The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 20 Evangeline

Maggie and I get ready for dinner then head downstairs. They will announce the winners of the marathon and then announce the next contest and timeframe tonight. I’m nervous and excited.

We meet up with our family and sit at the table with him. As I look around, I see that every table seems to be seated by family and pack. Most of the Alpha tables have more than one person moving into the next phase of the competition. Every pack has someone moving on.

As dinner is served, there is a low-level chatter around the room. The excitement and energy in the room is tangible, making the younger pups and the omegas antsy. My father made sure Makayla was sitting beside him to help keep her calm. As I look out over the groups, I see that Jaxon’s father, Alpha Mason has done the same with Raelyn.

Other families with younger pups are having a harder time keeping their children settled.

As our plates are being taken away, Councilman Jason moves to the small stage set up in front of the dining room. “Good evening, everyone. We’d like to start off tonight by announcing our winners.”

He begins to list off the winners by pack. There is a lot of extra cheering for the two omegas, when they are announced, since this is a huge accomplishment for them. There is a nearly even distribution of winners among the ten existing packs. We have nine winners moving on from our pack.

Once the winners are announced, Councilman Jason takes an envelope provided by a councilwoman.

He opens the envelope. “The next round of the contest will be strength. You will have three months to prepare for this part of the competition. We recommend that our five runners-up also prepare for the competition, in the event that someone drops out of the contest or is unable to participate for some reason.”

He stops, waiting for the murmurs to quiet. “The next competition will be another elimination round. At the end of that competition, only 50 contestants will remain in the competition. Again, we will take several runners-up to ensure that there is no gap in the competition.”

more loudly. I look at

that fair to the

and everyone on the field, then you shouldn’t be an Alpha.” It’s not arrogant, the way my father says it, it’s a fact, and he’s right. If you can’t defeat your opponent, then you shouldn’t be eligible to be an

Councilman Jason continues. “The battles will be randomly selected on the first day, so no one will know who they will go up against until the day of the competition. There will be no delineation between pack, gender, or rank. Every battle will be completely random. That also means it is possible that you could go up against your own family member. Alphas will sometimes be challenged by a family member, so you would need to be able to defeat an opponent,

level

of you end up against me, sorry about

“Good luck with that, little

if you have to

at our banter from where he’s sitting. It’s a proud smile, his children aren’t afraid of the challenge or the possibility of having to battle each other. Although, that makes me think about the possibility

eyes meet grey ones looking

across his face. I just shake my head at him. He’s not taking me

attention again and everyone turns their heads back

run over three days. The first two days, all contestants will fight. On the third day, only the contestants

and Councilman Jason raises

“Are there any questions?”

I will see all of you in three months. Good luck,”

between. It also means it’s possible that the two omegas are partnered up and one of them

to make it interesting, they certainly did. This round will be as much up to chance as it

begins playing music. The center of the room is set up as a dance floor. I watch as mated couples begin pulling

dance floor. “So, I have an idea,” Alejandro says, coming