The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 267

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 67 (Evangeline)

I didn't sleep well. Or, I should say, I wouldn't have slept well if it weren't for Jaxon purring everytime he realized I was awake. So, I wake much more rested that I expected to be and after a good breakfast, I'm feeling ready for today's challenge.

I'm third in the queue, meaning I have about two and a half hours before it's my turn. Caleb is first up this morning, so we go outside to stand with Maggie while her mate runs through the course.

"I hope he does better than I did," she says after the gun goes off and he races into the territory.

"It'll be fine Maggie," I tell her. And when he emerges, I'm proven right. Caleb exits the territory with eight flags.

Maggie runs into his arms, and he swings her around. It's very likely that Caleb just made it through to the final round with that many flags.

I begin getting nervous as the second contestant enters the territory. I begin to fidget and move around, I'm getting myself really worked up when Jaxon wraps his arms around my waist, putting his hands on my stomach. "Relax, Eve. You've got this. Your senses are so much stronger right now."

"I know, but..."

"Shhhh, close your eyes."

"Jaxon..."

He nips at my ear. "Close your eyes," he says.

I do as he says.

"Lean back against me," he says as he begins purring again.

"Open your senses," he says, his lips so close to my ear that I can feel his breath as it tickles m.

I open up my senses, focusing first on my hearing. I lean away from Jaxon, so he's not right next to my ear. He pulls his head back, so I can continue to lean against him. I tune out the purring from Jaxon and focus on the sounds that I hear.

To the left, there is a sound of a growling mountain lion. It's on a loop, running for a few seconds every 30 seconds.

Then, directly in front of me, there's a mockingbird. I wouldn't think much of it, but like the mountain lion, it's on repeat and once I've heard it several times, I recognize that the sound repeats itself over and

over.

Then, off to the right, I hear the rustling of a mole, or some other animal burrowing into the earth. Just like the bird, I wouldn't have paid attention except that identical sounds keep repeating.

Then, I open up my nose, quickly replaceing the deer. That one must be close. No deer would come this close to this many predatory animals.

Farther away, I smell the bear and since no one has come racing out of the territory, running from a giant bear, I'm pretty sure that's one of the stations to get a flag.

There's another scent that's off in this territory, the scent of sunflowers in a place where sunflowers don't grow, so I'm pretty sure that's a station.

And finally, I catch a faint scent of blood. I'm really hopeful that it's just a small amount of blood, because in my current pregnant state, the scent of blood will make me vomit.

By the time I'm done, the hour is nearly up and I'm feeling calm and ready for my turn.

When I'm up and the gun goes off, I don't hesitate. I take off, heading for the deer scent first. I snatch my blue flag and keep going, following the sound of the mountain lion. On the way, I see the squirrel. He's sitting on log, just looking at me.

I frown and walk over to it, not sure what it is, and then I realize that it's a dead squirrel that has been stuffed by a taxidermist. I look around and replace the flag before continuing on my way. I'm not as fast as I would be if I wasn't three months pregnant, but I'm still able to get to all of the stations for scent and sound before the gun goes off letting me know that my hour is up. I jog out of the territory, Jaxon waiting for me. I drop off my flags, get the announcement of eight flags and Jaxon whoops, rushing to pick me up and spin me around.

We have lunch and then Enzo is up. He comes out with seven flags. Since we're about halfway into the contest, it's becoming clearer that anyone under seven is out, anyone over seven is in and those who have seven flags are at risk of having to do the fourth day of sudden death.

Jace is the last of our group today and he emerges with eight flags as well. We all head inside to get dinner.

Caleb is consoling Maggie, since she's pretty confident that she's out of the competition. Jaxon, while still making sure to touch me, is distracted and I know tonight it's my turn to purr him to sleep.

Rowan is also up tomorrow, but she's later than Jaxon. I'm glad that his slot is in the morning. By lunch time, we should be pretty confident in knowing which of us has progressed to the next and final stage of the contest.

Overnight, it's as I expected. This time, it's Jaxon who struggles to sleep, and it's me who is helping him relax and stay asleep.

Before we went to bed, I told Jaxon about the animals that I'd heard and smelled, and that they had changed from day one to day two. After breakfast the next morning, as the first contestant goes into the territory, I realize that they have switched it up overnight again.

Jaxon had already told me that the flower was most likely out and he wasn't going to waste his time trying to replace that one unless he found the other nine and I had agreed. Flowers aren't exactly Jaxon's thing. The first contestant comes out with six flags, most likely being eliminated. The second contestant, Stefan, comes out with nine. So far, he and Tobias are the only two with nine flags.

Jaxon begins walking forward, getting ready to enter the territory.

"Hey, Super Hotty, the number to beat is nine, but if you come out with nine flags or more, I'll make it worth your while," I call loudly to him.

The people around us begin a combination of wolf whistles, howling and complaining that my motivation isn't fair.

He rushes back to me, k*issing me fiercely before running back to the starting line. "Now, that's what I call incentive," he says.

The moment the gun goes off, he takes off like a shot. I listen, hearing him as he races through the stations faster than I did. I count them off as he goes and when the gun goes off that his hour is up, he comes jogging out of the territory, nine flags in his hand, a smug smile on his face.

His eyes never leave mine as he comes up, lifting me so I can wrap my legs around his waist.

"Time to collect my reward," he says, before walking toward the packhouse, making me laugh as the cheers, howls and wolf whistles follow us inside.