The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 13: Wait Hunter

I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep knowing she's out there. Alone. My mate.

I've thought through hundreds of scenarios of how to talk to her, to let her know that I won't force my mark on her, or claim her publicly, but I have no idea how to even get close enough to her in order to have a conversation with her.

Shaw has been no help. He's ready to hunt her down and mark her. He wants to claim his mate so no one else can. He's been pacing in my head, asking me every 15 minutes if we have any updates on where the Alphas are hunting.

When he asks me again, I snap.

'Shaw, it's the middle of the f**k**g night. No one has an update on any of the Alphas!' I bark at him.

"We should go to her, find her, protect her, make sure she's safe.'

'If she's safe and we show up, especially at night, she'll run.'

He growls at me and continues to prowl around in my head.

I sigh, sitting up. There was no use trying to get any sleep. Between me and Shaw, I won't be sleeping tonight.

I feel like a zombie by the time I have to get dressed for warrior

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training. I trudge down the stairs and I'm almost knocked over by Lucas who is practically sk**g down the stairs.

"Good morning, Alpha!" he sings, causing me to flinch at his much too loud tone.

"What's good about it," I grumble.

'It's good because we can finally go to her," Shaw grumbles in my head. He's as tired as I am, both of us working off of anxious adrenaline.

"Rough night?" Lucas asks me, his tone and demeaner much more muted.

I sigh. I haven't told anyone. I didn't even tell Kinsley yesterday on the way home. I look around, seeing the warriors all heading out back for training.

I take Lucas' arm and pull him into my office, closing my door. "This stays between me and you. For now, you can't even tell Kinsley," I say, turning to look at him. "Do I need to command you?"

He frowns at me. "When have you ever needed to command me to keep a secret, Alpha?" he asks, and I can hear the hurt in his voice.

I huff, running my fingers through my hair. "You're right, I apologize. I'm just..." I sigh and scrub my face roughly, trying to focus. When I look back at Lucas I can see his worry.

"I smelled her. Yesterday when Kinsley and I went to the place where she leaves the food for the she-wolves on the run, I smelled my mate. She was there. Chapter 13: Wait

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"Oh, f**k. What did you do?"

scare her off. If she's hungry or needed a safe place to sleep, I didn't

didn't sleep all night worrying about

me.

running my hand

looks at me a moment. "Go. Go find her. I can take care of training this morning. Go, talk to her. But Alpha, if you

at my Beta. "Would you challenge me?" I

in our pack. You need to be prepared for that." "If I mark her and she agrees to return with me, they will accept her

nods. "Then go, convince her to let you mark her. Kinsley would love to

go to her. Whether it's Shaw's need, mine, or both of ours, I don't question Lucas' ability to watch the pack

I can think too much about it,

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where he last smelled our mate. As we run, I catch the scent of local Alphas, but we also catch the scent of other

wolves would be in these woods is because they are hunting she-wolves on the run, one of those being my mate. When we

these Alphas finds her first. One of the problems that has arisen with the she-wolves running is that now, ranked members don't only search for their fated mates. If they find a wolf and catch her, they claim her. So, the fact that this she-wolf is mine won't matter to them. And if they claim her first, the mate bond,

lifting his head into the air and sniffing for her scent. Since we know where the opening to the

scent, it could have scared her off. But I'm hoping that she needed the food and shelter more than she feared

mate. I follow it to the entrance of the hiding spot that Kinsley found and I smile. If nothing else, I know my mate has eaten recently and hopefully she

make my way into the space where Kinsley leaves the food.

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to come back later, or I'll have to figure out how to get more here. I don't want hopeful she-wolves going hungry because of

I finally get inside, my heart drops. While I can smell her scent and the scent of the other she-wolf, neither of them are here. I lift my nose, sniffing the air. Her orchid scent is filling the small space and the small bit of air blowing

my mate slept. Her scent is strong. I touch the ground and realize that it is still warmer than the earth around where she was sleeping. She hasn't been gone long. Then I see the bag. I reach out and take the bag, bringing it to my nose. This is

hadn't looked for the secret exit yesterday when Kinsley told me about it, but that must be how they got out. Otherwise, I would have seen them. I see the card sitting on the stone table and s**h it up. I find where the back exit is and I walk over to it, sniffing the walls and

scent.

mind and I open my senses, letting him guide

go that way, there are several packs. that are close together. You have to be very

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mate by the fluttering my heart makes at the sound of

quiet for a moment while my mate ponders her answer. Is she staying

think you should head toward the packs. See the one in the middle there? That one is safe, and you are probably safe to go between their pack and the one to the left of them. There's about a mile between the pack borders, but you'll have to be fast. I don't know if that pack is hunting

be Alpha Carter's pack. I wonder how she knows that his pack is safe. Alpha Dutton's pack is on the left of theirs from this perspective and it's also safe, although Dutton hasn't found his mate yet. I know he's not out hunting for a mate, but I also don't know that he wouldn't let an opportunity like that pass him by

Penny say something quietly to my mate, but I don't

"Yes," my mate responds.

must be hard

it is," my

Chapter 13: Wait

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This close to what?

rustling of clothing and then the snapping of bones as Penny

and I hope our paths cross

her paws running

wait, listening, until I hear my mate sigh and then I hear the tell-tale scratching of skin and clothing against the rocky surface of what

the main entrance. As I feel her getting closer, I take a deep breath of her scent. The moment she steps back into the space she

"I could have captured you, but that's not the type of man