The Claiming by Cooper Book 2
The Council by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 7
Mason
My mate is so f*uc*king hot when she goes all Alpha on the Council Elders and the Alphas who don’t appreciate what it means to be a true Alpha.
I give her the space to make her point, but much like she calmed me earlier, it’s time for me to do the same for her. I don’t care if the Alphas in this room hate us. There isn’t much they can do. My pack is stronger than most of theirs and my mate is stronger than most of them.
Elder Jason takes control of the meeting after that and while we catalog the total number of she-wolves and what packs they are in, we avoid the discussion of childbearing ages, pregnancies and planned pregnancies.
That night, our group decides to go out to dinner, to get the girls away from all of the frustrations of the other Alphas. Jara feels comfortable including Alpha Luke and Alpha Zaire and Zaire asks me about bringing Alpha Saul. He is another Alpha that claimed his mate several years ago. He and his mate have an underaged daughter and there is another female in their pack who has an underaged daughter. Alpha Zaire felt that he would fit in nicely with our group and since we’re trying to get as many Alphas on board as possible, we agree.
Dinner ends up being an enjoyable affair. Our mates sit with us, and it changes the dynamics of the conversations. Both Alpha Saul and Alpha Zaire say that their mates would like to participate in these types of events when Annabel asked them. And somehow, Alpha Saul recognized that Mignon was pregnant.
“There are signs, differences in how we treat our mate when she is pregnant.” He turns to Alpha Zaire. “Wouldn’t you agree, Zaire?”
“Yes, I had noticed the same thing.”
“What kind of signs?” Jara asked.
Zaire, who is sitting next to her, leans toward her. “See how he’s always leaning toward her, in a protective stance? It’s not just protective, but instinctively, he’s listening for his pup’s heartbeat. And his arm always around some part of her body? That’s in case something happens, and he needs to get her out of harm’s way quickly. Eventually, probably once it’s more well known that she’s carrying his pup, he won’t be able to keep his hands off her stomach, always wanting to touch not only his mate, but his pup as well. And she, the pup, will respond to his touch.”
“Why do I feel like you’re giving all of my secrets away over there?” Asher says to Zaire and Jara.
“Maybe he is, but it’s good knowledge. Something that might be helpful with our petition.”
“Your petition? What petition?” Alpha Saul asks.
“We still have to finish writing it up tonight, but we’re going to petition to have a Luna council that looks out for the she-wolves in the packs. We want to make sure things like what happened to Mila don’t happen again. And that Alphas like Alpha Gunnar can’t mistreat their she-wolves.”
“I heard a rumor that he was putting in a petition.” Alpha Luke says. “Has anyone heard what it might be about?”
None of us have.
“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.” Seth says. “Tomorrow is petition day.”
“Yes, and based on your petition, it’s going to be a long day.” Antonio says. “Add to that the petition our mates are putting in, and we may be here an extra day.”
“What’s your petition?” Saul asks.
“I’m so glad you asked.” I say and Jara and I go over our petition for changes to the claiming with him.
“We hope you’ll support us.” Jara says to him when we finish.
“Tessa would have my balls if I didn’t. She hated that process. She’s been dreading the day our daughter has to go through it. It’s still a few years away. Maybe by then, some of these changes will have become common place.”
“Well, we still have to get them passed.” I say.
“Then, let’s work on that first.” Alpha Saul says.
Later, when we get back to the hotel, the men all go to the reception, while our mates go to mine and Jara’s room to write up their petition.
I can see that Gunnar is trying to recruit a couple of the newer Alphas to his way of thinking, or at least, that’s the way it looks to me. Alphas Davis and Quinton have both been in their position for less than two years. Both were the last remaining ranked members of their packs, and both are small packs, even after the redistribution. If I remember correctly, one will only be 60 strong and the other will only be 70 strong.
I see the two Alphas look up as we walk in. Getting into an alliance with Gunnar is a bad idea, especially if he plans to go against us. Gunnar’s pack size is still small, only 60 after the redistribution.
The combined power of mine and Seth’s packs are significant. If you add in the new size of Antonio’s and Asher’s packs, we could demolish any other pack easily. And even if all the other packs unite and rise against us, we’re still stronger than they are.
I get a drink and an idea comes to me. I look at Seth. “Want to join me?” I ask him.
“Where are we going?” He says, coming to stand beside me.
“We’re going to make our mates happy while we ensure that Gunnar isn’t steering some of these new Alphas in the wrong direction.”
“I’m intrigued. Lead the way.” Seth says and we turn, heading over to where the group is standing.
“Alpha Mason. Alpha Seth.”
“Good evening, gentlemen. I hope everyone has enjoyed their time at this year’s event?”
“What do you want, Mason?” Gunnar asks, intentionally trying to instigate me by dropping my title.
“Well, Gunnar,” two can play at that game, “I wanted to speak to Alpha Davis a moment.”
“He’s busy.” Gunnar says, stepping up next to Alpha Davis.
I turn, looking at Davis. “I didn’t know Gunnar spoke for you Alpha.” I say, waiting for him to either deny it or to allow Gunnar to intimidate him.
“He doesn’t.” He says, stepping away from Gunnar and toward me.
“Excellent. Might I have a word?” I say and from the corner of my eye, I can see that Gunnar is seething, his plans collapsing in front of him.
“Is this a private meeting, or may I join you?” Alpha Quinton asks.
“Quinton!” Gunnar barks, giving him a look that is on the verge of threatening. “You don’t speak for me either, Gunnar.” He says before stepping up to me.
“Unless this is a private meeting?” He asks, second guessing his bravado. “Absolutely not.” Seth says, moving to stand beside him in a show of solidarity and strength, forcing Gunnar to back down.
We move to a quiet area. “Did either of you want a drink?” I ask, noting that neither of them have a drink in their hands.
They look at each other. “We weren’t comfortable having a drink with Alpha Gunnar and his posse, so we chose not to.” Davis says.
Posse. An interesting choice of words. I notice Seth caught it too.
“I’m much more comfortable having a drink with you two though.” Quinton admits. “Let’s get a drink, then we can step outside. It’s a nice evening.” Seth says.
When we get outside, they turn to Seth and I. “Was there something that you wanted to talk to us about?” Davis asks.
“Yes. I believe the omega Layan is in your pack. I wanted to see how she is doing. Both of our mates,” I gesture to Seth, “have asked about her. No one has heard anything, and they grew very attached to her at the claiming this year.”
“Oh, uh, well…” He stutters, frowning.
I raise an eyebrow. “You were expecting a different conversation?” I ask.
Davis looks at Quinton. “Well, we thought maybe you were going to try to get us to side with you on your petition. We heard that you put one forward, but no one seems to know what it’s about.”
“We can discuss that as well, if you’d like. But my main reason in wanting to speak to you was to get an update on Layan.”
David takes a gulp of his drink before looking at us. “I wish I could tell you that she’s doing well, but I can’t. The only good news is that she didn’t get pregnant by that Alpha. However, her body is taking a long time to heal, longer than it should be. And her emotional wounds are taking even longer. Her mother was in my office before I left to come here crying because Layan wakes up screaming every night, terrified that she’s still in the claiming territory.”
It’s not the news I was wanting to hear, but it’s the news I expected. “What if…. Hear me out.” Seth says. “What if, our mates, and maybe Annabel and Mignon came to visit Layan. There were so many of them in this year’s claiming. I know they became friends, supported each other, and definitely supported Layan after what happened. Maybe it would help her to be with people that were there with her, that protected her.”
“That’s a great idea. And if you’re willing, I know Jara would want to be a part of that. They could maybe come for a few days and spend time with her, help her to feel safe again.” I add.
“I would be appreciative of any a*s*sistance you or your mates could provide. In all honesty, I have no idea what to do to help her. We got her a counselor, but it’s a male, since we have so few females and no one in my pack has that type of education. And Layan just isn’t responding to him or to me as her Alpha.”
I look at Seth. I know our mates will not only want to do this, they’ll insist on it. “We can talk more about it tomorrow before we leave. I’m sure Jara will want to have a date for you to give Layan before we head home. And, if you have a phone number, she’ll call her.” I look at Seth. “I’m sure Hana will too.”
“Absolutely. Maybe just hearing their voices will help until they can go see her.” The relief on Davis’s face is palpable.
“Thank you, both. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”
“Thank you. This will make our mates very happy.” I say.
There’s a beat of silence as we all take a drink.
“So, what’s this petition you guys are putting forward tomorrow?” Quinton asks.