The Claiming by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 9
Jara
Contestants? They call us contestants as if we chose to be here. As if this is some beauty pageant that we applied to participate in.
I don’t bother to pay any attention to the ones that are pulled for my “social gathering”. I have no interest in getting to know any of these a*s*sholes.
They pack us back into our SUVs and we return to our temporary7 housing. Mignon, Layan and Annabel arrived before us, and they are already inside chittering about the events of today.
“Hey, do you know who that man was that stood up for you today?” Hana asks as we walk inside.
I throw myself on the couch in the living area. “You mean Seth? He’s my brother.”
“You have a brother in the claiming?” Mignon says, coming to sit beside me.
“He would be eligible for any of our claiming’s, wouldn’t he?” Annabel asks.
I look at them. “Yes, he is.” I say, looking at Hana, who comes to sit with us. “But I’m pretty sure he’s chosen to be in Hana’s claim.” I say, giving her a ‘sorry’ look.
She looks at me a moment. “Is he a good man?”
“He’s a great Alpha, a better brother and I’m guessing an even better mate. You heard him today. He doesn’t think of us as objects. And he loves my spirit.”
Hana thinks this over a minute. “Maybe you could introduce me after dinner tonight?”
I smirk at her. “That would make his night.”
“So, who got pulled for your social gathering tonight?” Mignon asks and the omegas begin chittering again about tonight’s event. First, there will be a social gathering. Then there will be a dinner where we will sit with a different group of males, forced to interact. And finally, there will be free time where we are expected to interact with all the claimants. There will be dancing and socializing, but all of us will have an a*s*signed guard as well as a full entourage of guards at the event.
I had already planned to weed out the competition in these forced socializing events and tonight starts my elimination. Since there will be dancing, only someone that knows the Argentinian Tango will be allowed to dance with me. It’s rare enough that werewolves learn how to dance, that I’m hoping I can deny all of them my time. And in an effort to push the wolves into a testosterone induced fight, I’m wearing a practically sheer black lace dress. The dress is off the shoulder but has sleeves that go to my wrists with a piece that hooks over my middle finger, holding it in place. The dress falls just below my knees but has a slit on the right side that is high enough that I will have no problem with the tango kicks and will also give the males the possibility of catching a glimpse of the forbidden fruit.
I pull my hair into a bun, with pieces falling around my face. I add bright red lipstick and dark makeup to my eyes. I finish the look with fat dangly earrings and black high heels with a strap across my ankle to make dancing easier.
When I step out of my room to head to the waiting cars, I see that Hana has a similar idea. I can’t help but smile as I see her. Her dress is a daring red, also off the shoulder with long sleeves. It’s about the same length as mine with a slit high enough to have the males slobbering over themselves. She’s finished her look with red heels similar in design to mine and a red chocker that will definitely cause chaos among the unmated wolves.
Her smile is as feral as mine when she sees me. “If we don’t cause mayhem tonight, then we’ve definitely done something wrong.” She says, linking her arm in mine as we walk down to meet up with the omegas.
Their dresses are considerably different than ours. They aren’t planning to incite a not and I have a moment of guilt before I push it away. These omegas are excited about finding their mates. I wish I could share their joy and excitement, but I’ve seen the darker side of this process.
Mignon is wearing a black, floor length, off the shoulder dress with sequins on the bodice and hips ending in black chiffon that drapes to the floor. Annabel is wearing a pink, sequined, spaghetti strap dress that is floor length but has a slit up to her thigh. Layan, on the other hand, has a pure white dress with spaghetti straps that falls in layers to the floor. It’s perfect for her, capturing her image of sweetness and innocence.
We get into the cars and head to the first event of the evening. I turn to Luke, the guard specifically a*s*signed to me tonight. “Can I get a drink at this event?”
His lips twitch. ‘No, Alpha. There is no alcohol allowed until dinner.”
“Well, that’s depressing.” Hana says.
I turn and look at her, giving her an evil grin. “I guess we’ll just have to outwardly ignore them all.”
“Are you really going to ignore them?” Sweet Layan asks me.
I shrug, feeling bad. “I don’t know, maybe.’’
“And you?” She asks Hana.
I can see that Hana feels guilty about spoiling their fun as well. “We’ll see who’s in my group.” She says.
When we arrive, we are taken to the rooms with our “social males”.
“Are you ready, Alpha?” Luke asks me. “You’ll be with me all night, Luke?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Well, don’t be surprised if I spend more time talking to you than to anyone else.” His lips twitch again as he opens the door to the room. Immediately, 20 pairs of eyes turn to look at me.
I walk into the room, my head held high. I intend to look at all of them with disdain and then proceed to ignore them, but the Beta from this morning catches mv eye.
I walk over to him. “What is your name, Beta?”
He holds out his hand. “I’m Beta Elijah. Alpha Jara.”
I put my hand in his and he pulls it to his lips, kissing it. His eyes never leave mine.
“Beta Elijah?” I remember Seth mentioning him and his Alpha. “Are you Beta to Alpha Mason?”
He stands, looking at me more intently. “I am.”
So, what Seth said was accurate. This Beta helped Layan earlier because he is kind…or seems kind.
“You’re the one that helped Layan earlier today. You started the purring that calmed her and helped her finish her interview.”
“Layan seems like a sweet, innocent omega. She was obviously scared, and I just wanted to help her feel safe. I’m sure you felt the pull as much or more strongly than I did. Alpha.”
Yep, I like this Beta.
“Would you like to sit and talk with me, Beta Elijah?” His smile is radiant. “I would love that?
We move to a corner of the room, and he tells me all about his pack and his Alpha. The hour flies by and before I know it, it’s time for us to go to dinner.
“Would you mind escorting me to dinner. Beta Elijah?”
“It would be my honor, Alpha Jara.”
I have to admit, this Beta is easy to talk to. It’s obvious that he is kind, caring and wants to ensure the safety of his pack by finding a mate. While he wants a mate for himself, he also sees it as an important step to maintaining the strength and security of his pack by ensuring that there won’t be a significant change in the ranked leadership. It’s admirable and his respect for his Alpha is obvious.
As we are walking to our table, we bump into Hana and surprisingly, she is also on the arm of a male.
“Alpha.” Elijah says and bows his head in submission. I turn to look at Elijah’s Alpha, as this is the only reason Elijah would submit to another Alpha. I instantly realize that this is the Alpha that caught my attention earlier today. His grey eyes pierce mine with his intense gaze.
“Alpha Mason, may I introduce you to Alpha Jara.” Elijah says.