The One He Claimed by Cooper
The One 46

Chapter 46: Guests Allison

I thought for sure that Alpha Hunter was going to hurt Luna Sophie when he pinned her during their training session. I nearly jumped on him to pull him off of her. It was my wolf, Mizette, who stopped me, and

I'm glad she did.

I watched, as stunned as Letti, as Luna Sophie lifted her head up and ran her nose over the throat of her mate. I've never, ever seen an Alpha allow that, not even from his mate. But these two seem different. "They're the real deal, aren't they?" Letti asks me quietly.

"It seems so," I say as we watch Luna Sophie distract her mate until she can reverse their positions. Once again, she doesn't appear scared of him at all. Rather than avoiding his touch, she seems to crave it. I have no idea what wager they've made, but Alpha Hunter willingly gives in to her claim that she defeated him an equal number of times that he defeated her. Again, something unheard of in other packs. At least where I come from, Alphas insist on proving that they are the strongest, unyielding and unbending to anyone, even their mates.

As I look around, I see that their pack still isn't accustomed to this level of intimacy among their ranked members. Beta Kinsley seemed shy around her mate, not as open to this level of physical contact, at least not in public, so perhaps, this is as new to these pack members as it is to us.

III

When training is done, Alpha Hunter and Luna Sophie invite us to join them for breakfast before we go see Nikki. I'm anxious to see how she's doing. Her injury was caused because she helped me when Alpha Aiden nearly claimed me. Letti and I had already joined forces, but it wasn't until then that we met Nikki. She's a strong Alpha, tough as nails, and willing to put herself at risk in order to protect others, namely me. She put herself at risk and she didn't even know me.

We've stayed with her ever since. It wouldn't have been fair to leave her on her own after she injured herself protecting me. And I wouldn't have left her anyway. Out in the wild, if you don't help each other, someone gets claimed. But Nikki is an Alpha, and Letti and I deferred to her decision to come to this pack, to see if Sophie Meyers...Sophie Reynolds, was really here.

As I watch Sophie interact with her mate over breakfast, I'm glad we did. I realize that I want what she has. I want a love like this, a love that I didn't know could exist.

"Okay, ready to head over to the pack hospital and see Nikki?" Alpha Hunter asks.

"Oh, Hunter, did you tell them about our visitors tomorrow?" Sophie asks.

"Not yet. I will on our way over to the hospital. Thank you for reminding me. We have a lot going on these days."

I watch as he leans in, watching her, letting her take the final step to kissing him. She does so with no hesitation. I have to look away as jealousy flares inside me. Yeah, I want that.

I feel Letti's hand squeeze my wrist and when I look, I can see that she feels the same way I do. This is what replaceing your mate 1154

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is supposed to be like, for everyone.

We say goodbye to Luna Sophie, etting her know we'll say hi to Nikki for her and we follow Alpha Hunter to the pack hospital.

"So, I need to tell you that I'm having some visitors tomorrow night. They'll be here for one night, possibly two. They are Alphas, neither are mated, and they are coming here to talk to me about supporting me and my decision to not mark Sophie publicly."

I stop walking, my heart rate going up. TWO Alphas? I see my fear reflected on Letti's face.

Alpha Hunter stops, turning to look at us. "They will be my guests, but you three are under my protection. I promise you that no harm will come to you, and I forbid public claimings in my pack," he says. "That doesn't mean that they won't drag us off your pack lands and then claim us," Letti says.

"Over my dead body, over my mate's dead body as well, I assure you, and they would have to get past my entire pack in order to do that. These Alphas are friends, and they will abide by my rules or I will have them removed from my pack lands, without you. If they choose to wage war after that, then so be it. I am prepared for war, as is my pack. You are welcome to remain hidden while they are here. However, I think it would be good for them to hear from you why you've run, why you've chosen a life alone in the wild rather than be publicly claimed," Hunter says.

"They must already know," Letti says.

"They don't. I'm sure of it. My Beta didn't understand. Alpha

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Dutton, another friend that I've already met with didn't understand either. Our wolves don't see the problem with it, and as an Alpha, I can tell you that my wolf, Shaw, wants nothing more than for me to claim his mate for all the world do see so everyone knows that she's ours. It is the human side of us that disagrees with these practices, practices that do not impact us as males the same way that they impact you as females."

w We

It's absurd to me to think that they don't understand don't want to be claimed publicly. It's true, Mizette wouldn't care about being claimed publicly, but she also cares about me and knows that I'd be mortified if I were to be claimed in such a way, so she refuses to allow it willingly, even by our mate.

We walk into the hospital and follow Alpha Hunter to a door.

"This is Nikki's room," Alpha Hunter says, turning to us once again. "I give you my word as an Alpha that I will keep you safe. But the choice about whether or not you will spend time with these Alphas is up to you."

"If you promise to keep me safe, I'll do it. If these Alphas and other ranked pack members really don't understand how it affects us, they need to know."

I look at Letti. "You'll have to decide for yourself, but the more of us who confirm the way we feel, the harder it will be for them to deny it. These ranked members need to realize that we aren't being irrational or acting foolishly There is a reason why we feel this way and it's a valid reason, one they need to think about. and consider if they were to replace their mate, especially if they want to have the kind of relationship that Alpha Hunter and Luna Sophie have."

"You swear to keep us safe?" Letti asks Alpha Hunter.

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"My word as an Alpha," he says. When we nod, he opens the door and I see Nikki sitting up. Her eyes are intent on mine and as I begin to smile, she speaks.

"Why is Alpha Hunter giving his word as an Alpha again?"

"I'll leave you three to talk. Nikki, do you need anything?"

"No, thank you, Alpha."

After Hunter leaves, we rush to the bed, hugging Nikki tightly.

"What's going on?" she asks.

Letti and I proceed to tell her everything, the differences that we've seen between Luna Sophie and every other ranked, claimed female we've ever met. Then we let her know about the visiting Alphas. She looks down at her leg. "I don't know that I'll be healed in time, but I don't want you meeting with them alone," she says.

"Alpha Hunter gave his word that we'd be safe. You heard him, Nikki."

"Do you trust the word of an Alpha now, Letti?" she asks.

"Not all of them," Letti says, smiling ruefully. "But I trust the word of three Alphas," she says, making Nikki smile.

"I'd better be one of the three," she says.

"Absolutely!"

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