The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 14 (Jordan)

I wish I could say I slept last night. I needed to sleep last night. I have a packhouse full of Alphas, Lunas, Betas, and Council members for the next few days and I need to be on top of my game, playing host, being a good Alpha, and still somehow running a pack. Not to mention, I may or may not be on the list of some rogue Alpha who wants to force a mate bond with me so he can take over my pack.

But, instead, all my mind did was replay that scene of Jace walking into the packhouse, holding Kaiden, his nose in his head of hair, breathing deeply and a look of happiness on his face. It is on endless repeat in my mind. Jace walking in, Jace's desire to have a pup clearly written on his face, Jace's look when he saw me, his eyes darkening with desire and then his touch, a touch that sent electricity through my body. It was as if I was dead before and now, I'm so alive that I can't even sleep.

When I crawl out of bed, dragging myself to the shower, I start to mentally prepare myself for the day.

When I step into the shower, I mind link Dalia, making sure that the breakfast food will be ready starting at 6 am for the visitors.

'Yes, Alpha. Gamma Jace has already been down here making sure we had everything we need to make enough breakfast for everyone.'

'Has he? And is there anything that you need?'

"No, Alpha. Gamma Jace made sure we had enough food already. He also double checked on our plans for lunch and dinner, and he approved our menus. Would you also like to see them?' 'No, thank you, Dalia. If Jace approved them, then I'm sure it's fine,' I say.

I close that mind link and open one to Jace.

'Thank you for checking on the food situation. What else needs to be done?'

'You're welcome and we didn't talk about assigned seating. If you're on your way downstairs, we can go over the room and where we want to put people,' he says.

'I'm still in the shower. I'll be down in a few minutes.'

It's quiet a moment and if I didn't know better, I'd think he closed the mind link. I stop, soapy water dripping down my face from washing my hair.

'Jace?'

'Jordan, I really didn't need that mental image when I'm trying to prepare myself for a day filled with Alphas and council members.'

Even in the mind link, I can hear the strain of his voice.

I smile as I put my head back into the water, beginning to rinse it out.

'Sorry, I wasn't thinking,' I say.

"Yeah, well, now that's ALL I can think about. F*uc*k Jordan, give a guy a break,' he says, making me laugh out loud. It's a heady thing to know that a strong man gets weak thinking about me naked. It's not something I've ever paid attention to, mostly since the men in my life wanted my position and power, not me.

'Sorry,' I say, trying to keep the mirth out of the mind link.

Jace grunts. 'Just....get down here when you can. I'll get some breakfast wraps so we can work and eat at the same time.'

'You're the best, Jace.' He's quiet for a moment and I'm about to close the mind link.

'I'm trying, Jordan. Trying to be the best I can for you.'

'I'll see you in a few minutes,' I say, closing the mind link.

I quickly blow dry my hair and add some makeup before putting on a three-piece suit and heels.

I head downstairs and when I get there, I see Elijah and Jace working together on the seating arrangements.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," I say.

Elijah looks up. "Not late, just in time, and all Alpha had up I see," he says smiling at me.

Jace however, does a slow once over, from my head to my toes and back. I blush, because I can tell he's thinking about me naked in the shower.

He grits his teeth and turns back to what he was doing, shifting his pants in a way that I wasn't supposed to see, but I did.

"Do you want to take a look at this?" Elijah says, showing me the groups, they've put together.

"You're mixing the Alphas up? Not keeping them in their families?" I look up at the two of them. "Why?"

"If we're going to war, we need to become unified, allies. This way, we can mingle together, talk to each other, get to know each other," Jace says, coming over and handing me a breakfast wrap. Based on the smell, it's bacon, egg and sausage. I take a bite, looking over their names and nodding. "This is good. What about the council members?" I ask.

"Same, mixing them up and making sure they are mixed in with other packs," Jace says.

I look at my Beta and Gamma. "Well, you two have rendered my useless," I say jokingly.

"No."

"Not at all."

They both say together.

I wave them off. "What can I do?"

Jace looks behind me and nods his chin. "Greet everyone and help them find their seats," he says, and I turn, seeing Councilman Jason already entering the room.

"Councilman," I say, stepping up to him. "Did you get breakfast?"

And for the next hour, I help people find their seats, I talk to everyone as they come in and I make sure that

Councilman Jason has everything he needs to preside over the meeting.

When everyone is finally in the room and seated, Councilman Jason stands and addresses the room.

"Good morning, everyone. We have some important things to discuss over the next couple of days. First, let's start with the very concerning information that it appears that we have some rogue packs that none of us knew about. Based on the information that we obtained from the fighter Nolan, these packs have been in existence for at least a generation and have also been known to the local grizzly bear shifters for a long time."

Councilman Jason goes through the information that Nolan gave to him and the other council member

"You're saying that these rogues are a second generation from the pack members banished in our generation?" my father asks.

"Yes," Councilman Jason says. "But none of us banished our pack members, did we? We put them down," my father says, and the others nod. "You did, but what about the others that aren't here any longer? Gunnar,

Emanuel, Shawn and Conrad. And, let's not forget Typhon. He was on the loose for a very long time," Councilman Jason says.

"But he was after me. He wouldn't have had time to do anything like what you' re saying," my mother says, my father wrapping a protective arm around her.

I'm not sure how many in the room know this story, but I do, my entire family does.

"Those that you listed off, those are the Alphas that died in the war?" Tobias asks, looking around the room.

"Yes," his father, Saul, says. "And Typhon is the one that caught Luna Jara's sister, Mila, in the claiming and after basically killing her, entered into Luna Jara's claim and catch her. When he didn't succeed, his feral fever and claiming haze made him crazy. He was injured and deformed, but he somehow managed to survive and come after Luna Jara, nearly killing her."

"Elijah and the pack saved me," my mother says, smiling at my Beta. "Any Beta worth the title protects his Luna," he says from where he's standing on the other side of the room. But our family knows it's more than that. My mother lost her child, and my parents lost a valued pack member, one of my mother's guards, the day Typhon attacked.

"So, what are you proposing, Councilman?" Alpha Asher asks.

"As I see it, we have three problems. We have a rogue problem that needs to be handled, we have a threat to our two female Alphas, and we have a bear problem. We need to divide and conquer," Councilman Jason says.

"I'll be happy to go hunting rogues," my father says.

"I'll go with you," Uncle Seth says, not surprising anyone. It's their daughters that are at risk.

Several other Alphas from the previous generation agree to go searching for the rogues.

"Okay then, that leaves the bears," Councilman Jason says.

For some reason, I feel like I need to go. Maybe because I'm pretty sure that I'm the threat that the clan leader warned us about, but without consciously thinking about it, I speak up.

"I'll go."

"Jordan!" Jaxon says sharply from the across the room.

"He warned me. Me or Taylor, but I've been a female Alpha longer than Taylor, so I feel like it's me that he warned. I should go thank him and maybe if I do, he'll be willing to give me information on these rogues," I say. "I don't want you going alone," my father says, making me arch an eyebrow.

"She won't be. I'm going with her," Jace says.

I turn and look at him. "Don't argue, Alpha. It's not safe for you to travel alone right now anyway, but definitely not with the bears," he says.

"I need you here, Jace."

"I'll stay, Jordan. And Elijah will be here. I'm not leaving while Eve is so close to delivering anyway. I'll look after your pack," Jaxon says.

I look back at Jace before turning to Councilman Jason. "Jace and I will go meet with the bear clan."