The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 2. Mate 288 Vouchers

Chapter 2: Mate

Hunter

"Hey, what time are we leaving to head to the Alpha's daughter's party?" Lucas, my Beta, asks.

"Do you mean what time are we heading over to Alpha Carter's party? Or do you mean what time are we heading over to Alpha Amelia's party?" I ask my Beta, my tone sharp. "They have names. You should know them and use them."

It's an uncalled for response and I know it, but I hate these parties. How any Alpha can find his mate and then share their first encounter with everyone in the room is beyond me. If anyone were to see my mate like that, I'd kill them. I don't care if that meant I had to decimate every pack in this world. I don't share. Never have, never will.

"Come on, Alpha. You know I didn't mean it like that. It's the way it is," Lucas says. says.

"Maybe it shouldn't be the way it is. We consider ourselves an advanced species from the humans and yet they ended this ridiculous practice centuries ago."

I turn, looking at my Beta. "Do you really not care that every man in the room will watch you have sex with your mate on her first night? You don't care that they'll see her in some stage of undress? You're willing to share the woman the Moon Goddess chose only for you with every lecherous man in the room?"

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"Geez, Alpha, when you say it like that, it sounds creepy. There are ways to make sure she's covered. I'm not like some of those a**holes who strip their mate down and bend her over so the men get a front row view of him taking her as she s**bs her heart out. I wouldn't do that."

"Yeah? So, it's better that you're covering her body, but she can. still see the room full of men behind you watching her as you pump into her?" I growl.

"What has gotten into you?" he asks me.

"I refuse to do that to my mate. The bond is supposed to be sacrosanct, and this forced act of a public mating does not fall in line with that. There is nothing about it that is sacred and don't tell me that those males don't get off watching that poor woman get claimed in front of them." By the time I finish. speaking, I'm snarling.

"I don't know what to tell you, Alpha. You know that our pack, no pack, will accept your Luna if you don't claim her publicly.

I do know. It's why I'm glad that I haven't found my mate yet.

My sister was older than I am. After her public claiming, she told me how horrible it was for her, how she could never trust her mate to care for her after that. She practically begged me to never mistreat my mate like that. I loved my sister, and I was devasted when she jumped off a cliff high enough to ensure she wouldn't survive. When the packhouse doctor examined her to find out if she was pushed, he confirmed that she was pregnant with a female pup, and knew exactly why she did it. She refused to allow her daughter to go through what she went through. Chapter 2: Mate

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I have no intention of ever putting my mate through that. My sister was a strong woman, an Alpha female, and it was more than she could bear. If I ever do find my mate, and goddess. willing I won't, but if I do, I won't mate her in front of a room full of onlookers. I won't be the reason that my mate can't ever trust me or worse, would prefer to end her life than live with me.

If for some reason this girl is my mate, I will refuse to mate her in front of everyone. If she's not, I have no desire to watch her public claiming. However, I am an Alpha. An Alpha who was invited to this Alpha female's

to occupy my mind, something other than the possibility of what will happen tonight. When we arrive, I park in the already packed parking area and Lucas and I begin making our way

see Alpha Carter, his mate, Luna Amy, and a young she-wolf. I lift my nose in the air and realize

I greet Alpha Carter and Luna Amy before. turning to

name, pup?"

and I smile at her

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I am, Alpha. And my name is

say, taking her hand, then leaning over and kissing

Carter growls at me. "Sophie, as you stated, is underage

turn and look at him. "I

hold his gaze until he nods, recognizing that I wasn't trying to be inappropriate with this young female. It makes me wonder who may have tried something with her already tonight. It's not wise of Alpha Carter to let her stick around if her sister finds her mate. The males become randy and depending on how the male claims his mate, the process can put the ranked males into rut. Based on the look he's giving me,

look around, I realize that every male here is hoping to get laid. tonight, one way or

a couple of Alphas here who aren't falling into the craze of excitement and those are the ones I migrate to. I get a drink and go stand beside the four Alphas who are

some instances, even after the male

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their claiming until after dinner. I see that this girl's parents, her name is Amelia, are hoping that if she finds her mate, that he'll at least give

if I want her to be my mate or not," Alpha

says.

a lot of pure Alphas left in our area. Amelia and her sister

getting so thick you

we've supposedly evolved from the wolves that give us our

sip my drink, Alpha

that everyone should move to the back room. We all move as instructed. I notice the younger sister, Sophie, standing

nudges me

'Shaw, what's up?'

that

at these things. For him, there's nothing wrong with mating in front of everyone. In fact, he thinks it ensures that everyone knows that she is

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we haven't

gone quiet. I step behind her, blocking the other males from getting too close to her. Her mother, Luna Amy, is standing beside her and

that I mean no harm to her daughter. She seems to understand, turning back to watch her oldest daughter walk down