The Claiming by Cooper

The Council Chapter 63: Jara

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Jara

At the end of the battle, we lost nearly two hundred wolves in total. All but about 15 of Alpha Gunnar’s pack with Alpha Shawn and Alpha Conrad were killed and we lost nearly fifty of our own wolves, leaving our numbers at right around 1200 werewolves left which makes us critically endangered of extinction.

We buried our dead, making our pyres and taking a week to give everyone an opportunity to say their goodbyes and grieve the loss of our pack members. Mason and I stood at the front of the pack every night, giving our remembrances of our pack members, letting others say anything they wanted to say about our lost brothers and then we’d light the pyres and watch as their ashes burned up, floating into the sky.

The last night was the hardest. That night, we said goodbye to our Gammas, Joseph and Stella. Jace stood by stoically, his hands in fists as he watched their pyres burn into the night. Luke and Mason had stayed with him, standing beside him until he was finally ready to come back inside.

That had been a month ago. Mason had asked Luke to be his Gamma and he had accepted. It was only about a week later that Luke and Brynn had asked if they could adopt Jace, knowing he had no family left.

Mason and I had talked to Jace, letting him know that no one could ever replace his parents and that there were many people in the pack that loved him, us included, but that Luke and Brynn had specifically asked if they could adopt him.

“Would I have to call them mom and dad?” He asked.

we know they aren’t your biological parents. If you choose to call them mom and dad or some version of that in the future, you can,

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it. They know that you and Melinda are friends, and they want to make sure that

but he had eventually agreed. It was a rough transition at first, but both Luke and Brynn were patient with him and gave him the space he needed. Melinda, on the other hand, couldn’t contain her excitement and went around telling everyone that Jace was her

keep him from isolating himself from the pack. He wouldn’t talk to many people, but somehow, Melinda

The

had found

Gunnar’s packhouse. They were all filthy and hungry by the time they were found,

!

and is doing exactly what we’d hoped that they would, listening to us, the ones they represent. Mason and I don’t always get our way, but the majority wins and overall, it seems to be working for the packs and the alliance. We still call it an alliance even though all of the werewolf

was born bald, so we expect that she’ll have her mother’s blond hair, but she got her father’s bright blue eyes. Since both parents have blue eyes, it was highly likely that any children they have

Mignon told everyone that she is pregnant again, but she doesn’t know the baby’s gender yet. We’re all hoping for another girl, of course. Hana had scoffed that Mignon had beaten her again, so apparently, she and Seth are

Chapter 63:

well.

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doctor. I knew I was pregnant when I couldn’t shift, and I told him as much once the war was over and he had healed from the injuries he’d sustained.

popped out, just like last time. One night I go to bed with a flat stomach, the next morning it’s