The Claiming by Cooper Book 2
The Council by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 61
Jara
When the howl goes up that we’re under attack, Mason and I jump out of bed. He’s out the door and shifted before I can follow him. I try to shift but I’m not able to.
S*hi*t, I know what this means. I’m pregnant! But I can’t focus on that right now. I need to get myself and my baby to safety.
After what happened with Typhon, Mason had a door that leads to a safe room installed on our floor. I rush to the end of the hall, hearing the sounds of crashing and snarling behind me.
“Mason is in the packhouse fighting, any wolves in the packhouse, get to your Alpha. Fight!” I shout through the mind link as I rip open the door. I hear the snarls of Elijah’s wolf and I know he’s jumped into the fight as well.
I move into the stairwell. It’s dark, but I don’t need light to see. I rush down a flight of stairs, before seeing a door open on the stairwell below.
“Go, Jace. Luna Jara will be there momentarily. Help protect our Luna.” I hear Joe say.
“I’m here.” I call, rushing faster down the stairs. “Where’s Stella?” I ask.
“She went to get Brynn and Melinda, she’ll bring them to the safe room. Go!” Joe says before closing the door. I reach over and turn the lock on the door from our side before taking Jace’s hand.
“Come on, Jace, let’s go.”
We continue down the stairs, the sounds of fighting getting louder as we
As we reach the bottom, there is a thunk and the wall beside us shakes as if a wolf was thrown against it. I hear a snarl before I turn in the other direction, following the hallway to the safe room.
Just as we get to the end, a door to the hallway opens and Luke, my guard, steps in.
“Oh, Luna, thank the goddess.” He’s holding Melinda and he pushes Brynn and Stella into the hallway before closing the door behind him.
“Let’s get you all inside the safe room.” He says, as another body smashes against the wall nearby.
“How many are there?” I ask him.
“It looks like they sent everyone.” Luke says.
I use my handprint to open the safe room door. As the others filter in, I turn to Luke. “All of them?”
“Yes, Luna. Our numbers are very close. We may have a larger pack, but many of ours our omegas and they have more fighters.”
“I’ll call Seth, see if he can send help.”
“Stay safe.” He says, turning to leave.
“You too.” I say before stepping into the safe room. The door shuts with a resounding boom and I turn the lock. No one can get in now unless I unlock the door from inside.
I rush to the phone on the wall, installed for just this purpose. I dial Seth’s number. He answers on the third ring.
“Alpha Seth.” His voice groggy with sleep.
“Seth, we’re under attack. Gunnar sent everyone, we’re under attack.” I hear him moving before I’ve even finished telling him.
“We’re on our way, Jara. Are you safe?”
“Yes, we’re in the safe room.”
“Stay there, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Get Taylor and get to a safe room. Mason and Jara’s pack is under attack. I’ll alert the others, but I need to know you’re safe.” I hear Seth tell Hana, just before I hear his howl alerting his pack.
“We’re on our way.” He says before he disconnects.
From inside the safe room, we can’t hear much. Occasionally, there is a thunk as a body is thrown against a wall, but it’s much more muffled than it was in the stairwell.
Brynn is holding Melinda tightly in her arms and Stella has Jace. I’m pacing, trying to relax. I keep gently reaching out to Mason, just to feel that he’s okay. His mind isn’t as open as it usually is as he focuses on the fight.
Periodically, I feel the snap of a tether as one of our pack members dies. Watching, I know that Brynn and Stella can feel it too. Their eyes go wide as we all worry about our mates.
The battle has been going on for a while, when Brynn gets a game off a shelf and begins playing with Melinda, encouraging Jace to come over and play as well. She’s right, they may be tired, but the energy and stress in this room is so palpable it feels like you could cut it with a knife.
I check my watch for the hundredth time and realize that it’s finally about the time that Seth and his pack members should be arriving.
I’m reaching out to touch Mason’s consciousness again, when I feel a wave of relief pass through him, and I know that Seth must have arrived.
I turn. “I think Seth and his pack have just…”
I stop, watching Stella who just grabbed her chest. She looks at me and her eyes go wide.
“No!” Brynn whispers just as I feel the tether to Joe snap.
Stella begins keening, a horrible, mournful sound that echos around the room. Jace dashes to her side.
“Momma! Momma!” He screams, but she’s lost in the death of her mate.
I rush to Jace, grabbing him and holding him against me as he flails. “No! Momma! Momma!” He screams.
I hear Melinda and Brynn crying in the background, but I’m whispering to Jace, turning him away as his mother falls to the floor.
“Joseph.” She whispers and I watch as she lets go, feeling the moment her tether to me breaks. She may not have chosen Joe as her mate so many years ago, but he has been a good mate to her, and they were happy. She would not be able to go on without him, her other half.
Jace kicks and fights until I put him down. He rushes to Stella, putting her head in his lap, crying. “Wake up, momma. Wake up. It’s okay, I’m here. Momma, please, wake up.” He cries and I feel tears running down my face.
He looks up at ne, his eyes pleading. “Why won’t she wake up, Luna? Why won’t she wake up?”
I move to sit beside him. I wrap my arms around him, not having any words that will soothe or comfort him. He turns to me and begins to weep as I rock him.
“Jara!” I hear Mason in the mind link.
“I’m here, Mason.”
“I’m coming for you.”
I pick Jace up, carrying him to the door, unlocking it, just as Mason pulls it. He’s covered in blood, fur and guts. He looks at Jace in my arms and then at Stella on the floor, dead behind me.
His eyes close and open, his head drops as he feels the loss of another pack member.