The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 20 (Jace)

I walked Dr. Braxton and Kyra to the front door and after making sure that they knew their way to the hospital, I turned to head back inside and that's when I heard the snarl.

I raced back into the main room leading to the dining room and found Taylor and Jordan facing off.

"Stand down!" Jordan snarls at Taylor. "He's MY mate!" Taylor snarls back at her.

"Really? You want to go there? With ME?" Jordan snarls back at her.

I walk up to Nolan. "What the f*uck is going on?"

"Alpha Taylor texted me, said she wanted to talk, so I came here to talk to her. Jordan asked me what I was doing here and that's when Alpha Taylor came out and began snarling at her to get away from me."

I can tell he doesn't want to be happy about the two of them fighting, but it's hard not to feel good about your mate publicly claiming you. That, I understand.

"You stay away from him," Taylor snarls.

"Oh, like you stayed away from my mate for the last few years?" Jordan snaps.

"I didn't know he was your mate until recently!" Taylor says and the two of them keep inching closer together.

I know it's wrong, it's really wrong, but there is something about an Alpha wolf cat fight that is really f*ucking s*exy.

"Damn," Nolan says, and for once, we're in agreement.

"Yeah," I say, never taking my eyes off the two of them.

"And I didn't know Nolan was your mate until yesterday, so I'll say it again. STAND DOWN!" Jordan growls.

"Jace, why aren't you getting in there and breaking this up?" Alpha Mason asks as he comes and stands beside me, Alpha Seth right behind him.

I turn and look at him like he's crazy. "Do I look stupid to you, Alpha? Those two would tear me to shreds. And no offense, but I don't see either of you jumping in there," I say to him and Alpha Seth.

He glances at me quickly. "We're not stupid either. One may be my daughter and the other my niece, but we're talking about mates here," he says.

Jordan and Taylor have literally just gone toe to toe when there's a much louder snarl, echoed by a second and the Alpha aura in the room becomes almost suffocating.

"What is the meaning of this?" Luna Jara says, storming into the room, Luna Hana right behind her.

"I will not be disrespected in my own pack," Jordan says, moving back the barest amount.

"And I will not allow her to steal my mate," Taylor says.

"Steal? STEAL? You have a lot of nerve, Taylor."

Jara's snarl is nearly feral and both females stop.

"Everyone out. NOW!" Luna Hana demands, and everyone begins moving out of the room.

I turn, ready to walk out with the others when Jara stops me and Nolan.

"Not you two," she says, looking over at us.

"Back in the conference room, all of you," Luna Jara says and there is no room for argument in her tone.

"If you two aren't going to bother to help, stay out," Luna Hana barks at Seth and Mason.

"S*hit, we're in trouble," Seth mumbles to Mason.

"Yeah, we are. Gentleman, if there's any advice we can give you, it's that when your mate is pissed off with you, she will make your life hell until you get back into her good graces," Mason says quietly as we make our way back to the conference room.

"And you want to get back into her good graces as quickly as possible, trust me," Seth says.

We walk into the conference room and Luna Hana closes the door. I move to stand closer to Jordan, not getting too close and Nolan does the same with Taylor.

Luna Jara stands between the two women who are still staring at each other as if they are going to attack each other any minute.

"Does someone want to explain to me what's going on? Why two cousins, two ALPHAS, are acting like children in front of the pack?"

I see Luna Jara's words hit home with Jordan. She's always known she has to be more mature, more appropriate than any other Alpha so that her pack and others will take her seriously.

"It's a mate issue," she says quietly, looking at her mother.

"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. Hana, did hear that? It's a mate issue," Jara says sarcastically, and I flinch inside at the tone. This is going to get ugly, I can feel it.

"A mate issue? You don't say? I'm pretty sure that EVERY F*UCKING PACK in a thousand-mile radius knows it's a mate issue," Luna Hana says, barking out her words. This time, it's Taylor that flinches at her mother's tone.

"I will ask again, what's going on?" Jara says.

"Excuse me, Lunas, if I may..." Nolan begins, then stops when all eyes turn on him, some more friendly than others.

Jara gestures to him. "Speak, Nolan. No one else seems to want to explain this f*ucking mess."

"I believe this is my fault. Yesterday, Alpha Taylor and I realized that we were mates. Obviously, I have been dating Alpha Jordan," he says and Taylor snarls.

Hana's snarl at her daughter is a loud warning that thankfully, Taylor heeds. "Continue, Nolan," Jara says.

Nolan looks at Taylor, but she's not looking at him, or anyone at this point. "Alpha Taylor texted me earlier and said she wanted to talk. I didn't let anyone know that I was coming, I just showed up. Jordan saw me and asked what I was doing here and then Alpha Taylor got upset."

I take a deep breath. I screwed things up, and now I'm about to pay the piper. "I should also confess that I'm Jordan's mate," I say.

All eyes turn to me, and I swear I see Jara's eyes soften.

"Excuse me?" Alpha Seth says.

"Seth," Luna Hana starts to say, but he's already across the room, his arm pulled back to punch me. I brace for the punch, but before he can hit me, Jordan is in front of me, blocking his punch. "Griffin already hit Jace yesterday, Uncle Seth. I won't allow him to be hit again," she says.

"Jordan," I begin.

"No, Jace. If I'm not willing to hit you, then no one else gets to either," she snaps at me, her hand still on her uncle's arm.

Another growl rocks the room, and we all turn to look at both Jara and Hana snarling.

"Seth, I already warned you that if you weren't going to help, you should stay out. So, find a seat or get out," Hana says. She stares at him until he clenches his jaw and moves to the tables. "Why don't we all sit," Jara says.

When we sit, Jara rubs her temples. "So, Jace. You dated Taylor, knowing that Jordan was your mate, is that correct?"

"Yes, I didn't feel worthy of Jordan. Not until I proved myself in the contest," I say honestly.

She looks at me a long moment. "We'll talk more about that later."

Then she turns to Taylor. "Taylor, you didn't know that Jace was Jordan's mate, correct?"

"Not until she rejected him during the contest," Taylor says.

Jara's head snaps back to Jordan. "You rejected your mate?"

"Yes," she says, her chin tipping up as if she's ready to argue her reasons. "I see. And Taylor, once you knew that Jace was Jordan's mate, you broke up with him?"

"Well, actually, he had already broken up with me," she says, looking at me.

"So, there was nothing more between you after that?" Jara asks.

I look at Taylor. I'm not sure anyone knows that she asked me to be chosen mates.

She looks at Nolan before looking down. "I asked Jace to be chosen mates," she says.

Nolan s*ucks in air but Jordan doesn't seem surprised. Nolan looks at Taylor. Jara looks like she doesn't want to continue her interrogation, but she turns to me.

"And Jace, did you accept Taylor's request to become chosen mates?"

"No."

I watch as both Lunas release their breath.

"Jordan, you and Nolan have been dating for several months, correct?"

"Yes."

"And, have either of you discussed becoming chosen mates?"

"I told Jordan that I wanted her to consider becoming my chosen mate," Nolan says. I try to hold back my growl, but it still slips out. I knew he wanted her, I knew she wanted him, but I didn't know it had gotten to that point. "You were willing to take a chosen mate?" Taylor asks him, turning to look at Nolan.

He cocks his head at her. "I've waited nearly ten years to find you, Taylor. How long did you wait for me?" he asks her, effectively shutting her up.

"Jordan, when are you and Jace leaving to go to the bear clan?" Jara asks, distracting everyone from Taylor and her double standard. Was she always like that? I honestly don't know. "Tomorrow. Jace and I will leave when the other Alphas head home," she says.

"Here is what I suggest, and I'm not putting the Council's force behind it. I'm hoping that all of you will see the purpose and value of this on your own. Let's take this time for the mates to talk, decide what they want and when Jordan and Jace return from the bear country, we can reconvene and decide on next steps. Between now and then, I expect both of you to act as the Alphas that you are and to remain civil to each other," Jara says.

Alpha Jara leans forward and clasps her hands. "If you two cannot be civil for 24 hours, I will show you what it means that at one time, I was the last Alpha female on the planet."