The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 3

Layan's Return by Cooper (Jara & Mason)

Chapter 38

Mason

Almost everyone leaves the next day. I made arrangements with Davis to get Layan's things. I'm sure Elijah will want to go with her to collect them.

"Just let me know once she's settled and ready to come get her belongings." He says, his arm wrapped tightly around McKenna's waist.

"I'll see you soon, I'm sure, Luna." McKenna says to Jara.

"Call me Jara, McKenna. You're one of the Lunas now. We'll be inviting you to attend our monthly meetings and we're having our first annual Luna council meeting this year. That will be in about a month at the same time that the Alphas have their meeting."

She looks at Davis, almost as if she's asking his permission. He raises his eyebrow at her, not saying a word.

She blinks, frowns for a moment then turns to Jara, the frown disappearing. "I'd love to. I can't wait."

"Good. We'll be having a call before the in-person meeting to decide on our agenda. Last year it was two days, so we're expecting the same. This year, however, most of us have young pups, so we'll need to add in a lot of breaks for nursing and...." Jara's voice trailing as they walk. She has hooked her arm into McKenna's and is walking her to the car.

Davis watches them walk away.

"It's amazing being mated." He says quietly.

"It really is." I say.

Davis frowns. "Do you think...."

"What?" I ask turning to him.

He turns to me. "I think we need to talk to Dr. Braxton or maybe Councilman Jason about the possibility that fated mate bonds are still out there. We just haven't had enough she-wolves to really focus on it. But after the last two claimings, after feeling the pull to McKenna that I did, and that she felt toward me, almost instantly, I think it's worthwhile to start looking into that again."

"I think that's an excellent agenda item for our Alpha conference. And I think you may be right. Plus, now that we're already adding to the female population, things will change. Not overnight, obviously, but just with the group of mated pairs from last year, we've already added seven females to our numbers. That's just one year. Not that I expect our Lunas to single handedly repopulate our species. But, who knows, next year at this time, we may have even more to add to that, now that McKenna and Katerina are in the mix." I say.

"And Layan. I hope she will be able to have pups, too. She's a good person. She deserves that, and so does your Beta."

"He does, they do. But I imagine they will be taking their time. They still have a lot to overcome, not the least of which are her medical issues. I know that if there is any concern that a pregnancy will cause Layan to have problems, possibly risking her life, Elijah won't even consider pups. So, it' Il be a while before we know if they will be adding to our population as well."

"So much has changed in such a short amount time." He says, and we begin walking to the car.

"Imagine the possibilities of what will change in the next year, the next two years." I say as we come up on our mates.

"I'll see you soon, McKenna." Jara says hugging her goodbye.

"See you soon, Davis." I say shaking hands with him before he gets his mate tucked into his car. We wave to them as they drive off.

"What's on the agenda for today, Mason?" She asks as we walk back into the main packhouse. We're spending the days here so she can be available when Layan wakes up if needed.

"I'll be calling Luke and doing some work with him via video. What about you, my Luna? It's weird having all this free time." I say.

"Ha, my mother and father are leaving today too. You're 'free time' just turned into caring for babies." She says.

"Always happy to look after my pups." I tell her. "Is your mother bringing them here before she leaves?"

"She is. I'll let you know when she drops them off."

I kiss her, before heading to the office. It's a couple hours later before she brings the babies in. I take a moment to say goodbye to Nina and Phillip, thanking them for helping with our twins.

"Any time." Nina says, going to give them one more kiss. We say our goodbyes and then the packhouse returns to its state of quiet.

"Nothing from Layan yet?" I ask Jara. "Not yet. I'm going to go make some dinner for them and us. Are you good with the twins?"

"I am." I say, just as Jordan begins fussing. "And there's my girl."

I pick up Jordan, tucking her against my chest with a bottle as I sit back down and continue working on the issues that are going on in the pack.

It isn't long before I begin to smell the delicious scents of dinner. I look down at Jaxon who is now in my arms,

having put Jordan back in her little carrier when she fell back to sleep. "Smells like steak and something sweet. Your mommy is making me hungry." I tell him while he gums his fist.

Jara pokes her head into the office. "All good? I just want to take this up to Elijah in case Layan wakes up and then I'll be back."

"Take your time." I tell her, looking down to see Jaxon is asleep now too. Perfect timing.

When Jara gets back, she wheels in a cart of food, setting it up on the table in the room as I come over.

"Smells delicious." I tell her. She sets aside dessert and we eat, enjoying the quiet and our alone time after so long being with others. When we finish, she hands me the small tray.

"What's this?" I ask her.

"It's a cupcake." She tells me.

I look at the cupcake and then at Jara. "You made a cupcake?"

"I did."

"With no icing?" I ask, looking at the bare, yellow cake on the plate.

"I put the icing inside."

My mate is up to something. I crook my finger at her, and when she's close enough, I pull her into my lap, her legs straddling mine.

I get her settled and look at the cupcake again, picking it up and setting the plate aside.

"What aren't you telling me about this cupcake, my love?"

"Take a bite and tell me what you think?"

I watch her, lifting the cupcake and taking half of it in my mouth at once. It's good. I thought maybe it was going to be some sort of experiment gone wrong, but it's a normal cupcake, except the pink icing in the middle.

"You put pink icing in my cupcake?"

"I did." She says, smiling at me. I'm missing something.

"And this signifies something?"

"It does."

I look at the cupcake again then at my mate.

"I need another hint." I say, as I swipe my finger through the icing and lift my finger to her mouth.

I feel my body respond instantly as her lips close around my finger and I feel her tongue licking the icing off slowly. Her eyes never leave mine and I'm ready to throw the cupcake out and get my dessert from my mate.

But then, I remember that she did this for a reason. She sucks on my finger, pulling her mouth off with a soft 'pop'.

"I went to see the doctor here at the claiming territory today." She says and I frown.

"Is everything alright? Are you okay?"

"I'm perfect." She says, this time she swipes the pink icing onto her finger, holding it out in front of my face.

"The doctor said we should have a surprise in just over four months."

I frown, still not following her. She takes her finger covered in pink icing and moves it like a metronome in front of my face. And then, it all clicks.

"You're pregnant?"

"I'm pregnant."

I look at the pink icing, then at my mate.

"We're having a girl!" We say together.