The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 153

The Council Chapter 61 Jara

233.254.

Jara

When the howl goes up that we're under attack, Mason and I jump out of bed. He's out the door and shifted before I can follow him. I try to shift

but I'm not able to.

Shit, I know what this means. I'm pregnant! But I can't focus on that right now. I need to get myself and my baby to safety.

After what happened with Typhon, Mason had a door that leads to a safe room installed on our floor. I rush to the end of the hall, hearing the sounds of crashing and snarling behind me.

"Mason is in the packhouse fighting, any wolves in the packhouse, get to your Alpha. Fight!" I shout through the mind link as I rip open the door. I hear the snarls of Elijah's wolf and I know he's jumped into the fight as well.

I move into the stairwell. It's dark, but I don't need light to see. I rush down a flight of stairs, before seeing a door open on the stairwell below

1.

"Go, Jace. Luna Jara will be there momentarily. Help protect our Luna." I hear Joe say.

"I'm here." I call, rushing faster down the stairs. "Where's Stella?" I ask.

"She went to get Brynn and Melinda, she'll bring them to tl safe room. Go!" Joe says before closing the door. I reach over and turn the lock on the door from our side before taking Jace's hand. "Come on, Jace, let's go."

We continue down the stairs, the sounds of fighting getting louder as we

1. As we reach the bottom, there is a thunk and the wall beside us shakes as if a wolf was thrown against it. I hear a snarl before I turn in the other direction, following the hallway to the safe room. Just as we get to the end, a door to the hallway opens and Luke, my guard, steps in.

"Oh, Luna, thank the goddess." He's holding Melinda and he pushes Brynn and Stella into the hallway before closing the door behind him.

"Let's get you all inside the safe room." He says, as another body smashes against the wall nearby.

"How many are there?" I ask him.

"It looks like they sent everyone." Luke says.

I use my handprint to open the safe room door. As the others filter in, I turn to Luke. "All of them?"

"Yes, Luna. Our numbers are very close. We may have a larger pack, but many of ours our omegas and they have more fighters."

"I'll call Seth, see if he can send help."

"Stay safe." He says, turning to leave.

"You too." I say before stepping into the safe room. The door shuts with a resounding boom and I turn the lock. No one can get in now unless I unlock the door from inside.

I rush to the phone on the wall, installed for just this purpose. I dial Seth's number. He answers on the third ring.

"Alpha Seth." His voice groggy with sleep.

"Seth, we're under attack. Gunnar sent everyone, we're under attack." I

hear him moving before I've even finished telling him.

"We're on our way, Jara. Are you safe?"

"Yes, we're in the safe room."

"Stay there, we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Get Taylor and get to a safe room. Mason and Jara's pack is under attack. I'll alert the others, but I need to know you're safe." I hear Seth tell Hana, just before I hear his howl alerting his pack. "We're on our way." He says before he disconnects.

From inside the safe room, we can't hear much. Occasionally, there is a thunk as a body is thrown against a wall, but it's much more muffled than it was in the stairwell.

Brynn is holding Melinda tightly in her arms and Stella has Jace. I'm pacing, trying to relax. I keep gently reaching out to Mason, just to feel that he's okay. His mind isn't as open as it usually is as he focuses on the fight.

Periodically, I feel the snap of a tether as one of our pack members dies. Watching, I know that Brynn and Stella can feel it too. Their eyes go wide as we all worry about our mates.

The battle has been going on for a while, when Brynn gets a game off a shelf and begins playing with Melinda, encouraging Jace to come over and play as well. She's right, they may be tired, but the energy and stress in this room is so palpable it feels like you could cut it with a knife.

I check my watch for the hundredth time and realize that it's finally about the time that Seth and his pack members should be arriving.

I'm reaching out to touch Mason's consciousness again, when I feel a wave of relief pass through him, and I know that Seth must have arrived.

I turn. "I think Seth and his pack have just..."

I stop, watching Stella who just grabbed her chest. She looks at me and her eyes go wide.

"No!" Brynn whispers just as I feel the tether to Joe snap.

Stella begins keening, a horrible, mournful sound that echos around the room. Jace dashes to her side.

"Momma! Momma!" He screams, but she's lost in the death of her mate.

I rush to Jace, grabbing him and holding him against me as he flails. "No! Momma! Momma!" He screams.

I hear Melinda and Brynn crying in the background, but I'm whispering to Jace, turning him away as his mother falls to the floor.

"Joseph." She whispers and I watch as she lets go, feeling the moment her tether to me breaks. She may not have chosen Joe as her mate so many years ago, but he has been a good mate to her, and they were happy. She would not be able to go on without him, her other half.

Jace kicks and fights until I put him down. He rushes to Stella, putting her head in his lap, crying. "Wake up, momma. Wake up. It's okay, I'm here. Momma, please, wake up." He cries and I feel tears running down my face.

He looks up at ne, his eyes pleading. "Why won't she wake up, Luna? Why won't she wake up?"

I move to sit beside him. I wrap my arms around him, not having any words that will soothe or comfort him. He turns to me and begins to weep as I rock him.

"Jara!" I hear Mason in the mind link.

"I'm here, Mason."

"I'm coming for you."

I pick Jace up, carrying him to the door, unlocking it, just as Mason pulls it He's covered in blood, fur and guts. He looks at Jace in my arms and then at Stella on the floor, dead behind me.

His

open.

eyes close and his head drops as he feels the loss of another pack member.

The Council Chapter 62 Mason

Mason

The moment I land on the floor of the packhouse, every wolf turns and begins jumping on me. I begin tearing into them, trying to fight my way out. I knew they'd be after me, specifically, and I was right. It's only a moment or two later that I hear Elijah's wolf snarling and Gunnar's wolves start getting ripped off of me.

Before long, the warriors that were sleeping are up and fighting. It's utter mayhem. Our omegas are trained to fight, but this group has more warriors than we do. Elijah and I can take on more than one at a time, but it feels like they just keep coming and I still haven't seen Gunnar, Shawn or Conrad yet.

As I'm fighting, I get a quick mind link from Luke that all the she-wolves are in the safe room. I relax just a bit, knowing that no matter what happens, Jara is safe. And I know my mate is smart. She will have called Seth and help will be here within the hour, we just have to survive that long.

As I'm fighting, I begin to feel tethers to my pack breaking as my pack members die on the battlefield. I hate that we are losing even more wolves, but it can't be helped, and Gunnar and his group will die today for bringing this war to my pack lands.

Elijah and I y close together, ripping into wolves as they enter the packhouse. We're leaving a path of death behind us as we make our way outside. He and I have always made an excellent team. We've just about gotten to the back of the packhouse when one of the Alphas steps into my packhouse. Since I've never seen their wolves, I don't know which one it is, but it doesn't matter, because almost immediately, two more step in behind him. I watch as they flank the first one and I realize that one is Gunnar. Shawn and Conrad are deferring to him as

their leader.

I lower my head, ready for the fight. I snarl, my lip curling back, my tongue snaking out between my teeth, tasting the air and the sinister intent of these three. While the battle wages around us, Elijah comes to stand beside me, ready to take them on, three against two.

That's all it takes, and they are leaping at us. Gunnar comes straight for me, and I leap into the air, meeting him halfway. Our teeth are snapping at each other, trying to grab hold of any part of the other's body. I feel another wolf coming at me from the side and I turn quickly, snapping my teeth and catching the snout of the other Alpha before he can bite me. He yelps and steps back.

Gunnar takes the opportunity to bite down on the back of my neck, but he only grabs fur. I roll over, feeling the tug of his teeth, tearing into my fur, but once I've rolled over, I begin scratching at his underside. He tries to move aside, trying to avoid my claws, but while he's focused on me, Elijah turns and bites down on his flank.

Gunnar releases me and turns on Elijah, but I'm up in an instant, slashing my claws at the other Alpha who is coming at me again before jumping on Gunnar's back. He drops to the ground and the momentum forces me to roll off of him. I roll back onto all four paws, leaping at him instantly.

He's ready for my attack and he leaps at me again. We roll around on the packhouse floo, snapping and scratching at each other. I'm so consumed by him that I don't see the other Alpha coming up behind me until I feel his teeth sink into my flank.

D

I snarl, turning to attack him, when Gunnar snaps his teeth on my neck. He misses my jugular, but I feel his teeth sink into the side of my neck and my shoulder. I see Elijah stepping away from a wolf lying dead on the ground that shifts back to Alpha Conrad. So, this is Shawn and Gunnar

Elijah turns and jumps on Shawn, pulling him off of me. That's all I need to redirect my attention back to Gunnar. It's time for this Alpha asshole to die, like the rest of his posse.

I rip away from him feeling the muscles tearing in my throat and shoulder. I can still breathe, so I don't care. I'll heal.

I leap on him again, this time, pinning him to the ground. I grab hold of the back of his neck and begin shaking my head violently. I don't snap his neck, but I tear off a good chunk of skin and flesh. Gunnar pulls away, rolling over, curling his back legs up and trying to push me off while he scratches my stomach. I lay down, putting all my weight on him, keeping him from being able to move and I look him in the eye as I bare my teeth.

I see the moment he realizes that I have him. He's pinned and there is nowhere for him to go. I lean in, snarling at him, willing to make this as painless as possible, but he won't stop fighting me. So, instead, I snap my teeth onto his throat, feeling his warm blood fill my mouth. He begins thrashing, but it only lasts for a minute, and I hear the rasping, gurgling sounds of his lungs as they fill with blood.

I stand over him, holding him by the throat as he dies, growling loudly to the rest of his pack members, so they know that they have lost. As he dies, his body shifts back to his human form, but I continue to stand, holding him by his th t.

What few wolves remain from his pack bare their throats to me in submission. I drop Gunnar's body, looking over to see that Elijah has killed Alpha Shawn as well.

I lift my head and howl our victory. Seth comes racing into the packhouse, bloody and injured from the fight as well. He nods and we shift back.

"It's secure outside, Mason." He tells me.

I reach my hand out to shake his. "Thank you. It's secure here as well." I say, looking around and making sure it's safe before I mind link Jara.

When I do, I can feel her sorrow. I had felt her periodically tugging on our mind link, but I had been too focused on fighting Gunnar and Shawn to open the link to her.

I move as fast as I can so I can lay eyes on her and make sure that she's truly safe.

When I get there, the door swings open and I see her holding Jace. I look behind her and see Stella on the floor, lifeless.

I had felt multiple tethers snapping during the fight, but once I was fighting against Gunnar, all my attention was there. I couldn't focus on who had died and who hadn't. Obviously, Joe, my Gamma had died in the fight and his mate, Stella, had died in front of their son.

I pull Jara to me, not caring that I'm covered in blood, holding her and Jace tightly while the sounds of post-battle chaos continue around us.

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