The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 122

The Council Chapter 29. Jan

Jara

When I arrive back in Alpha Davis's pack, I'm glad to see that Layan looks considerably better than she did when we left her last weekend. However, when she walks up to hug me, holding me so tightly that I can barely breathe, I know that it's only on the surface.

That's okay, it's a start and every small step forward is still a step forward.

I see Elijah watching her as he pulls my bags out of the car, his jaw tense. It's probably a good thing that he didn't see her last weekend if her current state is affecting him like this.

"Am I the first one here?" I ask her as she finally pulls away.

"Yes. I heard that Alpha Seth will be joining us this weekend instead of Alpha Asher." She says. She looks past me, a frown. forming on her face.

"Is that Beta Elijah?" She asks me quietly.

I turn, seeing him ducking his head, smiling that she remembers him. "It is. He's here as part of my guard duty this weekend. Do you remember him?" I ask her, hoping she has good memories of Elijah.

She nods. "He was kind to me."

"Yep, he's a good guy." I say and sadness fills her features.

I turn her, keeping my arm wrapped around her shoulder, heading inside. "What's that look for?" I ask, leaning my head on top of

hers.

"No one that nice would want me now. I'm too damaged." She says and I see a tear drop from her eyes.

"I'll tell you a secret." I whisper in her ear. "He wanted to come last weekend, but Mason needed him at the pack. He volunteered to come here because he was worried about you. And you also caught the eye of my other guard, Lewis." I tell her.

She tilts her head, looking over at Lewis who gives her a smile. "Really?"

I nod at her. "You're not damaged, sweet girl. You were traumatized and you need to heal, mentally and physically. And that's what your friends are for. But there is nothing wrong with you, Layan. You're not damaged." I say, turning as I hear another car coming down the drive.

We stop at the entrance of the packhouse to see who it is. As soon as the car stops, Mignon is bouncing out of it, rushing over to hug Layan. I frown, looking at her stomach. It's like in one week she went from having a flat stomach to now having a pronounced baby bump, like her little girl just suddenly popped out, announcing herself to the world.

Layan notices too, because as Mignon steps back, Layan's eyes go to her stomach.

"You're...."

Mignon's hands go to her stomach. "Pregnant. Yes. Asher and I are having a little girl and we're so excited. That's why he was here last weekend. He is very protective of me and our little pup. But he trusts Alpha Davis now, and he knows that Alpha Seth and Beta Elijah are here. I've also promised to call him a minimum of twice a day and answer all of his calls, so he doesn't worry about me."

Just as she says it, her phone buzzes. She looks at the screen

before picking up the call. "Hi baby."

She says, walking away a bit to talk to Asher. "Yep, I just got here. Yep, your girls are safe and sound. I'll call you tonight. I love you too." She says before hanging up.

I stay where we are because I can tell that Layan is surprised by the level of affection between Mignon and Asher.

"So, he's good to you?" Layan asks her.

Mignon turns, the loving glow on her face sharpening as she refocuses her gaze on Layan. She puts her phone away and walks over to her, taking her hands. "Yes. He is so good to me, and I really do love him."

I can tell that Layan doesn't know what to do with this information. She's not there yet, mentally, so I redirect the conversation.

"So, what did you want to do this weekend?" I ask her as the three of us walk inside.

The weekend is mostly quiet again. We have a lot of movie time with the five of us piled on the couches. Now, the four Lunas are taking turns spending time with Alpha Davis and his pack. members as well as alternating spending time with Layan.

Hana steps away on our first night to speak to Brynn and my mother, finding out how things are going in Alpha Quinton's pack. Layan falls asleep against me, like she did last weekend. I carry her to my room again, planning to have her sleep with me. Her mother told me that she'd been having nightmares again while we were gone. Hopefully, being close to me and the others will keep her from having the nightmares and allow her to get some sleep.

I'm tucking Layan into bed when Hana comes in. "How is she?" She asks, looking at Layan.

"Asleep, for now. I hope she stays that way." I say, crawling into bed and sitting with my back against the headboard so I can talk to Hana and still be close to Layan.

Hana comes to sit on the other side of the bed, tucking up against Layan's back. "I spoke to your mom."

I turn to her as I stroke Layan's hair. "How are things in Alpha Quinton's pack?" I ask.

"About the same as here, based on what she said. It doesn't seem that Alpha Quinton is as far into the feral-fever as Alpha Davis, but some of his pack members are. He does have two she-wolves in their childbearing years and both of them have one young she-wolf along with a bunch of sons. Neither of them are ranked members and your mother doesn't think that they will be of much help to the other pack members."

"So, we need to figure out how to have someone go there periodically to help ease their feral-fever." I say.

"Or, and hear me out, what if we do a trade of sorts? We're all in an alliance. What if, those who are close to going feral come to our packs for a month or so, keeping them in close proximity with us until we've pushed it out. It won't have the same lasting effect until those packs have their own Luna to help, but it could be a way to keep our numbers from dropping over the next year. Seth told me they lost at least 50 males last year before the claiming."

"That's not a bad idea. You should talk to Seth about it tonight and see what he thinks. I think they pushed the alliance call off until after this weekend because of what is going on, but if he and Mason think it's a good idea, they could present it to them. And, if we've assessed their most needy pack members, we could identify the ones that need to visit for the month."

"Great idea." She says, getting up to leave.

"Who is sleeping in here with you tonight?" She asks, turning to

look at me.

"Annabel. She wanted to talk to Antonio first before she came to bed." I tell her, moving to scoot down on the bed.

"And did you take it?" She asks.

"Take what?" I ask, knowing she is asking about the pregnancy

test.

"So, that's a no?"

"Not yet." I say.

"Did you bring it with you?" She asks.

I look up at her. "I did."

She walks back over to the bed, climbing back in. "Go take it. At least then you'll know. I'll stay with Layan." She says.

I sigh, I've been putting it off, making excuses to not take it, even though there have been times when I could have.

Hana reaches over and clasps my hand. "At least you'll know." She says, giving me a meaningful look.

She's right. And I have been feeling nauseous every morning this past week. It was better when I was with Mason, but I'm afraid I'll have to throw up tomorrow morning. I can already tell my stomach feels more queasy being away from him.

I sigh, getting off the bed and getting the pregnancy test from my bag. I knew I'd be able to find time to take it this weekend and as afraid as I am of getting a negative result, Hana's right, at least I'll

know.

I walk into the bathroom and pee on the stick, setting it aside while I wash my hands and wait. I pace the bathroom for what feels like hours, but in truth is only a few minutes.

When I finally get the nerve to look at the test, my heart soars.

Mason and I are going to have a baby.

E

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