The Claiming by Cooper

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 73 (Evangeline)

I know Jaxon is trying to keep me calm and I'm trying to do the same. Funny, it's his kiss and telling me he loves me no matter what happens that settles me.

We're in this together, no matter where we end up.

"Without further ado, the first winner and top ranked Alpha is... Alpha Tobias."

I smile. Jaxon has said that Tobias was his biggest competition this entire contest, and he was right. We clap as Flavia jumps up and hugs her mate before he walks up to the stage. His family are all on their feet, clapping for him. I turn and see that Flavia's family is as well.

Tobias goes up on stage and shakes Councilman Jason's hand before being given a thick piece of paper with a 'T' in the center, marking him as the first winner. Once he has taken his spot at the front of the room, Councilman Jason turns back to us.

"The second ranked Alpha in our contest is.... Alpha Jaxon."

I feel Jaxon jerk beside me, and I feel tears pooling in my eyes. I stand, hugging him and congratulating him as the room erupts in cheers. He kisses me passionately enough to have me swaying when he releases me, but I continue standing and clapping for my mate as he head to the front of the room. I hear his family whooping and hollering for him, as is mine. Makayla runs over and hugs me tightly as my tears begin to fall.

Jaxon goes up and shakes the councilman's hand before getting his number, '2', and going to stand beside Tobias. They shake hands and turn back to the crowd. Jaxon looks at me and winks.

"Our third winner is Alpha Stefan," Councilman Jason says, and the cheering begins again. This time it's Brooke, Jaxon's cousin, and Taylor and Caleb's sister, that jumps up to congratulate her mate. Once he's in place, Councilman Jason steps back up.

"Our fourth winner is...Alpha Taylor."

There's a moment of silence before the room erupts into applause. Taylor's family is practically jumping for joy for their daughter and sister, Jordan's family, too, is on their feet for their cousin. Taylor looks properly stunned as she goes up front and takes her number '4'. Now there are two female Alphas. Cousins.

I look at Jaxon and he smiles at me. There's still a chance for me.

Everyone has just settled down when the next announcement comes. "Our fifth winner is... Alpha Caleb."

Caleb's family erupts all over again having two of their children/siblings chosen as Alphas one after the other. Maggie jumps up, hugging him. I watch as he hugs her, kissing her while he high fives his brother Griffin who has already taken over from their father. That's three Alphas who have their own packs from one family.

It takes a bit longer for the room to settle down after that, but finally it quiets down enough for the next announcement. "Our sixth winner is.... Alpha Reid."

I watch as Ainsley, his mate jumps up to hug him and I see Lazio also standing to clap for his newly found mate's brother. As Reid makes his way to the front of the room, I look at Jaxon. There are only four slots left.

Jaxon's gaze holds mine and I realize, I'm okay if I don't win my own pack. Jaxon and I will have our pack. Ours. Not his, not mine. What do we need a second pack for? What would we even do with one? I can't be an Alpha to a pack that isn't next to his and at this point, it's unlikely that I'd get lucky enough to have the one pack that borders the one we want.

I can see the worry in his eyes. Worry for me. Worry that I'll be disappointed if I don't get my own pack. But I already have my own pack, with him.

I smile at him, letting him know I'm okay. 'I love you', I mouth to him.

I can see his love for me, burning in his gaze as he mouths the words back to me.

I refocus on the announcement just in time to catch the next one. "...Alpha Cillian."

I clap, looking around to see who is still waiting. Lazio hasn't been called. And neither has Enzo. I begin mentally rooting for both of them to be called in the final three slots.

Almost as if I wished it into being, the next announcement is made.

"Our eighth winner is Alpha Lazio."

I jump up, as does my family and now, Phoebe's family does as well. I'm not sure if she's had a chance to tell them that they are mates, or if they are following her lead, but they cheer for my and for that, I'm grateful.

"Our ninth winner is.... Alpha Collin."

brother anyway

I see Ainsley jump up to clap for her brother and surprisingly, Raelyn is up on her feet too. On his way to the front, Collin changes direction and comes over, kissing Raelyn in front of the entire room. When he lets her go, she's blushing profusely.

"Raelyn, is there something you want to tell me?" I hear Alpha Mason ask his daughter. Raelyn is obviously older than Collin, but he seems pretty confident that they are mates to have claimed her so publicly. "Before we announce our final winner, I want to say that this competition was intense from the very beginning. You are all winners, but for those of you that would like to compete to become a ranked member in one of our newly formed packs, The Beta Trials will be announced in the next month or so. We want to give our new Alphas time to adjust to their new living environment before we begin another round of competitions. I would suggest that everyone who is interested pick up a flyer on your way out tonight or tomorrow before you leave. And if there are certain Alphas in particular that you'd like to become a Beta for, I'd suggest you make arrangements to meet with them in their new pack lands before the Beta Trials begin. And now, our final winner is.... Alpha Enzo."

Enzo's family as well as Jordan's are on their feet clapping again. Enzo pulls Rowan into a passionate kiss before jogging up to the stage to get his number '10'.

Once everyone has calmed down, Councilman Jason steps up to the microphone again. The group often is about to step down.

"Please remain up here, Alphas," he says, speaking to the ten winners. "You still need to choose your pack lands."

The other council members roll out a board that has what looks like a velvet map of the pack lands on it.

"As you can see, this is a map of all 20 pack lands. It identifies the boundaries and perimeters of those pack lands. The ones that have a face on them, are ones that are currently established. The ones with an X are open for you to choose as your pack lands. As I mentioned before, we will go in order of your ranking. Alpha Enzo, I'm afraid you will have the final remaining pack land as yours."

"Make sure you save me the one my mate wants, or she'll have my balls," he says, making the room laugh.

"I love you, Enzo. No matter where we live," Rowan calls out to him.

"I love you, too, Row."

"Thank goodness we got that out of the way. I'd hate to be responsible for an Alpha getting neutered before he had his pups," Tobias says, walking forward confidently and slapping his number on the pack lands adjacent to the ones we want. I look at Jaxon. If I had won, our packs wouldn't have been adjoining. It just makes me more confident that it was supposed to be this way.

"Alpha Tobias, you have chosen the pack lands east of the mountain."

"Correct."

I watch as one of the council members begins making notes on their computer, documenting Tobias's claim. "Alpha Jaxon, you're up," Councilman Jason says to him.

Jaxon crooks his f*inger at me, asking me to join him. I walk up to him, and he takes my hand, kissing it. "We're still in agreement?"

I smile. "Yes."

He hands me the number. "Then let's get our pack, love."

We walk to the board together and I put the number over the space where his aunt's pack used to be. I hear Luna Jara gasp behind us. Apparently, Jaxon hadn't told her of our plan. "Alpha Jaxon, you choose the pack lands to the south of the mountain. Is that correct?"

"Yes," we say together.

Jaxon kisses me and then I go back to my seat while he goes back to the front of the room.

The rest of them put their numbers where they want them. Stefan took the pack up north away from all but his family's pack, which makes sense.

None of us wanted that pack and I see Enzo sigh when he realizes that it won't be the one he's stuck with.

Taylor picked the one she said she would, in between Griffin and Jordan's packs while Caleb took the one that we're currently in, the old Claiming territory. Maggie began jumping up and down clapping. "My mate appreciates the finer things in life and running water and electricity are high up on the list," Caleb says, making everyone laugh.

When it's Lazio's turn, he runs up to Phoebe and the two whisper together for a moment before he chooses a pack that is in between my pack and Phoebe's parent's pack, now run by her brother Maximus. I'm glad Lazio will be fairly close.

After the others chose their pack lands, Enzo ends up with the one on the opposite side of Griffin's pack, keeping Rowan close to her family.

After it's all done, there is another round of cheering and then music is turned on and everyone begins walking around congratulating each other and talking about our plans to build our new packs.

I am talking to Flavia about ways that we can support each other since our packs will border each other when my father comes up to me.

"Evangeline, might I have a word?"

I excuse myself from Flavia and my father leads me into a private hallway. "Sweetheart, I wanted to make sure that you're okay. I know how important it was for you to get a pack of your own." "But dad, I did get my own pack, one with Jaxon."

"But that's not the same as being an Alpha, sweetheart. I know you had your heart set on that."

"Maybe at one time I did, dad, but not now. Besides, Jaxon and I have agreed to be co-Alphas. You saw how he was when it was his turn to claim the pack lands. He always involves me in decisions. We make them together. We' re a team. I wouldn't want to have a pack where I was technically an Alpha if it took me away from him. That's not a team. Truly dad, it all happened for the best. I'm exactly where I should be with the man I was meant to be with."

He smiles at me. "You've grown up so much. I'm so proud of you, Evangeline." He pulls an envelope from his pocket. "I wanted to give you this. It's from your mother and me."

"What is it?"

"Open it," he says, just as Jaxon comes into the hallway to find me.

"Jaxon, this is for you as well," my father says and Jaxon comes over, putting his arms around me and looking over my shoulder.

"What is it?" he asks.

"I don't know yet," I say opening the envelope and finding a check.

"Dad!" I say.

"Alpha Luke, this is too much."

"Nonsense. You'll need more than that to get your pack going, consider this a start-up fund. We've given one to each of you to help you get started on your new lives together."

I know I have tears in my eyes again when I pull away from Jaxon and hug my father.

"Thank you, Daddy," I say, not having called him that since I was a little girl. "You're welcome, sweetheart."

"Thank you, sir, truly," Jaxon says. My dad nods and I pull back, wiping my eyes.

"Feel free to invite me over sometime. I'm still young and strong, I can help build things," my dad says.

"I'll take you up on that, Alpha," Jaxon says, wrapping an arm around me. "Good, then I'll see you soon," he says before walking off.

I watch him go, turning to look at Jaxon, who reaches up to wipe my tears.

"Can you believe that?" I ask him.

He gives me a look. "Do you know what I can't believe? We got a check from my parents too," he says, showing me the check from his parents.

"Oh, my goddess, Jaxon!"

"I know, between the two, it's enough to build our packhouse."