The Claiming by Cooper

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline) Chapter 54 (Jace)

I finish packing to go to the next contest. I'll be away from the pack for the four days. I've been training hard and other than the times when Jordan was with Nolan, I feel like I'm getting stronger. I'm feeling pretty confident that I will be able to defeat my opponent this weekend and move to the next level in the competition.

I grit my teeth thinking of the times when the pain has ripped through me. I know that Jordan hasn't gone all the way with Nolan as I know that would have seriously weakened me, but that hasn't stopped her from at least k*issing him.

When I'm done, I head down to Jordan's office, knocking on the door. I wait until she calls for me to come in before opening the door.

"Hey, Alpha. I wanted to see if there is anything you need from me before I head out to the competition."

She looks up at me and clasps her hands in front of her on the desk.

"Come in and have a seat, Jace," she says.

I know there is nothing special about the request, but I can't help the little flip in my heart at her request. I close the door and come to sit in front of her, dropping my bag beside me on the floor. She looks at me a moment and I wait her out. "Jace, you need you to accept my rejection."

I grit my teeth. Definitely nothing special about this conversation. "Listen to me, you entered this contest to win your own pack. I know that you can feel the times when I'm with Nolan. You're allowing yourself to get weak when you need to be getting stronger."

"It's my choice and I refuse to accept your rejection."

"Jace, you need to stop this. I won't be held hostage by you or anyone. I've held back with Nolan because I know it impacts you, but I won't continue to do that. You're not being fair to me. You had your chance Jace. You chose someone else. Now, I choose someone else. I'm asking you to do this, for me and for you."

"And I say no."

I watch as she scrubs her face with her hands before standing up quickly, her chair flying out from behind her. She turns, walking away before coming back and slamming her hands down on the desk, leaning towards me.

"Why? Why now have you decided to be so stubborn, Jace?"

"I just need a little more time, Jordan," I tell her.

"For what, Jace? Time to become an Alpha and move on? Newsflash! You don't have to be an Alpha to move on! Accept my rejection so you'll at least have a chance of becoming an Alpha. I don't want to feel like I played a role in weakening you during this competition, but I'm not going to let your choices impact mine."

"Do what you need to do, Alpha," I say standing. "Are we done here? I wanted to know if there was anything that you needed from me before I left."

She's around the desk and in my face in an instant. "Yes, there is something I need from you, Jace! Accept the rejection!"

"No," I snarl, leaning over her. In true Alpha fashion, she doesn't back down, not even a little.

"Do it!" she snarls.

I'm not sure if it's her passion, her scent or the desperation that I see in her eyes, but something in me snaps and I grab her by the hair with one hand, wrapping the other arm around her waist, pulling her against me as my mouth takes hers, devouring her like I've wanted to since the day she turned 18.

She grunts, opening her mouth, most likely to yell at me, but I plunge my tongue into her sweet peppermint taste. I feel her hands fist against my chest as her tongue begins fighting mine for dominance. At first, there's a battle for control, Jordan trying to gain the upper hand and end our k*iss. But I refuse to back down and slowly, she begins to melt against me.

The hand in her hair that was holding her to me relaxes into a softer hold as her fists unfold and her arms slide around my neck. I continue to kiss her, to dominate her mouth and her senses as she k*isses me back.

I've completely lost myself in the moment when she jerks out of my arms. She steps back, her hands over her m*outh, her eyes wide.

"Why did you do that?" she asks.

"It's what I should have done a year ago, the moment you turned 18. But it wasn't my time then and it still isn't now. But my time is coming Jordan, and I refuse to accept your rejection. My answer remains no," I say, leaning down to pick up my bag.

I turn, heading for the door, but I stop as I put my hand on the knob, turning back to her. She's still staring after me. "I hope to see you at the contest this weekend. If not for me, I know the pack would love to have you there rooting for them," I say, turning and walking out before she can respond.

Jaxon POV

Evangeline and I arrive at the former claiming territory the night before the next contest. Being newly mated, it's so hard to be away from her, even for short periods of time. Her family began teasing us that we were attached at the h*ip.

"There's no one in the world that I'd rather be attached to," I said, smiling at my mate. I was rewarded with a fantastic k*iss.

We check in, just like last time, only this time, we've called ahead to let them know we're mates, and we need one room. Thankfully, there aren't as many people here for this competition, so it's easier for them to place us together.

As we get checked in, I look around at our competition.

"Alphas," the council member who is checking us in says getting my attention. "There will be an announcement tonight before dinner. We ask that all contestants be in attendance at 5pm in front of the stage."

"What kind of announcement?" Eve asks.

The woman smiles at us and hands us the key to our room. "Upstairs to the right," she says, and I look at Eve. "I guess that's her subtle way of telling us that if we want to know, we need to show up." She just gives me a smile before looking past us. "Next."

Eve and I get settled into our room, taking advantage of our last few, nonstressful moments to be together before we have to go down for the announcement.

We walk downstairs and we both say hello to our pack members and those from Alpha Jonas's pack that we've become friendly with before coming to stand beside Magdalena, Caleb and Lazio. Not far from us, I see Rowan standing with Alpha Enzo. Teagan and Alejandro are here to cheer us on, but Teagan has dropped out of the competition. My parents were a bit concerned but after seeing that Eve and I were definitely mates, they've relaxed.

Councilman Jason stands in front of us, tapping the microphone, getting our attention.

When we quiet down, he looks out at us.

"Greetings everyone and welcome to the second contest in the competition for the ten available pack lands. As you know, this weekend's competition is focused on strength. As the Alpha of your pack, you mus be stronger than every other person in your pack. When we first made this announcement three months ago, the competition was planned to have each team of two battle each other until one was eliminated, best two out of three.

However, several of you and your Alphas have argued that this is not fair and could potentially put two Alphas together, forcing one to be eliminated, when they could possibly have defeated others in the competition. Therefore, while the battle will still be the best two out of three, your opponent will change from day one to day two. Each day, the opponents will be randomly selected."

He stops, looking out over the crowd. "It has also come to our attention that many of you have identified your mates over the past three months. The council has decided that if you and your mate are randomly selected to battle, you must fight each other, or one of you will have to forfeit. There will be no exceptions."

Well, f*uc*k