The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 257

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 57 (Jaxon)

When we walk up, Alpha Antonio is giving Valentina some last-minute pointers. I'm surprised when I don't see Jordan here giving Jace pointers.

I'll be right back," I tell Eve and walk over to Jace.

"Hey man, you got this?"

"I feel pretty good about it," he says turning to me. "I heard that both you and Tobias forfeited because you got paired with your mates. Be careful tomorrow if you get him. He's tough, really tough."

"I have all day to worry about that. Get your head into this match. What's your strategy?" I ask, just as Jordan comes running up.

"Hey, I'm here. Sorry I'm late. I was helping some of the others in our pack," she says, looking over and assessing Valentina the way I've seen our parents do before a sparring match. They ingrained it in us to size up our opponent and start the match before you ever walk into the ring.

I watch as Jace noticeably relaxes and begins to finally focus. "I'll leave you to it, then," I say, turning and walking back to Eve.

I watch as Jace turns, taking in everything that Jordan is telling him. I haven't talked to either one of them about their situation in months.

Honestly, it's none of my business, but I can see that there is still something there between them, at least on Jace's side. I also know that Jordan has been seeing Nolan and that their relationship has been getting more serious.

Jordan gets Jace to focus and when he enters the ring, he's in a different headspace than he was only moments ago. He's focused and ready to fight, ready to win.

I watch as Jordan guides him from the sidelines, just as Alpha Antonio is doing with Valentina but in less than 30 minutes, Jace has the pin and wins the match.

Jordan races to him, throwing herself in his arms and hugging him. His arms go around her, and I notice the moment she realizes what she's done. Her body goes stiff, and she steps back.

I walk up to congratulate Jace and hear Jordan say she needs to go check on the others in our pack.

"Thank you for being here, Jordan," he says to her as she turns to leave. "Of course, Jace. I know this is important to you." I'm not sure she sees his flinch, but I do.

"Nice job, man! One down, and one to go," I say to him.

"Back at you," he says, giving me a slap shake.

After saying our goodbyes, Eve and I head over to where Lazio is getting ready for his battle. I see Reid is already talking to Ainsley, getting her mentally prepared for the fight. We hang back as Alpha Luke talks to Lazio, giving him pointers on his fight.

When it's time to fight, the two walk into the ring. Ainsley is a bit older than Lazlo, but she's small and Lazlo definitely has size on his side. However, once the battle starts, we can see that Ainsley is quick and very agile. She's a good fighter and Lazlo has to use all his skill to defeat her. In the end, he wins, moving into tomorrow's round.

Next, we move to Rowan's battle with Cillian. Cillian lost his battle yesterday, so he has to win today to stay in the competition. Cillian is a tough competitor, but my sister is too. I notice that Enzo is here, cheering her on and my dad is giving her pointers from the sidelines. Their match goes on for nearly the full hour, but Cillian finally takes Rowan down, pinning her. Both of them will have to battle again tomorrow.

After lunch, we head to where Magdalena is getting pointers from her mother before her battle. I look across the ring as Eve goes to hug Magdalena. Collin looks like an Alpha, ready for battle. He's calm, composed and he's assessing his opponent. It's what Magdalena should be doing, but I can tell she's nervous and the nerves are getting to her.

When Eve comes back, she tells me that Collin won his battle yesterday in ten minutes.

"Who did he battle?" I ask her.

"A warrior."

"That's a bit different than battling another Alpha," I say.

"I know, but Maggie's let it get in her head. Right now, she's her own worst enemy."

I put my hands around my mouth. "Magdalena!" I call.

She turns and looks at me. "You won your match yesterday too. Remember that!"

She smiles at me, before turning and entering the ring.

I'm not sure if what I said helped or not, but in the end, Magdalena lost to Collin, and he ended up being one of 20 contenders that progressed to the next contest.

Another 10 contenders were eliminated completely from the contest on day two, including both of the omegas that progressed this far. That leaves 70 of us to battle it out on the third day. In some ways, I'm thankful for that. Many of the Alphas lost to each other in the first two days, so there are plenty left to fight. However, with so many of us battling on day 3,1 feel like I have a good chance of winning, and there are as many warriors, moving into day 3 as there are ranked members.

I hold on to that thought as we go to dinner that night. The mood is still quiet, except for the 20 that are moving on. But thankfully, they take their party away from the rest of us.

Later that night, my mate curls up on my chest and begins purring to help soothe my mind enough so that I can sleep.

My last thought before I fall asleep is that I have to win tomorrow. I can't leave the fate of our pack solely in my mate's hands. She's strong enough and capable enough to do it, I know, but that's a lot of pressure and there are a lot of Alphas that are finding their mates during this contest, teaming up and working together to win.

I want Eve and I to continue to be the power couple that we are, fighting together, so that we will also be winners of our own pack, and in order to do that, I have to win tomorrow

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