The Claiming by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 55
Mason
The next few days go by in a blur. I only get an hour during the day with Jara, and she spends that time with nineteen other individuals. As she said she would, she begins eating all her meals at the main house. During those meals, she sits with different groups of men, getting to know them. It’s obvious which ones she doesn’t like. She refuses to spend even a moment with them. Even in her social gatherings, she won’t give them her time.
The sounds from the claiming territory are almost constant. So much so, that it’s impossible to know what’s going on inside. There are times when I think someone has been killed, others when I think Hana has been captured, but no one exits the claiming territory.
Nighttime is my favorite time. It’ s my individual time with Jara. I’ve started napping during the
day when she’s spending time with others so, at night, I can spend as many hours as possible with her, even if she’s sleeping. Her scent calms me and while I hold her, I’ve started planning my hunt.
I know the claiming territory well. I’ve been in it for the past six years. I know there are places where the she-wolves can hide, places where their smaller bodies can go that our larger bodies won’t fit. I know there is a lake with a waterfall and at the top of the waterfall is a cave. Jara won’t be foolish enough to get caught in a place like a cave where she can’t escape, but I’d bet money her scent will be there.
The territory is large, but there are so many of us that it will feel cramped. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone stumbled across her on accident. She won’t know the territory like most of us do and she’s being hunted by multiple Alphas.
I look down at her, sleeping on my chest again. My wolf has started purring when she lays on me and it puts her right to sleep.
After the first night, we just started laying in her bed. This way, when I need to leave, I can just untangle myself from her and leave her sleeping. It’s good that Elijah is gone, I need the private time when I get back to my room to deal with my nearly constant hard on. The time of her claiming is getting so close I can taste it. So close to the day when she will be mine and I will be able to stay in bed with her, explore every inch of her body, show her how good I can make her feel as I bury myself inside her.
My thoughts are doing nothing for my aching d*ic*k. So, I shift my thoughts back to other important issues. How do I stay alive? How do I ensure that not only do I walk out of the claiming territory, but that my mark is on Jara’s neck.
There’s no way I can do it without killing. None. Jara is right. There are too many men who have put a target on my back. It started with her favoritism toward me, then my open display of kissing her to p*iss off Typhon, the couple of times she’s held my hand, or leaned into me, and now, everyone knows I’m here with her every night. There are some that accept that she wants me, but there are those that see me as their biggest competition.
I know many will be working together, so I’ll have to take on more than one at a time. Elijah will have my back, always, but I don’t want him getting injured or killed trying to protect me. Typhon and his pack will be the worst, but there are definitely others. More want me dead than don’t. Even my pack members have started to express concern about the number of people who are targeting me.
So, I strategize as I lay here with Jara in my arms. This, this right here is what gives me the incentive I need to make sure I win. I will kill whoever gets in my way, whoever tries to kill me so I can make this woman mine. If it’s kill or be killed, I will kill. The thought of any other man trying to take what’s mine, nearly has me growling out loud.
I know Jara doesn’t understand the claiming haze, but I do. I’ve been in it. Wanting to be the one who claims their mate, needing to be the one that shows the others how powerful and strong you are, that you deserve to walk out of that territory with your woman in your arms. It’s primitive, it’s animalistic, and it’s savage, but it’s who we are at our most basic selves.
This year is different for me though. This year, I don’t just want to show everyone how strong I am. I’ve fallen in love with Jara. I can’t let anyone else have my woman, my mate.
I take another moment to bask in the scent of this woman who will be mine in just under two weeks, kissing her head, nuzzling my nose in her hair, scenting her as I’ve done every night this week. It’s another reason there’s a larger group of men wanting me dead. I don’t know if she realizes I’ve been doing it, but I’ve made sure 1 leave my scent on her every night.
I carefully disengage from her, laying her head on the pillow I’ve been laying on so she’ll still have my scent in her nose. I grab my shoes from beside her bed and walk into the hallway, closing her door quietly behind me.
“Alpha.” Her guards nod their head at me. They’ve become accustomed to me being here and know that I won’t do anything stupid this close to Jara’s claiming, so they leave us alone.
As I walk outside, I hear the sounds of howling and snarling from inside the claiming territory. I stop, listening. I hear the yelp and howl of pain before it cuts off.
A moment later, I feel the tether of my connection to one of my omegas snap. One of my pack members was just killed inside the claiming territory.