The Claiming by Cooper

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 69 (Jace)

Jordan immediately steps out of my grasp. F*uc*king Nolan, this is twice he’s interrupted a conversation I was having with Jordan.

“Nolan, what are you doing here?” she asks him.

“I came to see if I could pry you away from your work and take you to dinner,” he says, eyeing me.

“Yes, absolutely,” she says, turning to me.

“We’ll talk later, Jace.”

I take a step back. “Remember what I said, Jordan,” I say, holding her gaze until she nods.

I walk past Nolan, nodding my head in greeting before walking out. As I get to the end of the hall, I hear him. “So, he’s the mate, huh?”

So, Jordan told him about me, or at least that she has a mate. I’m guessing that he also knows that she rejected me.

I walk downstairs, going to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat before heading back upstairs to my room. On my way out of the kitchen, I hear his voice.

should accept her rejection and let her

stop, turning to face him. “You mean move on with you, don’t

her side,

you? Here’s a clue, Nolan. Date nights and dinners aren’t what Jordan needs. She needs someone who understands how to help her run a pack, someone who is here to have her back, who understands the difficulties she faces on a daily basis and runs interference on those difficulties, so she doesn’t have to fight for herself and her position every f*uc*king day. You know nothing about what Jordan needs. And what do think will happen if she accepts you as her mate? That you would just continue to go off and train people around the world? Leaving her here to run and pack

about me or my intentions,

idea how to live in a pack. When’s the last time you spent more than a week or two in any pack, much less your own? You’re a wanderer, a lone wolf. Leave

is sharp. I take a

Alpha,” I say before

Evangeline POV

I was expecting, but the complete disarray of these pack lands wasn’t it. They are a disaster and all I can think about is, where am I going to put my pup when he’s

started crumbling to the ground, literally falling apart in front of us. The second one had vines

be done once we claim our packs. Well, let’s be honest, no one is going to move to any

dilapidated as the first one was. Jaxon comes up

look like when we’ve made this place our home,” he says, making me turn

pack?” I ask. It’s the first time he’s said something like this to

think it was foolish to put the packhouse way out here. I much prefer having it like it is in Jordan’s pack, closer to the

listen to Jaxon, seeing his

town where we could have pack members open their own shops, making it easier to get things that we need without having to go into town or to other

that idea, and I love you. So, do