The Claiming by Cooper

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline) Chapter 59 (Jaxon)

As Evangeline and I walk out to the training fields, I stuff food into my mouth. I already knew I needed to win today so I could support Eve in winning our pack, but now, there's no choice. No matter who I battle today, even if it's Tobias who I consider my biggest competitor, I must win. I can't expect my pregnant mate to win a pack for us. As focused as I am on this battle today, I still notice that my mate is limping slightly. She's trying to cover it up, but she must be in quite a bit of pain. "Stop worrying about me Jaxon. I can feel it through our bond. Get your head into this match."

"You're limping Evangeline. I want to carry you back inside and tuck you into bed," I say to her.

"Well, that's a fight waiting to happen," she says, smirking at me.

I shake my head at her before looking up at the leaderboards and breathing a sigh of relief. I'm not fighting Tobias. I'm not even fighting another Alpha, I'm fighting a warrior. I'm not stupid enough to think that automatically means I'll win, but I have a much better chance of winning now.

My match is in the second round.

Magdalena has a match in the first round.

"Let's go watch your sister," I tell Eve.

Eve turns to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. "You don't have to. Why don't you go stretch and get ready for your match. I can go root Maggie on."

I pull her to me, careful because I know she's sore. "The two most important people in the world to me are right here. Why would I walk away from that?" I ask her, k*issing her softly. "Damn, you're a charmer. I we have a son and he's like you, the girls are doomed," she says, making me smile.

We walk to Magdalena's sparring circle. Today's matches will still span over five hours, but instead often matches at each hour, there will only be seven.

When we arrive, I stand behind Eve, wrapping my arms around her and putting my hands on her stomach, hoping my heat will help to alleviate her soreness. She leans back against me while we wait for the match to begin.

As we watch, Haley walks up to the ring.

"Oh, I need to go talk to Maggie. I know how to defeat Haley," Eve says, and she does her best to walk normally as she moves to speak to her sister and father.

I watch Haley look over and realize that she's fighting Eve's sister and she gets a look of defeat on her face before she ever steps into the ring. She might have been able to win this match, but not when she's mentally already given up.

I take the time while Eve is talking to Magdalena to begin stretching and getting my head into my own match. The warrior is from Alpha Antonio's pack. I don't know him well, but as a warrior, he'll be a good fighter.

It's not until I smell her honeysuckle scent that I realize that Eve is back. I stand up and pull her to me again, putting my hands over her stomach. I catch her father trying to casually look back at us. He must have noticed her limping. He's an Alpha. He would know the signs of a she-wolf that was recently knotted for the first time by her mate.

When the match begins, I know I was right about Haley. She lost the fight before she ever entered the ring. In just under 30 minutes, Magdalena wins the fight, moving into the next round.

Magdalena runs and jumps into Caleb's arms. He is also battling today, having lost yesterday. Eve hugs her sister and then we make our way to where my match will be.

I begin getting into my head space, closing my eyes. I need to win, I will win, I am a winner.

When I open my eyes, I find my opponent and I begin assessing him. He looks like he favors his right side just a bit more than this left. As I watch him shadowboxing, I see he always starts with his right arm. He's right side dominant. I can work with this.

When it's our turn, I walk into the ring, confident. I nod to him, and then get set. When the referee calls the start of the match, the warrior immediately comes at me. I'm ready for him and I take a few minutes to see where he may have some other weaknesses before I swipe his right leg out from under him. I swing my fist around to punch him in his chest while he's lying on the ground, but he's already moved. Okay, he's fast. I can work with that too.

I begin to wear him down quickly, focusing my attention on his right side. Once he begins to tire, I know I have him and I've won my match in less than 30 minutes.

I help him to his feet, letting him know he did a good job before turning to find Eve. She races into my arms.

"You did it! We're both moving on!"

I bury my face in her hair. "How are you feeling?" I ask in her ear.

She pulls back and looks at me. "Really? You just won your match, we're both moving on, and THAT'S the first thing you ask me?"

"You, my dear mate, are the most important thing in my life. So yes, your health, safety and well-being will always be at the forefront of my mind." I watch as her eyes darken. "Take me to our room and I'll show you how good I'm feeling," she says.

I'm just about to turn and do that, when Alpha Luke interrupts.

"Alpha Jaxon, a moment?"

I look at Eve, putting her feet back on the ground. "I'll be up to see you soon," I say to her.

She ignores me and instead, she takes my hand and turns to look at her father. "Is there something you wanted to discuss, father?" she asks him.

He looks at Eve, his eyes softening.

"I just want to make sure you both know what you're doing," he says.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Eve says.

My eyes never leave Alpha Luke's. "He knows, Eve," I say to my mate before addressing her father. "And, it may not have been planned right now, but it was planned. We'll make it work." "Seriously, Dad?" Eve asks him.

He turns to look at her. "This competition was very important to you, Evangeline. Now, all of a sudden, you' re did you change your mind?" he asks her.

"No," she says.

He turns back to me. "So, you did this intentionally?"

My mate moves to stand in front of me. If it were anyone other than her father, I'd pull her back, but his meddling has been the bane of our relationship from the beginning.

"I'll have you know that it was ME that was on top, Dad."

He grimaces. "I don't want to know about that, Evie."

"Apparently, you do, Dad. You keep inserting yourself into our lives and now you're specifically asking about me taking my mate's knot. So, if you're going to ask personal questions, then you'd better be prepared to hear the personal answers," she snaps at him.

He grits his teeth. "I just wanted to be sure Jaxon hadn't put you in a position where you can't compete. I know this is important to you."

"No, Dad, you don't. If you knew what was truly important to me, then you would know that my mate is more important to me than this contest. And, you would know that I'm more important to him than this contest. And for your information, not that it's any of your business, but while I was stuck on his knot, the very first thing HE did was talk about how I COULD stay in this competition, not try to get me out of it." Alpha Luke looks at me, surprised, although I don't know why. It's not like my bond to his daughter is any different than his to his mate. But for some reason, he seems to think that I'm faking this bond between

us.

"I thought we had moved past this, Dad. Yet, here we are again," she snarls.

"What's going on?" Luna Katerina says, walking up. I realize that there is quite a group of onlookers watching the interaction.

I reach out, taking Eve's hand. "Come on, baby, let's go watch Jace's competition."

She tugs back against me, still glaring at her father. "Why don't you explain to mother why I now refuse to spend half my time at your pack," she says, before turning to walk with me.

"Luke, what's going on?" I hear Katerina ask as Eve begins to stomp away.

As soon as we're away from them, I pull her aside, taking her to a quiet place beside the main packhouse. "Eve, shhhh. It's okay," I say, pulling her against me.

"No, Jaxon, it's not. If he won't accept you, won't come to terms with the fact that we are mated, then he won't be in our lives. He's no better than Brynn and how she treated Melinda, and I won't allow it. If he wants me to choose, I will. My choice will always be you, Jaxon. And if my father has no part in our children's lives, then so be it.