The Claiming by Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 40 (Jaxon)

It took me a couple of hours to recover from the morning training session, but by lunch time, I was mostly back to normal.

“Are you gonna make it, Super Hotty?” Eve teases me over lunch.

“If you had asked me a couple of hours ago, I’d have said no, but at least now I feel like I can walk.”

“That was brutal,” Alejandro says, having come to sit with us.

“If you think that was brutal, just wait. If he is anything like Ezekiel, we’ll all be barely standing by the end of the week,” Eve says.

“Yeah, it was about two days before we were all struggling to get through both classes each day and by the end of the week, none of us were able to hold our heads up to eat dinner.” I tell him, enjoying my lunch while my body still can.

“Was it really that brutal?” Magdalena asks.

“Yes,” both Eve and I say together.

After lunch, Eve looks at me. “I was going to spend some time with Maggie this afternoon.”

“Perfect, I wanted to speak to Rowen. She mentioned wanting to talk to me while I’ m here.”

Eve comes over, wrapping her arms around my neck and looking up at me. “See you for afternoon training?”

My arms rest perfectly around her waist, pulling her against my body. “I’ll see you there.”

Her lips start twitching and I raise my eyebrow.

“I’m sure it will get easier for you,” she says, a full-on smile spreading across her face.

“You,” I say, pecking her lips, “are lucky I love you.”

“Every minute of every day,” she says, before leaning in for a d*eeper k*iss. This one lingers until someone, presumably her father, loudly clears their throat. I pull away. No since kicking over the beehive.

Eve shoots a glare at her father before heading out with Maggie. I turn and go in search of Rowen. I follow her scent to her room, where I knock.

“Come in,” she says from inside her room. I open the door to see her sitting on her bed looking out the window.

“Oh, hey Jax.”

Rowen,” I say,

to one of the chairs in her room. By chair, I mean bean bag blob on the floor. I hate the things. Once I’m in, it feels practically

“What’s up, Rowe?”

her bed that she’s sitting on before taking a d*eep breath and looking up at me. “How do you know

at my sister. “Did

But he’s in the competition.” She says, looking down before looking back up at me. “How do

her scent. I picked her scent out of every other one that first day of the contest. She was like nothing I’ve ever smelled before,” I say, smiling as I remember honing in on my mate. “And

I knew I had to have her and that being

he’s too young to

talk

frowns, looking up at

and Eve’s brother Alejandro are pretty

wide at that. “Teagan is going

to turn 18, Alejandro is still a

can sense the mate bond, then why didn’t he

Jordan that he knows that they are mates, because he thinks she deserves

Maybe your strength in the competition

“If that’s the case, then I deserve better. And I doubt it anyway, he’s an

I

me, debating if she should

You know I

another moment. “It’s Alpha Enzo. Alpha Antonio and

think for a minute. “You beat him in the

“Do you think that could

that’s the reason, you’re right,

finished the race because

has the heart of an Alpha, because she’s strong and because she dug d*eep inside herself, just like you and everyone else that finished had to

you my impressions. Plus, he’ll be older. If he wasn’t

her arms around my neck and laying her

a moment before pulling

any part of this competition because

smiles up at me. “Yes, big brother,

fighting for what you want, I’ll see

snorts. “Are YOU going to make it?” she asks me, like

nothing is getting in the way of me

Jordan POV

and nearly as h*ard as my one-on-one training. I was still feeling the workout from this afternoon during

But it’s good. I’m already feeling stronger, and I

a knock at my door. I look