eligible to participate in future claimings.
This last one is about Mila. Typhon should never have been allowed in this or any claiming after breeding her to death.
“These are great.” I say, turning to look at Mason and my dad. “This could have a huge impact on future claiming’s and hopefully ensure the continuation of our species and a better outcome with mate bonds.”
“That’s the goal.” Mason says to me, pulling me against him.
“I’m going to go check on your mother.” My father says before walking out of the room.
“So, what do we do now?” I ask.
“I’m going to send this out to Elder Jason so he can put it on the docket for the Alpha meeting. We’ll have to be pre- pared to fight with the Elders, because I know they won’t agree to this. They’ve been sitting on their council seats for far too long. They’ve lost sight of what it means to be leaders of our community and our species.
“Well then, we’ll just have to make them see that they are wrong, or we’ll have to overthrow their old a*ses and replace them with a new council.” I say.