The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 206

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 6 Jaxon

"I'm going to go to introduce myself." I tell Jace as Councilman Jason finishes his speech.

"Bad idea, Jax. Alpha Luke might be a casual Alpha, but when it comes to his daughters, I hear he's fiercely protective." Jace says to me.

"I'm introducing myself, Jace. I'm not proposing we mate for life." I tell him, not taking my eyes off of her.

"How old is she, anyway?" I ask.

"Alpha Luke claimed Katerina the year after your dad claimed your mom, so I think she's 17, definitely not 18 yet." He says.

"Do we have a roster somewhere? I'd love to know when she'll turn 18." I say, watching her as she looks around and I make my way toward her.

Since she's not paying attention, I put myself right into her path so that she has no choice but to run into me. The minute her body touches me, my body lights up, tingles rushing all over me. It's the most pleasant and yet uncomfortable feeling I've ever had. Pleasant because it feels f*uc*king amazing and uncomfortable because I just went rock hard and there's no way she can't feel it.

I do my best to cover my discomfort. "Alpha Evangeline, I'm Alpha Jaxon." I say by way of introduction. Up close, I can see that she has the most beautiful pale blue eyes I've ever seen. Her thick, rich brown hair hangs to her lower back. She's the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen.

"I know who you are Alpha Jaxon. Even if I didn't know your parents, I've met your twin, Alpha Jordan." She says, her eyebrow raising, but she gracefully doesn't call me out on my hardened state. "What about me?" Jordan says, walking over and putting her arm through mine.

"Hello Alpha Evangeline, hello Alpha Magdalena."

"Hello, Alpha Jordan." They both say, inclining their heads. "I was just telling your brother that I knew who he was, and of course, that I've met you when you've visited our pack."

"Jax, you've never met Evangeline and Magdalena?" She says, looking at me quizzically.

"Jordan, when do I travel around to the packs? That's what future Alphas do." I say to her.

"Well, you're a future Alpha now, so you'd better start." My sister says confidently.

"Is that so?" Evangeline says, giving me a smirk.

"I guess it's a good thing there are ten spots, since my family plans to claim three of them." Magdalena says confidently. Damn, I like these girls.

"Well then, I guess it is good for everyone else, since my family intends to claim four of the ten spots, and Jace here intends to claim one. That only leaves two available spots." I say, smirking at Evangeline. "Two available spots for what?" Taylor says, coming up beside Jace and putting her arm through his.

I feel Jordan tense on one side of me, and interestingly, Jace tenses on the other. I'll have to ask him about that later.

"We were just discussing the contest and who was going to win. Obviously, we all think our families will win." Jace says.

Just then, the bell announces dinner. I look at Evangeline, not ready for our interaction to be over.

"Would you like to join us for dinner. We can talk strategy and discuss why we both think all of our family members will win the contest." I say to her.

"Why Alpha, are you trying to learn my secrets by plying me with food before our first contest?" Evangeline says coyly.

"What if I am?" I ask her teasingly. I feel Jordan look at me. I've never shown this kind of interest in a woman before.

Evangeline's smile spreads across her face. "At least you're honest about it." She says, turning to Magdalena. "What do you say?"

"Yes, I would love to hear your strategy for the contest. Thank you so much for offering to share it with us. I just want to replace my brother and we'll join you." Magdalena says.

"Which brother?" Jordan asks.

Evangeline turns her head, looking for her brothers. Her neck is thin and graceful. I've never given much thought to a woman's neck, but I can definitely see myself sinking my canines into hers. Almost as if she heard my thoughts, her head snaps back to me. I hold her gaze, unflinching.

"I think your sister is with my brother." She says, making me look away from her. Teagan is walking beside a man I recognize as Alpha Alejandro. My sister looks as entranced with him and I am with Evangeline.

"I think we need to replace a bigger table." I say, looking back at Evangeline.

"Jace, let's go replace our own table. We'll see you later." Taylor says, pulling Jace away.

No one but me would notice the tension in my sister's body.

"Hey Alejandro." Magdalena says and it's an obvious taunt. I'm guessing he doesn't often have a woman on his arm. Good. Because I won't allow anyone to mistreat any of my sisters.

"Easy Alpha. My brother is a good man." Evangeline says, coming to stand beside me. She has lifted her head to speak quietly, and I feel her breath tickling my ear. I turn to look at her and her face is so close that if I move at all, my lips would touch hers, just by accident. Her eyes go wide, and I hear her quick intake of breath.

She quickly steps back, and I give her a smirk, but I'm feeling just as impacted as she seems to be. I wonder if this is the mate bond everyone has started talking about. My parents say they felt it, but it wasn't something that people believed in a generation ago. However, that seems to be changing and if this is it, I can see why. My pull to Evangeline is strong. Very strong.

"Alpha Jaxon." A deep voice says, and I turn, seeing

Evangeline's brother giving me the same look I was giving him a moment ago. I'm glad, it means he cares enough about his sisters to make sure they are treated well. Which means, if he really is interested in my sister, he'll treat her right.

"Alpha Alejandro, we were just discussing that we should all get a table together, get to know each other and talk strategy for the contest." I tell him, inviting him to join us.

He looks at Evangeline and Magdalena before looking down at Teagan. "What do you say?" He asks her.

"I'm all for talking strategy." My sister says confidently.

Jordan turns and looks at me, smiling at our sister's confidence. "Well then, shall we?" I ask, putting my arm out in invitation for Evangeline to put hers through it.

"Thank you, Alpha." She says. I turn, seeing a flicker of sadness in my sister's eyes before I'm extending an arm to her.

"And you, milady?"

She snorts, putting her arm through mine and Magdalena puts hers through her brother's. We replace a table and I sit Evangeline across from me so I can talk to her easily. They serve us a feast of food. I notice that Evangeline and her sister don't imbibe in alcohol. Instead, they drink water. Smart girls. That tells me that they are here to win.

I watch as Evangeline eats a normal amount of food.

"You should eat more." I tell her.

"I'm not hungry." She tells me.

"Do you plan to stop during the run to eat?" I ask her.

"Of course not, that would be ridiculous."

"Exactly. The fastest werewolf has done this race in 26 hours. If you aren't going to eat, you'll need energy from somewhere. Stuff yourself tonight, eat a small meal in the morning and it will have to get you through."

"Is this your strategy talk?" She asks me.

"Part of it. But what I really want to know is, who do you think is your biggest competitor?"

"You, of course." She says to me.

I stop, looking at her.

"Why me?"

"You're descended from two true Alphas, you're a male which makes you genetically stronger than me and I know that your sister thinks you're going to win, which means she's been training with you." I raise my eyebrow at that. "Are you going to tell me that your brother hasn't been training with you?"

She smiles. "No, but your sister is the only one out of all us that was chosen to be the heir of her pack because of birth order, not gender. I can't say that I haven't had my problems with my brother because of that. It makes me angry that because I'm a woman I was passed over. Maybe it shouldn't, but there it is."

She sighs and I can see that she wants to say more, so I wait her out.

"In some ways, this contest is almost harder because it's okay for me to become an Alpha if I defeat nearly every other werewolf, but my own parents didn't feel I was good enough to be Alpha of our pack." She looks down and I immediately want to comfort her, so I reach out, taking her hand in mine.

"I don't think that's it at all. I don't think it has anything to do with you. Just like it doesn't have anything to do with me that I'm not going to be Alpha of my pack. And don't think I haven't given my mother a ton of shit over years about that." I say, making her chuckle.

"Your parents are living in the old ways and you hate it. I get it. My parents are trying to be trend-setters, or some shit and I hate it.

She laughs out loud now.

I wait until she focuses back on me. "So, we prove them both wrong. We fight and we take our packs just like good, strong Alphas should."