The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 1

Jara

"This entire process is archaic and barbaric!" I say for the hundredth time.

"Sweetheart, we agree with you. But there's nothing we can do. Your father and I have tried everything. After Mila...."

I sigh. I know my parents tried everything. After the death of my sister by her mate's mistreatment, they tried to have me removed from the claiming pool. But the elders wouldn't hear of it. They insisted that, as the last unmated Alpha female, I had to participate in the annual claiming.

"We won't let what happened to Mila, happen to you, Jara." Seth, my brother, says to me. He is going into the claiming this year as well. Since he is not eligible to hunt for me, he is guaranteed a spot for the Beta female that is in the running this year. He could choose to be in a claim for one of the omegas, but we all know he chose the Beta's claiming.

Of all the years for me to turn 18, it had to be a year where there are more than double the normal contestants AND a Beta female as well as myself. Every unmated male in the country will be at this year's claiming.

While all she-wolves are placed in the first claiming after they reach adulthood, males entering the annual claiming are generally between 18-25 years of age. After that, a male werewolf, especially an Alpha who hasn't taken a mate, will go feral and have to be put down. However, any werewolf who has lost their mate, is also eligible to enter the claiming.

Because there are so few females, hundreds of males come to the

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claiming event every year. It is the only legal way to claim a mate. Any male, regardless of rank, that tries to claim a female outside of the claiming will be put to death or, if he marked the female, he will be imprisoned, and the female will be placed in the next year's claiming. Since my claim will be open to everyone, it has the potential for over 200 savage wolves to try and hunt me down.

The only positive is that not all of those will be Alphas. My claim will be open to any eligible male. And while they may try to catch. and claim me, my Alpha aura will make it easier for me to fight any male who isn't an Alpha.

"And how do you plan to keep it from happening to me, Seth. Not every Alpha is like you. They don't all want a mate to love and cherish, like I know you will. Some of them will only see me as a breeding machine and a way for them to look good if I pop out a lot of pups for them."

He puts his hands on my shoulders, looking into my amber colored eyes with his sage green ones. "We'll replace a way, Jara. I promise. My word as an Alpha, if you are claimed by someone that will mistreat you, I'll get you out."

I sigh. It's a nice sentiment and one I know he means, but it's not possible. The werewolf laws in this matter are absolute. If a male legitimately claims a mate during the annual claiming, then she is his.

My father walks in from getting the mail. "It came." He says, holding up an envelope. Today I will see exactly who and how many males will be entering my claim. This gives me a short amount of time to plan fo how many Alphas I will have to outmaneuver during my claim.

I can already tell that the envelope is larger than it has been for the last three years. Larger than it has been since my sister went into

the claiming pool. That means that I was right, every eligible male has entered this year's event.

"How many?" I ask as I sit down at our dining room table. My mother and brother come to sit on either side of me as my father sits across, opening the envelope. He flips through multiple pages before getting to the end.

"Two hundred and thirty-six." I suck in a breath.

"Eliminate Seth and three more, assuming Seth claims his mate, and that leaves me with two hundred and thirty-two. How many of those are Alphas?" I ask. This is already more than my sister had at her claiming. She only had 175 males to contend with, and I thought that was a lot.

My father looks at the stats before looking up at me. "Fifty-three." My stomach clenches. Fifty-three? My only possible chance of getting out unclaimed is if they kill each other.

"Does that include Seth?" I don't know why I bother to ask. Fifty-three or fifty-two, it's still too many for me to take on. I was hoping for five.

"Yes, so fifty-two." He hands the papers to my mother, and he puts his head in his hands, rubbing his face.

"Maybe we could run." He says, looking up at me.

"Dad, if we did, Seth would suffer. He'd lose the pack, lose his title and not be eligible as a claimant. I can't do that to him. I'll just have to be better than every male in the hunt."

"I'll spar with you, every day, twice a day until it's time to go in, Jara. I'll do anything I can to help you get out unclaimed." Seth says to me.

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I reach over and put my hand on top of my brother's hand. I hope he gets his mate. He's older than I am, but he's still a few years from worrying about going feral. However, this year is his best opportunity to get a mate. He is automatically eligible for the Beta's claiming because he's not eligible for mine.

"Many of these Alphas are older. I recognize their names. They have lost their mates and are coming in for another chance for a mate." My mother says, looking up from the papers and looking at me. “I see ter so far that are mine and your father's age. You could easily outlast them, Jara. You're a powerful she-wolf and you have a strong aura."

"Well, that drops it down to forty-two, so at least it's moving in the right direction to be manageable."

I'm running through the contenders in my head when my mother sucks in a breath.

"No." She whispers. "It can't be."

All of us turn our focus on her. "What, mother? What is it?" I ask, scared to know what has my mother reacting like this. Her eyes are wide, and she looks up at me, terrified. "Alpha Typhon is in this year's pool of claimants."

Alpha Typhon. The Alpha that claimed my sister. Then he bred her and bred her until it ultimately killed her. We knew from our conversations with her that the doctors told him to wait, to give her time to heal, but he wouldn't listen. He insisted on having an heir, on beginning the repopulation of our race.

In the end, my sister lived less than two years before dying in childbirth. We were told afterward that Alpha Typhon had her child cut from her body in an effort to save him. But he was too late.

He lost both my sister and his child and now, he wants to claim me as well.