The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 98: Margot's Defensiveness Sophie

Hunter mind linked the pack asking if anyone knew where Margot was. She, Kinsley, and I had been talking about the safe rooms and how to make them less stressful for the moms, pups, and elderly that needed to be there.

"Margot, Hunter wants to see you," I tell her.

"What for?"

"He didn't say. Come on, I'll go with you," I tell her.

I can feel her nervousness as we walk.

"You know he won't hurt you, right Margot?" I ask, worried about her reaction to being called to meet with Hunter.

"It's not that. I asked Beta Lucas if I could run patrols," she says, looking over at me.

"Ahhh," I say, understanding. I know Margot doesn't want to be in the safe rooms again, so she's doing everything she can to get stronger. My guess is she knows that she's pushing too hard, and she expects Hunter to tell her no.

When we arrive, I knock and wait for Hunter to tell me to come in. Instead, he opens the door for me himself. I smile up at him.

"Hey."

Chapter M Morget's Delzenament

"Hi," he says, leaning down to kiss me. It doesn't last nearly long enough, but it's longer than it should be when I realize that it's not just Hunter in the room, but Beta Lucas and Alpha Ezra as well. Ezra is standing, watching Margot closely.

I had asked her about sparring with him this morning. She'd been surprised when Ezra hadn't used the opportunity to grope her, but instead had really helped her with her training.

"Margot, come in. We want to talk to you about your request to run patrols," Hunter says. I look at her, but her eyes are on Ezra.

"Are you going to tell me no? I don't need to sit down if you're just going to tell me no," she says, crossing her arms over her chest, in an obviously defensive gesture.

"Not exactly, have a seat," he says, taking my hand and leading me to a chair before sitting and pulling me into his lap.

"I take it there is a concern about Margot running patrols?" I ask, trying to break the tension between Margot and Ezra. She hasn't moved away from the door.

"Yes. It's not in your ability, Margot, but in your strength and ability to keep up, especially now that you are sparring again," Hunter tells her.

"You told them I'm not strong enough," Margot states. There's a lot of anger in her voice but some hurt too.

'I said that if you were my pack member..."

"Which I'm not," she says sharply.

"IF you were, that I would not let you run patrols yet."

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Ezra steps up to her and I give the woman kudos for strength, she doesn't back down from him,

"Tell me your muscles aren't aching after this morning. Tell me you're fully recovered," he says and takes her chin gently between his thumb and forefinger, lifting her head so she can't look away. "And do not lie to me," he says softly.

She yanks her face out of his hands. "Fine, I'm sore, yes. It's been a long time since I've sparred." She whirls around to face Hunter. "So, I'll ask again, why didn't you, st tell me that I you were going to deny me before I bothered to walk in."

I move to stand and go to her, but Hunter holds me back. I can feel that she's on the verge of breaking down and she doesn't want that, not in here, not in front of these men. She would consider it a terrible weakness.

I look at Hunter, wondering why he's holding me back.

'Give it a minute,' he says in the mind link.

"Do you want to hear what I did suggest?" Ezra asks Margot.

She whirls back to face Ezra. "That I quit sparring and patrols until I'm stronger?"

"No, that's not what I suggested. Would you like to sit?" he asks her, gesturing to a chair.

"I'll stand, thank you," she says, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"You should continue sparring. That will increase your strength faster than anything. Not only that, but it will also help you when

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17:07

Joshua attacks. You'll be better able to defend yourself against your old pack. I told Alpha Hunter that you have the foundation, but you're out of practice. Luckily for you, you're a quick learner and you have an Alpha who is willing to give you one-on-one instruction. If you feel the need to also run, I will do sprints with you. If you insist on wanting to run patrols, I'll run with you, see if you can maintain the intensity of a longer run without impacting your ability to continue sparring. My goal isn't to keep you weak, Margot, it's to help you get stronger, faster."

"This is my only option?" she asks Hunter.

"I don't have the capacity right now to offer you anyone who can do what Ezra is offering. Not only that, but nearly any pack member would be honored to get the one-on-one training that Ezra is offering you because he's right. You will get stronger much faster with his guidance and teaching. Ezra is a powerful fighter. He's intelligent and skillful in battle. But he's also a very good instructor," Hunter tells her. Margot looks at me, silently asking me what I think.

“I know there's a lot going on for you right now Margot. But I think you need to consider what your primary goal is. I think everyone in this room knows that you do not want to go back into a safe room," I say. She glances at Ezra, making me think that Ezra doesn't know the real reason behind her desire to stay out of the safe room.

"If your goal is to get stronger, I think what Alpha Ezra is offering is your best opportunity. I know when my father had time to train me individually, which wasn't often, talways felt like I walked away a stronger fighter. Even now, with Hunter teaching me more defensive tactics, I feel stronger," I say.

Chapter AR-Margats denovmiest

#288 (Vouchers

"I would second that. I don't often get to spar one-on-one with Alpha Hunter, but when I do, I always feel like I'm stronger because of it," Lucas adds.

"Do you feel stronger after our training session this morning?" Ezra asks her.

Margot thinks through her answer for a moment before making a face. "Stronger, no. I'm f**g sore after this morning," she says sighing, "But I do feel smarter about fighting. I think tomorrow I'll be even better than was honestly.

day," she says

"Then let me continue to train you hard in the morning, and more gently at night. Running will help loosen your muscles, but only if you don't overdo it. And since I'm quickly learning how stubborn you can be, Luna Margot, I'm guessing you'd overdo it on your own," he says, his lips twitching.

She raises her chin a bit. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Mmhmm," he murmurs, watching her with a hunger I've seen in Hunter's eyes many times.

"Are we in agreement then?" Ezra asks her.

"Fine," she says, finally relaxing her defensive stance.

"When would you like to start?"

"Now?"

"Let's go then," he says, gesturing for her to precede him out of

the room.

17:07

"Oh, Sophie..." she says, turning to me.

"We're done for tonight. Kinsley and I get tired easily now that we're both carrying pups. We'll pick it up again tomorrow morning after breakfast," I tell her. When they leave, I snuggle up against my mate.

"Who says I'm only teaching you defensive tactics?" Hunter asks me.

Lucas snorts as I laugh.

"On that note, I'm going to go find my mate and see what she wants for dinner. Have a good evening you two."

"You as well," I say, never looking away from my mate.

When the door closes, Hunter's chest begins rumbling with the same desire I'm feeling for him. "What are you hungry for?"

"You," I say, and dinner for us, comes much, much later.