The Claiming by Cooper Book 2
The Council by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 50
Mason
“I think we’re almost there, Davis. Another week and you can start moving people back into your packhouse.” I say, looking around at the kitchen that we finished installing today. It looks great.
I’m drinking some water when my phone rings. I look at the caller ID.
“Elijah, what’s up? Everything okay?”
There’s silence on the other end of the line and my heart clenches.
“Elijah.”
“Typhon attacked. Jara was outside with Layan, Melinda and Jace. The guards were nearby but had given Jara space to talk with Layan. He attacked and we took him down, but in the process, he killed Lewis, and….” I feel like the world is coming down around me. I don’t even realize I’ve dropped to my knees until I hear Davis tell everyone to stop working.
“Jara?” I whisper.
“She’s in the hospital, Alpha. I tried to get her here faster. I didn’t realize at first. Lewis died in her arms. I didn’t smell the blood on her. When I did, I raced her here…” I can hear my Beta holding his sobs as he tells me. I want to be angry with him. I want to yell at him for not protecting my mate. But I know he would have given his life for her and obviously, Lewis did.
“You need to get home, Alpha. You need to get home now.”
“Is she alive?” I’m afraid to know the answer.
“Luna is alive, yes.”
I realize what he’s not telling me. “My pup?” I ask, feeling as though I’ve gone numb.
Elijah breaks down. “I’m so sorry, Alpha.”
“I’m on my way.” I say, hanging up and standing.
“I’ll drive you.” Davis says, and I just nod.
I don’t remember anything about the drive. I just remember getting to my pack hospital and seeing every member of my pack in the waiting room. Everyone is crying. Several of them are still bloody and injured from the battle.
“Where is she?” I ask the room.
“This way, Alpha.” Someone says and I follow them to a room where Jara is hooked up to all sorts of equipment. I stop in the door and a sob catch in my throat. Her stomach is flatter than it was this morning. Our baby, our little girl is gone.
“Will my mate be okay?” I ask, stepping into the room.
“Yes, Alpha. She’ll need to stay in bed for a couple of days, but she will recover. You will need to wait before trying to have another pup, but it doesn’t appear that any of her organs were damaged. She was just caught underneath Warrior Lewis as he was trying to protect her.”
I look at the doctor. I hadn’t gotten that much information from Elijah.
“How long will she be unconscious?” I ask.
“We’ve had to sedate her to try to deliver the fetus. We tried everything we could, Alpha. But she was too small to save. Luna will be out for the rest of the evening and most likely through the night.” I nod, before walking to her bed.
I lean down and kiss her forehead, feeling the burn of tears that I refuse to let fall. I lean down to her ear. “You heal, love. I’ll be back soon.”
I stand up, looking at the doctor. “I’ll get someone to stay with her.” I say before striding to the door.
“Alpha?”
I turn and look at the doctor. I’m not sure what he sees on my face, but he stops whatever he had planned to say. “Okay.”
I step outside and look around. I’m looking for Layan or Stella, but Hana and Seth rush in right at that moment, along with her parents I look at them. “Will you stay with her?”
“Of course. But where are you going?” Nina asks me.
I look at Seth. “I warned them. I warned them what I would do if they stood by and did nothing to find Typhon and something happened to her.”
Seth nods his head at me. “I’m coming with you.”
Hana squeezes his hand before moving to Jara’s room quickly followed by Nina. Seth turns and falls into step beside me Phillip’s hand falls on my shoulder. “Son, where are you going?” He asks me.
“We’re going Elder hunting, dad,” Seth tells him.
Phillip looks at the two of us for a moment, before removing his hand from my shoulder. “Be careful.”
“I’m not the one you need to be worried about “I say before we walk out of the room.
“Where to first?” Seth asks
“We’ll start with Shawn, move to Conrad and finish with Gunnar since he has two. We need to hit them all tonight, so they don’t know we’re coming “I say.
“Fine by me. Like I said, I’m with you.”
It takes over an hour to get to Alpha Shawn’s pack lands by wolf. When we do, we realize how minimal their security is, since they have less than 50 pack members now. Seth and I are able to easily sneak into the pack lands and then the packhouse without being detected. We shift before entering the packhouse, find the supplies we need, then find Elder Carson’s scent.
When we get to his room, he’s sleeping comfortably in his bed. We quickly cover his mouth with duct tape and drag him outside. We have to be fast, but I want to make sure that everyone knows what happens when you f*uc*k with me and mine.
We string him up, facing the packhouse. Once he is hanging from his arms, his legs spread, the ropes attached to stakes in the ground so he can’t move, I look up at him.
“I warned you that I would come for you if Typhon hurt my mate. He not only hurt her, he killed my pup. Now, it’s your turn to pay for your sins.” I say. Carson’s eyes go wide, and he shakes his head emphatically as he watches me pull out the knife. I slice him from sternum to balls. He screams behind his tape, but it’s not enough to bring the limited patrols running. I then slice him across the stomach horizontally, letting his organs and guts fall out and hang from his body. He won’t die too quickly, his wolf healing will kick in, but there will be no saving him from this injury. When I’m done, I stick my hand into his stomach, getting it good and bloody before walking to the nearby wall and leaving my message.
‘You were warned.’
We do the same at Alpha Conrad’s pack, leaving Elder Stanley in the same position and condition. Then we move to Gunnar’s pack. His pack is a little harder to get into, but we manage. This time, Seth and I have to work separately to get both Elder Rudy and Elder Colton strung up and killed, leaving our message before we head back to my pack.
It’s early in the morning when we finally get back to my pack lands. I make sure that Seth has a room where he can go shower before I head to my room.
I stop when I enter, smelling the rich scent of sweet cream and nutmeg, so strong because of our daughter’s scent mixed with Jara’s. Our daughter, who was safe in my arms this morning, on my bed. Our daughter, who will never live to feel the sun on her face, never feel the warmth of my arms holding her, never feel the love her parents have for her.
I fall to the floor, sobbing. Crying for myself, crying for my mate and crying for the little girl that I will never feel pressing against my hand again.