The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 286

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 13 (Jace)

It's late in the evening when I step out back behind the packhouse and see my sister sitting on the patio looking out over the pack pool and the forest.

"Is this seat taken?" I ask Melinda. She's nursing Kaiden and I'm assuming that Jonas is upstairs with their other two. "It is if you sit in it," she says, and I take the seat.

"So, am I getting another niece or another nephew?" I ask her.

"Don't know yet, it's too soon. We should replace out next week." I turn and look at her. "I saw dad leave. How was that?"

She shrugs and I smell the salt of her tears. I reach over and lay my hand on her arm.

"It was good to see him," she says, and I can tell her throat is tight with emotion. She looks down at Kaiden, stroking his head of dark hair. He, like Ryder, is going to look like Jonas.

I stroke her arm, not saying anything. She swipes her face with the back of her hand. "He says mom's sorry, that she misses me and wants to meet her grandchildren. I just... how do I trust her after what she did? How do I even begin to forgive that? You know?" she says, turning to look at me.

"She kept me from my mate, the father of my children, making us both think that we didn't want to see the other. Who does that? What kind of person keeps their child away from her mate because you don't agree with the age difference?"

"I'm probably not the best person to answer that question, Mel," I say, turning and looking out over the forest.

She's quiet a moment.

"It looks like you finally came clean and told Jordan that you know that she's your mate."

I glance at my sister. "I'd ask how you knew, but you've always known things that others didn't."

"Especially when it comes to you, Jace. I'm glad you finally told her."

"She rejected me," I say and now it's time for my throat to tighten.

Surprisingly, Melinda chuckles. "I bet she did. You DID date her cousin, you moron."

"So much love for such a tiny person," I say jokingly, feeling my chest loosen as I talk with Melinda.

"Seriously, you didn't think that she'd really ever be okay with that, did you?" she asks.

"I didn't ever expect to believe that I was good enough for her," I say quietly. "Your mother dying had nothing to do with your worthiness, Jace," she says. "It's not about that.”

"Isn't it? I may have been young, Jace, but I remember how closed off you were after your parents' death. You tried to shut everyone out, and you did a damn good job of it," she says. "Everyone except one, small, annoying little girl who wouldn't let me be," I say, but I smile at the memory of Melinda, who was like a beacon of sunshine in my dark and stormy life.

She shrugs, not at all apologetic. "You said yourself that I see what others don't. And what I see in you, Jace, is the same thing I've always seen, someone who is strong, compassionate and deserves to be loved more than he thinks he does."

Kaiden finishes nursing and I reach out my hands. "Here, let me," I say, taking him and putting him against my chest, rubbing and gently tapping on his back until he burps, then keeping him there, enjoying the quiet calm that always comes from being around Melinda.

"So, what are you going to do, big brother?" she asks, turning to face me, pulling one leg up in her chair and leaning her head on her hand.

"I'm going to prove to her that I can be a good mate to her, that I'm worthy of being her mate."

"You think you have to prove that to her?"

I think about that for a moment. "I do now. Maybe I didn't before, but I do now. After everything, well, she hasn't rescinded the rejection and she's been dating Nolan since the Contest."

"And now we have to add another mate bond to the mix," she says, making me snap my head in her direction.

"What do you mean?" I ask, more sharply than I intend.

She raises an eyebrow at me. "I think you already know what I mean."

I stare at her a moment. "You're freakishly scary, you know that."

She smiles. "From you, I'll take that as a compliment."

I lean down, k*issing the top of my nephew's head, smelling his sweet baby smell.

"What about you? What are you going to do about mom?" I ask her.

She turns back around in her seat, slouching down and resting her head on the back of the chair.

"I'm thinking of having Luna Jara sit in as mediator, but it would give her a chance to see Ryder and Molly and meet Kaiden," she says.

"You could ask Jordan. I know she'd be happy to do it," I say to her.

"Jordan won't be around," she says cryptically.

"What? Where is she going?" I ask. She just smiles at me. "You'll see."

I grunt, frustrated with her cryptic references.

Then I turn to her. "Let me ask you something. You see so much of everyone else. How did you not see that mom was keeping you from Jonas?"

"A good question, one that only he, and now you, have ever asked me. And the answer is, while I see glimpses and images of others' lives, the only thing I've ever seen in my life, is Jonas. I didn't even see our babies," she says, reaching out to stroke Kaiden's hair.

"But in some ways, that makes it more special. I get to be surprised right along with him every time I get pregnant."

"You know there are ways to prevent that, right?"

"You know that I want as many babies as my mate will give me, right?" she says, smiling.

"What your mate wants is to go to bed with his mate tucked up against him," Jonas' deep voice says behind me. "Come on, Melly, let's go to bed. It's been a long day," he says, coming to take her hand.

I stand with them. "I'll carry Kaiden inside. I don't get to spend as much time with my niece and nephews as I'd like," I say, turning and walking inside.

Melinda and Jonas begin whispering behind me as I walk inside. I lean down, taking another deep breath of Kaiden's baby scent, closing my eyes and sending up a wish to the Moon

Goddess that one day, I'll be smelling my own pup's scent.

When I open my eyes, I see Jordan's startled expression. Shock and something else, something I can't quite put my finger on.

"Hopefulness," Melinda says quietly, coming to take Kaiden from me and saying goodnight before she and Jonas head upstairs to bed.

I look at Jordan a moment longer, hoping my sister is right.

"Goodnight, Jordan," I say, walking past her, grazing her fingers as I go. "Goodnight, Jace," she says, reaching her arm out so her fingers touch mine as long as possible before I've moved too far away. I'll take that as a win.