The Claiming by Cooper

Chapter 80

Chapter 80 Jara
I wake slowly, not fully understanding my surroundings. I don’t hear any snarling or growling like I have during the last week I’ve been here in the claiming.
As my memory returns, it all comes flooding back. I was running, I was almost there, and then I was tackled.
Tackled and claimed.
My hand flies to my neck, feeling the still healing wound. I also realize that I’m lying on a warm body, a strong arm wrapped around me, holding me against him.
I bolt upright, jumping out of bed. Who was it? Who claimed me?
I turn, ready to race out of the room, a room that a small part of my brain realizes is the one I’ve been living in for nearly two months.
“Jara, you’re safe.” I whip my head back and I see Mason, slowly getting out of bed. His gaze is focused on me, but it’s taking my brain too long to catch up to what’s going on around me.
I look around the room. Yep, this is my room.
I look back to Mason. Yep, that’s Mason.
I reach my hand up to my neck. Yep, I’m marked.
As Mason watches me reach up to touch the mark on my neck, a smug smile spreads across his face.
“It was you? You claimed me?”
He takes a step toward me. “It was me. You are mine, Jara.
And I am yours. Well, I will be when you mark and claim me back.”
I race to him, jumping into his arms. He catches me easily, swinging me around.
When he puts me down, I smack his chest hard.

“Ow, what was that for?” He asks, rubbing his chest.
“I would have made it if you hadn’t tackled me.”
He leans in, rubbing his nose against mine. “And where would the fun have been if I’d let you win? But, if you want a rematch, I’ll be happy to set one up in our pack when we get back.”
I can’t help but chuckle at that. I stand there a moment, not believing that it’s over and that I ended up with Mason.
“Come on. You need food and then you need a bath.” He says, pulling me over to a table. As soon as he says it, my stomach growls.
He grabs the food and comes to sit with me. “Where did the food come from?” I ask.
“Hana and Seth are still here. She’s brought food and wa-
ter for us.”
I nod, surprised they are still here, but glad they are. “What time is it?” I ask him.
“No idea, but it’s dark out, so some time in the middle of the night. Neither of us has slept well in over a week. And you needed the rest.”
“Are you taking care of me, Alpha?” I ask teasingly.
“Yes, my mate, I am.” He says and his gaze becomes very intense. My brain disconnects for a moment and my heart flutters. This man is mine. All mine.
There is something very primitive about knowing this, about it finally being true. I push the food off the table and begin crawling over it toward him. His smile is amused and so s*xy I feel my body responding.
When I get close enough, he pulls me into his lap, strad- dling him. He’s only in his boxer briefs and I am in a t-shirt and nothing else. The heat of my desire presses against his very hard length.
He runs his hand over my hair, looking at me intently. “As much as I want to do this right now, I promised Luna Hana I’d get you to eat first and you also need that bath, love.”
“I’m hungry, but not for food, Mason.” I watch as his eyes darken almost to black.
“Bath.” He says, lifting me up. I wrap my legs around his waist, reveling in his smell and the feel of his warm, muscular body under my hands.
He walks me into the bathroom, turning on the taps for the large bathtub. He keeps one arm around my waist as he moves around, getting everything ready for my bath.
I can’t help myself, I begin running my nose over his neck, smelling his wintery forest scent. It smells stronger than it did before. I wonder if that’s because he marked me.
When my tongue slides across his marking spot, he stops,
growling low in this chest. I feel his length twitch against me.
“Jara.” He says warningly.
“Mmmm, yes, mate.” I stress the word, since he corrected me earlier.
He reaches around me, somehow pulling my shirt over my head and tossing it to the ground. He takes a moment to look at me, rubbing his hands up and down my back and over my backside.
“So beautiful.” He says reverently.
“Hold on tight.” He says and when I do, he reaches his hands under my legs and pulls his boxer briefs down, kicking them aside before stepping into the bathtub and sitting down, keeping me straddled in his lap.
The feel of the warm water has my eyes rolling back into my head. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” He asks me.
“I’ll never take warm water for granted again.”
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