The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 152

Jara

It's been nearly two months since I lost Mena. Today, Mason and I go back to the doctor to see if I've healed enough for us to start having sex again. We've definitely been creative in the last couple of weeks, but I'm ready to feel my mate inside me.

I'm nervous when we walk into the pack hospital and get our room, and I can feel that Mason is too. He squeezes my hand as we wait for the doctor

to come in

The doctor walks in, a clipboard in his hands. "Good morning, Alpha. good morning, Luna." He says, glancing up at us before looking back at the papers on his clipboard.

"All of your lab work looks good. So, let's take a look and see if your body has healed." He says.

I get settled on a clinic bed and the doctor looks at Mason. "Alpha, I need to touch your mate and I need to insert a scope into her body. The scope will let me know if she has healed." He turns a screen toward

us.

"You can watch what the scope shows here and if anything stands out, I will point it out to you. Do you understand?" He asks. When Mason nods, he turns to me. "Luna, any questions before we begin?" "No, doctor, thank you." To an outsider, it might seem as if he's ignoring me and talking to Mason, but Mason is the one that will tear h... apart because he's touching me. So, I understand that the doctor is protecting himself first and making sure I understand everything second.

The minute the doctor lifts the sheet that covers my lower half, Mason growls. The doctor stops, looking at Mason and waiting until he's back in control.

"Alpha, I'm going to insert the scope into Luna's body now." He says, watching Mason for a moment before looking down and inserting the scope. I take Mason's hand, trying to calm him. It would be easier if I wasn't on edge about today and that is probably not helping Mason's inability to control himself right now.

"Okay, what we're looking for here are fissures, lesions or scar tissue."

"English, Doc." Mason says.

He looks at Mason, then me. "We're checking to see if Luna's body has healed from the miscarriage. Not only is that traumatic to her body but she suffered internal damage because of the battle and Warrior Lewis being pressed against her stomach during the attack."

He turns back to the screen, and Mason and I watch as the scope moves deeper inside me. I have no idea what I'm looking at, and when I look at Mason, his look of confusion matches my feelings.

Finally, the doctor pulls the instrument from my body. He covers me up again before turning back to me and Mason. "Excellent news. Luna, you are completely healed. You can resume your normal activities. I would suggest, however, that when you get pregnant again, you come to me immediately so we can ensure that all is well, and that the fetus is healthy and stable inside you."

I smile, looking at Mason. His eyes have gone dark. It's been much, much too long for us.

"Thank you, doctor." He says, never taking his eyes off o me.

The doctor clears his throat. "I'll just leave you two..."

If he says anything else, we don't hear him.

Mason leans forward, pressing his forehead to mine. "So, my Luna, do I need to replace someone to run our pack indefinitely?" He asks me.

I giggle in anticipation of having my mate inside me. "Maybe just for the next couple of days?"

I watch as his eyes go unfocused. "Done."

I arch an eyebrow at him. "That was fast."

"I put your father on notice that I may need his assistance. He happily agreed. I just asked Elijah to contact him. Get dressed, we're going away for a couple of days." "Today?" I ask, astonished.

"Today. Right this minute. I promised you that I'd knot you as many times as you wanted when you got the all clear and personally, the idea of being connected to you nearly non-stop has me ready to take you right here on this hospital bed. So hurry up, we're leaving." He says, smacking my ass as I get out of bed.

"What about clothes, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, all of that?"

"You won't need clothes for what I have in mind, and I have a bag packed with all the necessities we'll need to get away for a couple of days."

"Well, who am I to argue with a well-prepared Alpha?" I ask, just as he leans forward and lifts me over his shoulder.

"Mason!" I exaim as he walks me out of the hospital room.

As we walk through the waiting room, I begin to hear wolf whistles and howls.

"She got a clean bill of health, boys. See you in a couple of days." He hollers at the pack.

The sounds of cheering, wolf whistles and howling becomes deafening as Mason carries me away.

As he walks me to the car, Elijah comes up with a bag. "Congratulations, Luna. See you soon." He says as Mason puts me down, helping me into a

car.

As we pull out of the pack lands, I turn to him. "Where are we going?"

"The ocean." He says and looks at me smiling.

"Will I even get to see it?" I ask.

"I rented the entire beach, just in case. So don't you worry my mate. You' Il not only get to see it, you'll get to enjoy it for longs periods of time while you take my knot."

"Really?"

"Really."

For the next two days, I get to enjoy the sun, the sand, the saltiness of the ocean water and listening to the ocean waves crashing against the shore at night, all while knotted by my mate. We feed each other, bathe each other, explore each other's bodies and reconnect with each other.

At the end of our time, I know that there isn't a chance in hell that I'm not carrying my mate's child.

The Council Chapter 60 Mason

Mason

It's been several weeks since we returned from the beach. We are due to have a pregnancy test in a few days. But before that can happen, we have a concerning alliance meeting.

"Some of our pack members who have been watching Alpha Gunnar's pack have gone missing." Alpha Zaire says.

"What do you mean, missing?" Antonio asks. Annabel is due any day and I can tell that he's nervous about anything to do with Gunnar and his pack. While I have the biggest target on my back, all of our packs are at risk. Annabel being so close to her delivery date along with Jara losing our child, has him on edge.

"I felt the tether to one of my men snap." Alpha Saul says.

"How many men did you have out there?" I ask.

"Three. I haven't heard from any of them, but I only felt the tether break for one." Saul says.

"We need eyes on the pack." Seth says. "Does anyone else have any pack members that they are in contact with?"

"I tried to make contact with my person earlier today, and I couldn't reach him." Asher says.

"Same. I tried both of mine and got nothing." Jonas says.

"Fuck! So, no one has eyes on Gunnar?" I ask.

"That's correct, Mason." Luke says.

D

"But only one is dead?" Davis asks.

No one else has felt their pack member die. I look at Elijah and before I can say anything, he is up and moving. We need to increase our patrols. "Jara, where are you?" I mind link her.

"My office." She responds immediately, helping my nerves to calm. "Why, what's wrong, Mason?"

"It seems Gunnar has captured all the alliance members that have been watching his pack. I need you to get all the she-wolves in our pack to your office. I have no idea if or when he'll attack, but I want to know all of you are safe. I'm sending guards to you. They can watch all of you together."

"Okay. I'll get them right now." She says.

I refocus on the conversation.

"...send more pack members."

"No, that doesn't make sense. If they have captured our pack members, we need to make a plan to replace them and rescue them before more end up dead." Luke is saying.

"But, while we're there, we could check the pack. At least we'll know if everyone is still in Gunnar's pack." Saul says.

Davis, Quirin, Luke and Jonas decide to go searching for the missing pack members and to check Gunnar's pack to see if he is there.

Once that's decided I'm about to hang up, when Councilmember Jason speaks up. "If I may, and I know there is a lot going on already, but I wanted to give an update on our research regarding Alpha Typhon." I sit back down. I know they have been doing research on his blood and tissue, but I haven't heard anything about the results.

"What we found is that Typhon had two viruses in his system. The viruses, while not exactly the same, mirror the rabies and distemper viruses found in dogs. Both of those viruses effect the central nervous system and the brain, and both can cause death. I have our scientists continuing to do research, but we still don't know why unmated males get feral-fever at a young age or why females have reduced or eliminated the risk of feral-fever. The scientists are currently working under the assumption that females, for whatever reason, carry an immunity to both viruses, and when in close proximity to the male population, as with a mate bond, they act as a vaccination of sorts to their mate and in some instances, their pack. It's still in the research phase, but it may be that stronger females, such as Lunas, have a greater ability to vaccinate the pack, to term the phrase."

"Why do I get the feeling, Councilman, that you will be asking for blood from our Lunas in the near future?" Asher asks.

"Hmm, yes, well, that would be beneficial. It would give our scientists something to work with, a way to prove their theory." Jason says.

"I don't mind, Asher. If it helps our pack, I should do it." I hear Mignon say, immediately followed by Asher's sigh. I know he wants to avoid this. He wants to protect his mate.

"Is it just a blood sample that you need, Councilman?" I ask.

"Blood and saliva, yes."

"I know Jara would be willing to help. But she has Alpha blood. It might be helpful if, say, Mignon also gave blood and saliva to see if all females have this impact or just some. Personally, I think it's only some,

or possibly it's their role in the pack. My Gamma's mate, for instance, did not keep my pack members from going feral. But it seems that Asher's and Antonio's packs are stable, and their Lunas were omegas."

say.

"My pack is remaining stable too, now that Layan has gotten stronger."

Davis says.

"And mine. Isabella is of Alpha blood though, so it may not be a good example." Jonas says.

"We'll take as many samples as the she-wolves are willing to give. I know that Nina has already offered so we can test the effects over time as well."

Jason says.

"Anything else for today?" Antonio asks, and we all chuckle. He's obviously anxious to get back to his very pregnant mate.

"Mason, keep in touch daily. If you're attacked, get word out, we'll send reinforcements. That goes for everyone, but Mason is most at risk, I think." Seth says.

Everyone agrees and I thank them. Seth is right. Me and my pack are definitely most at risk.

It's only two days later, in the middle of the night, that the attack comes.

I'm curled around Jara, sleeping peacefully, when the howls go up. Before I'm even out of bed, I can hear the thrashing in the packhouse downstairs.

"Get to a safe room!" I tell Jara a moment before swinging our door open. shift, leaping off our fourth story banister, landing in the middle of the packhouse floor, surrounded by Gunnar's pack members.

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