The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 33 (Evangeline)

After Grandmother Isabella told us about my parents coming to stay at Alpha Jordan's pack next week, I immediately went to my room to call my mother.

"Is it true?" I ask as soon as she answers.

"Good morning to you too, Evangeline. It's nice to hear from you."

"Mother, is it true? Are you and dad coming to Alpha Jordan's pack next week?"

"Yes, your father and I will be escorting the family to Alpha Jordan's pack to participate in the specialized training for the contest. In addition, Alpha Jordan has graciously invited the other 7 contestants from our pack to join in the training as well as Alejandro. However, your father thought that this would be a good time for give Alejandro some practice being an Alpha. Interestingly, your brother declined and is joining us as well."

I snort. "Of course, he is mother. He's mated to Teagan, and this is an opportunity for him to get to spend a week with her."

It's quiet a moment. "Your grandmother said that you and Jaxon have been training hard this week."

"What were you expecting, mother? That I would give up my dreams for my mate? That's not who I am. You should know me better than that."

"You're right, I should. I'm looking forward to seeing you, Evangeline. I hope that at the end of this week that you will return home. Your father has Mateo scheduled next week and he has agreed to reciprocate with Alpha Jordan and her pack."

"What is Mateo's specialty?" I ask, curious. I'm getting quite a well-rounded workout in the first three weeks of practice.

"Savate," she says.

"Savate? I don't even know what that is," I tell her.

"I understand that it's a bit like kick-boxing only with a street fighter flair. It should be a good training after just finishing Nolan's training this week."

"Are you and dad planning to train as well?" I ask.

"I'd like to. I hope I can keep up. I'm not as young as I used to be."

I snort at that. My mother has always maintained her fighting physique. She and my father both spar daily with the pack. "Let's see how this week goes, mother. If all goes well and if Jaxon is invited to stay with us as well, then I'll come home. We can take it one week at a time."

"I can live with that," she says.

That night, our last night, Ezekiel pushes us even harder than he has before. My body is sore, my muscles are aching, but I push through.

"Come on, Eve. You've got this," Jaxon says to me after I'm taken down again by Ezekiel.

I look at him. It's the last night of training, it would be easy to give up.

"Don't do it, Evangeline. You're an Alpha, stand up and fight like one." Jaxon says, pushing me. I look at Ezekiel who is watching me intently, waiting to see what I will do.

I take a deep breath and I stand, looking at Ezekiel and getting into my fight stance. "AGAIN!"

"That's my girl," I hear Jaxon say quietly as I begin to spar again. When the training is done, I collapse on the ground.

"Just leave me here and let me die," I say dramatically.

"Not a chance," Jaxon says, conning over and holding out his hand.

"How are you still standing?" I ask him.

"Sheer willpower. I'm almost afraid to stop for dinner, knowing that I may not be able to get up and walk to my room afterward."

We head inside and eat, barely able to stay awake before heading to our rooms. Jaxon's is closer, so I stop there, joining him.

We strip, heading to the shower together. This has become a common event and since neither of us has any energy at the end of the day, there's absolutely nothing sexual about it. It's just a way to save time so we can climb into bed faster.

Once we're in bed, I turn to lay on him. I'm pretty sure I fall asleep before my head t*ouches his chest.

The next day is a much-needed day of rest. Jaxon and I both join morning sparring, but it's easy compared to what we've been doing. Tomorrow morning, we start with Nolan in Alpha Jordan's pack, so Jaxon and I are heading to his pack tonight.

"I'm guessing your parents will be there tonight. How are you feeling about seeing them?"

I shrug. "I'm excited to see my sisters and brothers, and even my mother, but I'm not sure how I feel about seeing my father."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit tentative about seeing him too. He's already warned me about you being underage, then he tried to steal you away from me. I hope that a break from you has helped to give him some clarity."

"I guess we'll see. I told my mother that me returning home next week is dependent on how things go this week."

"You said that you father booked Mateo, right?"

"Yeah."

Jaxon turns and looks at me. "Listen to me, Eve. No matter what happens this week, you need to go home and take advantage of that training. I can't believe the difference that one week made with Ezekiel. If they are all like this, you have to take every opportunity to train that you get. I'll deal with not seeing you for a week if I have to."

I take his hands in mine. "But I refuse to deal with it, Jaxon. I know we haven't had a ton of time to do anything other than train this week, but somehow, I still feel closer to you than I did a week ago."

He pulls me closer to him, lifting our joined hands between us. "I hear near death experiences bring people closer," he says, referencing the hell week we just had.

It's so unexpected and so Jaxon, that I burst out laughing, throwing my head back and laughing for the first time in over a week. Jaxon takes one of our combined hands, pinning it behind my back and holding me against him as I laugh.

When I look up, he's watching me, a possessive, happy smile on his face.

"I hope to hear a whole lot more of that laughter in our lifetime," he says.

I look at those sparkling grey eyes before leaning in to kiss him. Since he is holding both my hands, one behind my back, I lean against him, drawing his mouth to mine in a deep, passionate k*iss.

Melinda POV

"You know you're being a stalker, Isabella," I say watching her take a video of the interaction between Alpha Jaxon and Alpha Evangeline.

"Look at this Luna, look at the way he looks at her," she says, rewinding the video. As I watch, I see Evangeline throw her head back on a laugh and the look I see on Jaxon's face is the same look that I've seen on Jonas's face when he watches me. Love, hunger, possessiveness.

"How are my daughter and her stubborn mate not able to see this for what it is? Not able to see that these two have real love between them?" she asks.

"Isabella, you're asking the wrong person. How could my mother not see that all she was doing was hurting me by keeping me from my mate? Jonas says it's because it used to be so different."

"It was, but I'm not blind to it. I hope my daughter is smart enough to figure this out, because if she doesn't, I have a feeling that much like you, Evangeline will walk away from her family."