The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 265

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 65 (Evangeline)

After spending a couple of hours talking with my parents, I promise we'll come visit. I warn my father again about crossing me.

"I'm willing to give you another chance dad, but this is your last one. There won't be any more chances. You either trust me and Jaxon, or that's it. I want you in our child's life, but not at the risk of my mate. He doesn't deserve the treatment you've given him, and I won't allow it."

"I've been very honest with Jaxon, Evangeline. Someday, when we have more time, I'll have the same conversation with you, if you'd like. In the meantime, I'll just be thankful to have you around again and if you decide to give birth in your old dad's pack, I know your mother and sisters will be thrilled."

"What about you, dad?"

"I'd be thrilled as well, of course. I can't wait to meet my grandson," he says before pulling me into a hug. "I love you, Evangeline."

"I love you too, Dad."

It wasn't much later before the announcement comes for everyone to meet outside to get the information on the next competition.

Nearly everyone has remained to get the information on the next competition. Flavia is the only Alpha that didn't make it to round 3. Half of the remaining contestants are Alphas, many more are ranked members and then there are a few remaining warriors.

As we walk outside, Jaxon takes my hand.

"We should start paying closer attention to the remaining group of individuals. Ten of us will become Alphas, but after that, we'll need to choose our Beta and Gamma. I'm not sure the remaining Alphas will compete, but I'd like to start making a list of the other ranked members and these last few warriors. Even if we don't choose one of them for a ranked member, we'll need a Lead Warrior too." We walk outside to the stage, seeing Elder Jason walk up the steps and to the microphone.

"Congratulations to our top 30 contestants!" he announces and we all cheer. He waits for the applause to die down before continuing.

The next two contests will occur much more quickly as we, the council, do not feel that much additional preparation is needed. In these events, you either have the skills and knowledge or you don't." He stops, looking at the group of us. "In one month's time, we will complete the sensory portion of the contest. The thirty remaining contestants will arrive the day before the contest begins. You will be randomly selected for your slot in the contest and assigned a flag color. Each day 10 of you will have the opportunity to showcase your sensory skills as well as your speed. You will each have one hour to collect as many flags as you can get from within the old claiming territory. The only clues you will have will be visual, auditory and olfactory. You must use your senses to replace and collect as many of your colored flags as possible while you are in the territory. The maximum number of flags will be 10, giving you six minutes in between to replace the new station, collect your flag and move on. At the end of the hour, the number of flags you have collected will be counted and you will obtain one point per flag. If you collect all 10 flags and complete the task in under an hour, you will get additional points."

"I'm not sure if this puts me at an advantage or disadvantage, being pregnant," I say quietly to Jaxon. "You'll be great, baby," he says, putting his arm around me.

Councilman Jason continues. "In the event that there is a tie, and the top 20 individuals cannot be identified, day 4 will be a timed contest to see who can get all 10 flags the fastest. All contestants will run in at the same time and the first ones out will win, depending on how many are left to achieve the top 20."

"So, ten individuals will be eliminated in the next contest?" someone asks.

"That is correct. And in the final contest, the top 10 contestants will become the new Alphas, and based on the rank in the final contest, they will choose their new pack lands."

"Any additional questions?" Councilman Jason asks, looking around.

"Hearing none, this contest is adjourned. You will meet back in one month's time."

I look around as we walk back inside, taking inventory of those who remain in the competition. "If my math and pack lines are correct, each pack how has between two and four individuals in the competition." Jaxon looks around. "Let's make a list at dinner. I know there are four of us still from Jordan's pack," he says.

"There are four from my father's pack too, but I think we're the only two packs with that many still in the competition." Dinner is just the two of us. As I look around, I see what looks like a lot of mate pairings, Maggie and Caleb, Reid and Ainsley, Tobias and Flavia, Rowan and Enzo. Lazio looks lost as he gets his food and realizes that nearly everyone is paired off.

"Lazio," I call, tapping the seat beside me.

He comes over and looks around. "Now that there are fewer of us, the mate bonds are much clearer."

I put my arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, little bro. You'll replace your mate. You're still young and maybe she's even younger," I tell him.

"Or maybe she was eliminated already. If that's the case, you might not be around her to smell her now, but when the Beta Trials start, you might replace her then," Jaxon says.

That cheers Lazio up, and he looks at what we're doing.

"Counting pack members, smart. It looks like all the packs have some level of representation."

"They do, mine and yours having the most," Jaxon says, smiling at me.

"Strong Alphas," Lazio and I say together and laugh.

"So how are we going to prepare for the next contest?" Lazio asks.

"We need to set up a space where we can begin hunting using our senses. I'm not sure exactly how they plan to do that. Like are they going to say there are these 10 elements, human, bear, dead squirrel, etc. in the territory and tell us to replace them, or are we just supposed to search for anything that smells off? I think we should set up a space and each day, one of us or even Jordan and Alejandro can set up the area and the rest of us hunt, timing ourselves."

"That's a good idea, but hopefully dead squirrels or any dead animal isn't on list of items to search for. Your son isn't going to be having any of that, I can tell you," I say, already feeling queasy at the thought of smelling freshly killed meat.

"We won't practice with that at least. There are plenty of other things we can use to practice AND we have to practice them with different senses. For instance, let's use the bear. We don't know if they are going to give us that as a visual, auditory or olfactory sense test, so we'll have to rotate them around in three different ways."

"That's a good point," Lazio says. "I'll call dad and Al tonight and have them set something up for us to begin running drills."

He turns to me. "Are you planning to spend time at home in the next month, Evie?"

"Yes, we're going back to Alpha Jordan's pack first. We'll help them get set up with their space and then we'll come join you guys for a week or so, alternating back and forth."

"Excellent. Well, I'm off to call Dad and Al. See you both in the morning and hopefully in a week or so."

"Sounds good. Goodnight, Lazio," Jaxon and I say together.

As he begins walking away, Jace comes over to us.

"So, I was thinking about the next competition. I've drawn up some ideas for how to set up the drills in our pack," he says and the three of us begin talking it through, readying ourselves for the next phase of the competition.