The Claiming by Cooper Book 3
Layan’s Return by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 44 (Epilogue 2)
Jara
Thirteen years later
“Jaxon, your father and I want you to attend the Alpha meeting today.” I tell my son. He’s fourteen now and all those problems that I said could wait for another day? Well, that day has arrived.
“Why would I bother, mother? It’s not like I’m going to ever have a pack to run.” He says angrily, stomping out of the room.
Mason kept his promise and we stuck with the decision that Jordan would take over the pack. We, however, had been the only ones to decide to have our daughter lead the pack. In the end, all of the other packs had sons and they decided that their sons would take over as heirs. So, Jaxon is the only one who won’t. To say he’s bitter would be an understatement.
I move to follow him. “Let him go, mother.” Jordan says. Even though there is animosity between Jaxon and me, he and Jordan remain very close, thankfully.
“He’s right, you know. It’s not just hard for him. I know why you did it and I appreciate the reasons behind your decision, but it’s hard for me too. I never know if the guys who want to date me want to because they truly like me or if they are just hoping to be my mate one day so they can have a pack of their own.” She says.
I sigh. I understand that it’s hard and it’ s not just hard for my children. We’ve had a baby boom over the last decade. Alpha Quinton claimed Sophia, Katerina’s sister in her claim several years after Katerina’s. Jared, Jonas’s brother had claimed a warrior the year after Elijah claimed Layan. And other ranked members and warriors had claimed their mates. That is until seven years ago when we did away with the annual claiming.
Once we allowed females to choose their claimants, we realized that they were drawn to certain males, similar to how I was drawn to Mason. We began to believe in the fated mate bond again. So, we started having social gatherings amongst the packs. Now, mates can choose each other once they turn 18. And so far, it’s working.
But now, our packs are overflowing with pack members and, as with Jaxon, there are many ranked members that have nowhere to go and no role to play in their packs. It’s becoming more and more of a problem as they get older and their limited options become more obvious.
Rather than annual Alpha and Luna meetings, we now meet quarterly, and we rotate which packs host the meetings. This month, Mason and I are hosting the meeting.
I walk into the kitchen, seeing Layan and her daughter Ella. When Layan first got pregnant, everyone was excited. We were all so happy for her. Elijah was over the moon but insisted that they would only have one. Layan is very private about her intimacy with Elijah, but I knew she had struggled taking his knot. So, after the birth of their son, no one expected Layan to have another child, except Layan apparently.
A year after Carter’s birth, Elijah and Layan had the worst fight they’ve ever had, before or since. Layan finally confided in me that she sneakily seated herself onto Elijah at just the right moment and had managed to take Elijah’s knot again. He had been angry that she had allowed herself to be hurt as she had torn and bled, and she promised him that she would never do it again. Thankfully, five months later, Ella was born.
“Good morning, ladies.” I say to them. Both of Layan and Elijah’s children are the mix they hoped for, Layan’s blond hair and Elijah’s curls. On Ella, they are big fat curls hanging down her back. On Carter, they are the messy curls Elijah has if he lets his hair grow too long.
“Are we all set for breakfast? Everyone should start arriving soon.” I say.
“We’re all set, Luna.” Ella says to me.
I walk into the conference room, seeing Mason and Elijah setting up. They look up and Mason winks at me before narrowing his eyes at me.
‘What’s wrong?’ He asks through the mind link.
‘Jaxon. He doesn’t want to attend today.’
Mason sighs. He and the other Alphas have been talking about ways to take the pressure off the ever-increasing pack sizes and finding alternate options for ranked members who will have no place in the packs. It’s one of the agenda items for this month’s meeting. Mason wanted Jaxon to be here to participate.
‘I’ll talk to him.’ He says.
I nod, turning as I hear the sounds of people at the entrance of the packhouse.
“Oh, Alpha Jonas, welcome. Come in, breakfast will be served soon. Would you like some coffee while you wait?”
“That would be great, thank you, Luna.” He says.
Alpha Jonas is the only Alpha to never get his mate. While his brother has been happily mated for years, Jonas never claimed a mate during the claiming process. And then, once we reinstated mates choosing each other, no one has shown much of an interest in him, even though he’s an Alpha. I had heard that after Katerina’s claiming, he had stopped having relations with Isabella or any other female. However, it didn’t change that Sophia also declined having him in her claim and for whatever reason, he never found a mate.
Mason says that he’s mated to his pack now. And thankfully, Jared is an Alpha male and has a son that can take over the pack when Jonas retires. Only, he refuses to retire. He has no one to share his life with, so he continues to spend all his time with his ‘mate’, his pack.
As everyone arrives, Layan, Ella and I bring breakfast into the room. Everyone grabs a plate, and we all sit to start the meeting. Since we are hosting the meeting, Mason is in charge of running it. I sit beside Jordan as Mason stands.
He welcomes everyone, then gets down to business. “I’d like to start off today by talking about the issue that we know is going to become a real problem in the next few years. We have too many ranked members now that have no position in our packs. Not only that, our packs can’t continue to handle the massive growth that has occurred over the past decade. Even though our numbers of adult females are still low, we’ve managed to increase our numbers significantly.”
Most of us have 4-5 children each in our families. Mason had insisted that we stop after five. He told me that I was not a baby making machine and that he wanted to have some time in our lives when I wasn’t pregnant. So, after the first three years, we stopped, even though Jaxon was our only son. Mason didn’t care, all of our children are happy and healthy and that was all that mattered to him.
“Many of our children will reach maturity in the next 3-4 years and have no role to play in the pack unless we begin making Alphas into Betas, Betas into Gammas and moving Gammas into warrior status. Quinton, you and Sophia have three boys. If all of them were to remain ranked members, you’ d have to push your Beta and Gamma’s children to warrior status. None of us have openings for ranked members and too many heirs to fill the positions.”
“What do you suggest?” Jonas asks him. Of all the packs, only his has some openings since he doesn’t have any heirs. Jared’s sons can take over as Alpha and Beta.
Mason looks around the room. “We have ten pack lands that have no packs on them. They are overgrown and need work, but they are there, just sitting idle.”
“We have more than ten heirs that would need positions.” Asher says, leaning forward. He’s another one that has two boys. One will be Alpha, but the other would either have to push his Beta’s heir aside or have no rank.
“Yes, and so, what I’m proposing is that we set up a contest.”
Jordan sucks in a breath. She turns to me, and I nod at her. She’s already figured out what this means. Jaxon would have too, if he’d have shown up.
“What kind of contest?” Antonio asks, sitting forward.
“A contest for each of the pack lands. We can decide our Alphas first and from there, they can choose their Betas and Gammas.”
“Do you intend to allow both males and females to compete?” Hana asks. I have to smile. I told Mason that question would come up.
He looks at me. “I think that anyone who wants to compete, should be eligible.”
“You’re saying warriors and omegas, too?” Alpha Saul asks.
“Yes. Anyone, any age. Of course, that is up for debate and we have a couple of years to figure out the logistics and decide what criteria will prove that one person is eligible to have a pack over another.”
We take a vote, and, in the end, it’s decided. We will have a contest to determine who the next ten Alphas will be.
Jonas POV
I’m walking out of the Alpha meeting on the last day of our quarterly conference. As much as I appreciate the work that we do, I can’t be around all the other Alphas and their mates and children.
I’ve long since gotten used to the fact that I’m meant to be alone. Maybe the Moon Goddess is punishing me for having had a relationship with someone who wasn’t my mate, or maybe my mate died in during childbirth as many children did years ago. Either way, I’m alone. And while I can handle that most days, I can’t when it’s right in front of my face.
I’m nearly to my car when I hear a sweet voice behind me. “Alpha Jonas?”
I turn. She’s a pretty little thing, always has been, even when she was a young child.
“Hello, Melinda. What can I do for you?”
“Alpha Jonas, I wanted to tell you something.”
There’s just something about Melinda. Everyone says so. She has the ability to get anyone to do anything with a simple smile, myself included. I know Mason’s pack members fall over themselves to make her happy, they always have. And don’t get me started on Jace. The man has walls so tall and wide he’ll be lucky if anyone can crack that exterior. Except Melinda. No one keeps Melinda out if she wants in, it’s utterly impossible.
I close the door to my car, giving her my undivided attention. “What’s that, Melinda?”
She steps closer to me and something inside me lights up. Something that I tamp down instantly. Melinda is too young for me. “I want you to know that I intend to claim you when I turn 18 next year.”
My heart skips a beat, but I quickly pull myself together. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been watching you for years, Alpha Jonas. I think the reason you never found your mate is because I’m your mate.”
I take a breath, trying to keep my voice even. “Melinda, you’re a beautiful young lady, you’re intelligent and from everything I’ve heard, you’re a very intuitive woman. You deserve a man who can appreciate those things about you, someone closer to your age. I’m old enough to be your father.” I say gently. It’s true, I’m 18 years older than she is.
She steps up to me, invading my space. “Are you saying that you don’t appreciate those things you just listed off, Alpha? You wouldn’t appreciate my intelligence, my beauty, my intuition?”
“Of course, I would, I’m just saying…”
She cuts me off. “I know what you’re saying, Alpha Jonas. And if you know that I’m intuitive, then you know that when I believe in something, I won’t stop until I have it. And I’ve set my sights on you Alpha. You will be mine.”
She turns and walks back into the packhouse. I can only stand there and watch.
Just before she closes the door, she looks back at me giving me a smile. It’s the kind of smile that melts your heart and fills it with hope. But I gave up on hope years ago. I can’t afford to hope that she’ll choose me when she turns 18.
But that doesn’t change the new spring in my step or the lightness in my heart as I get into my car and drive away.
The end.
Coming soon: The Contest – a next-generation book on the children of the Alphas and Lunas of The Claiming.