The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 6: Kinsley

Hunter

"Why hasn't Alpha Aiden returned my f**k**g call," I growl at Lucas.

"He's out hunting Alpha females like the rest of them," he says, gloomily.

Lucas found his mate a year ago. Once he claimed her, he realized just how right I was to hate this process. His mate, while a good Beta female and role model for the pack, still struggles with their mate bond. Every time he touches her in public, she flinches away from him.

I know he hates it, but she's actually more comfortable with me than she is with him. I asked her about it once and she told me that she saw me walk out of the room during the claiming process. She said that she trusts me because I did what I could to give her a bit of privacy. The same couldn't be said for the others at the party, and so, she still struggles with Lucas' touch.

I also know that it extends into their bedroom. I don't ask, and he hasn't said anything to me, but Kinsley hasn't gotten- pregnant yet, so I doubt they are having sex and I know it must be killing him to not be able to touch his mate.

"Anyone in their right mind who's paying attention realizes that all we're doing is causing more problems for our packs. They need to end this ridiculous process and stop having these public claimings," I growl, standing and pacing.

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"Yeah, I agree with you," Lucas says contritely.

There's a knock at the door and before I tell her to come in, I already know it's Kinsley. When she opens the door, she looks surprised to see Lucas in here. She collects herself quickly, then glances back at

me.

"Alpha I was wondering if you wanted lunch. I wasn't sure what your plans were for today." She glances at her mate. "I could bring you lunch as well, Lucas."

"I'd rather have lunch with you, Kins," he says.

don't really

have to eat Kinsley," he says to her. I watch the interaction between them, but I stay out of it. This is their mate bond, and he has to figure it out. There was a time when Kinsley did lose too much weight and I had to step in. It was soon after they had been mated and she had stopped eating completely. As much as I don't want to interfere in a mate bond, she is a pack member, and I was worried about her. I brought her into my office, and I told her that she either needed to start eating or that she would have to start

I watched everything that she ate, she finally took

me, a pleading look in his eyes. Where he is unable to make headway with his mate, I am able to as her Alpha. Chapter 6.

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Lucas about the missing ranked she-wolves over lunch. You might have a different perspective, different insights, something that we're overlooking that could help us find some of these females. Would you be willing to have lunch with us and talk through that?" I ask her. leave the decision up to her. I won't

looks at Lucas. "I'm not. sure what information I can provide

Beta female, and these are ranked females on the run. They're in danger and we need to do something to help them. You have insights to that different than what Lucas and I have." She looks thoughtful for a moment,

get three trays of food

your problem, but as my Alpha, as

except in the one instance where she was killing herself. Everything I do leaves the decision up

claim of her, has caused all of these problems. That night, she had no choice. It didn't matter how kind he was during the process, it didn't matter what he had done to make it as

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they can't

not long after they were mated, he got **t-faced drunk and told me that the moment that his canines sank into her flesh, he felt her fear, her embarrassment, and her shame at what was happening. The strength of her emotions had flooded into him, and it had

conference table thinking back to that birthday party two years ago. That party seems to have been the catalyst that started it all. Sophie Meyers, the younger sister of Amelia, ran the night of her sister's claiming. Calvin, like Lucas, had

fighting against her father Alpha Carter, wanting him to go after his daughter. But he refused. He said

him. I was surprised when Alpha Ezra, my sister's mate, also stood beside him. I guess I shouldn't be, though. My sister killed herself to get away from the mate bond. Alpha Ezra

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eliminating the public claiming process since the day that Sophie left. For al long time, the Alphas kept tabs on him, certain that he knew where his daughter was, ready to go find her and drag her back. However, from everything that I could tell, she

was two years

11

against this process, sparked a revolution of sorts among the ranked females. Rather than waiting until their 18th birthday to tell them what was going to happen, mothers began telling

than fixing the problem, this has actually made things much worse. In some instances, ranked she-wolves are choosing death rather than the public claiming. This has only made the Alphas

splitting the packs into one of two sides. One side is in agreement that the public claimings should end and the other is still fighting to continue with this antiquated process. In some packs, such as my own, there is disagreement within

Chapter 6 Kinsley