The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 260

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline) Chapter 60 (Jace)

It's time for my match. I was hoping that Jordan would be here again, but I also know there are several of our pack members who are battling today and I'm not the only one in this timeslot. I begin stretching, trying to get my head centered on the match, not my mate.

"Hey, where's Jordan?" Taylor asks, jogging up.

"Probably helping one of the others in our pack. I'm not the only one battling at this time."

"I can coach you, if you want?" she says.

"Sure Tay, thanks."

She looks over to see my opponent. It must be a family trait, the way they assess their opponents before a fight. Jordan had the same assessing look on her face that Taylor does now. "I think that guy is a Gamma, too. But he's not as strong as you are," she says as I continue stretching. Jordan would know for sure who this guy is.

I look over at him. "How can you tell?" I ask her. He's smaller than I am, but he's muscular.

"You're ripped, Jace. That guy is muscular, but he's not ripped," she says shaking her head at me as if it's obvious.

"Hey, I'm here," I hear Jordan say and I turn, seeing her running over. As soon as I see her, everything in me settles. She's smiling at me until her eyes move past me to Taylor and her smile falters. "Unnnnnless, you don't need me," she says. "No, I do. Taylor was just..."

"I was filling in until you arrived. Now that you're here, I'll let you take over," she says and turns to walk away.

"Thanks, Taylor," I say, and she waves her hand, not looking back.

I turn back to Jordan. "Thanks for coming. I know there are others battling right now. I didn't expect you to come to mine."

"You're still my Gamma, Jace. What kind of an Alpha would I be if I didn't try to help you achieve your goal of getting your own pack," she says. Gone is the smiling face she came running up with. "Jordan..." "Focus, Jace. Terence is a Gamma in Alpha Antonio's pack. He's good, but you're better. Unlike most of your other opponents, he's left-hand dominant, so make sure that you take that into consideration. I'm also pretty sure he's great with his fists, terrible with his footwork," she says. Yep, I knew she'd know everything there was to know about this and most likely every other opponent on the field today. She probably stayed up all night reading up on the opponents of every member of her pack. That's just how Jordan is.

"Thanks, Jordan," I say, as I walk into the ring.

"You've got this, Jace!" she says.

When the match begins, I realize that everything that Jordan said was completely accurate. Terence is almost solely dominant on his left-side, making his right side weak, counting on the aspect of surprise to take his opponent out.

My first punch is to his left shoulder, injuring him and limiting his swing. After that, I have him pinned in 20 minutes.

I hop up, helping Terence to his feet and then I turn, hoping Jordan will rush into my arms like she did when I won the first time.

Instead, she nods, acknowledging my win, then turns and walks away.

Luke POV

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" my mate asks me as I watch my daughter and Jaxon walk away.

"He knotted her, Katerina," I snarl. When she doesn't answer, I turn to look at her.

"So?" she asks me.

"Do you not understand what that means?" I snap.

The moment her eyes narrow, I know I crossed a line.

"Follow me," she snaps in a tone I've only ever heard her use with our children when she is so angry with them that she's ready to smack them.

She turns on her heel, not checking to see that I'm following her. I may have had a lapse in judgement in my tone

just now, but I'm not stupid enough to go toe to toe with my mate. I'm the Alpha, but she's got the royal blood line and at times like this, I'm reminded of just how close she was to having been a royal. When she deems that we have moved far enough away from the crowd that no one will hear her dressing me down, she turns.

"First of all," she says, smacking her hand against my chest, "don't ever think you can speak down to me, Luke. I'm your mate. You will only treat me with respect."

I'm pretty sure that if it were possible, there would be steam coming out of Katerina's ears.

"Second, from what I saw, it appears that our daughter has no problem with the fact that her MATE," she steps up into my face, "and let me repeat that for those whose ears seem to be clogged lately. Our daughter doesn't seem to have a problem with the fact that her MATE knotted her, not that it's any of YOUR business anyway. From what I saw, the problem that our daughter had is with her father, not her mate."

I open my mouth to say something. "Say something. I dare you," she snarls at me, and I snap my mouth closed. "I stood by you when you chose to make Alejandro Alpha, not Evangeline. I didn't agree with you, but I stood by you. I stood by you when you had issues with Evangeline and Jaxon before she turned 18. Once again, I didn't agree with you, but I stood by you. Now, you want to try and put a rift between them because they are acting like a young, mated couple? Let's be clear, Luke. If you force her hand, there is only one way this will go. You lose. She will choose Jaxon, as she should!" She takes a deep breath and I keep my mouth shut, knowing she's not done yet.

"Now he's knotted her and if we know anything about when a man knots his mate, our daughter is pregnant."

She steps up into my face. I'm taller than her, but at the moment, she feels larger than life, her anger radiating off of her in waves of fury, her Alpha energy so strong, I almost feel smothered. "Let me be very clear with you, mate," she snarls the word, like it's a terrible thing that I'm her mate. For the first time, I realize how much my mate has supported me over the years and how much I haven't done the same for her. "If our daughter is forced to make a choice, and she blocks you from our grandchildren's lives, I won't stand beside you. I refuse to allow you to keep me from my grandbabies. So, you make the choices you need to make, Alpha," she snarls again, making it sound like a filthy title, "and I'll make the ones I need to make for me and for my family," she snarls again before turning on her heel and starting to walk away.

"I'll apologize to Evangeline," I say, not wanting the conversation to end like this.

It's the wrong thing to say. She's back in my face in an instant, her hand slapping against me, knocking me back a step.

"No, Luke, you will apologize to Jaxon. You will make this right, or so help me goddess, I will make your life a living hell."

This time, I don't say anything as she stomps away.

I scrub my hands over my face, finding a place to sit, thinking over what my mate said. She's right, she has supported me when she didn't agree with me, even when I didn't listen to her, or take her thoughts into consideration as I should. I'm the Alpha, which means, I know best.

But, apparently, I don't.

I've never truly felt my mate's wrath, and I hope that I never feel it again after today.

I lean back, looking up at the sky and I open the door on the guilt I locked away long ago. I chose Alejandro to be Alpha. Why? Because he's my son. No other reason. He will make a good Alpha, he's strong, smart and caring. But if I'm honest, Evangeline was meant to be an Alpha. It's the guilt that I didn't do right by my daughter that is why I'm struggling with her relationship with Jaxon. I don't want her losing her second chance at becoming an Alpha. And if it weren't for me, she wouldn't need the second chance to begin with.

My anger with Jaxon has nothing to do with Jaxon, it has everything to do with me. I regret my decision, but I can't take it back now and I want Evie to have the chance to be the person she was meant to be. The Alpha she was meant to be.

Katerina is also right about me causing a rift between Evie and I. If I don't fix this, I won't be a part of my grandchildren's lives and that would break my heart. I'm so close to retiring, to having the relaxed life that Alphas dream about when the day to day of the job weighs heavily on your shoulders.

Or maybe, it's just me. Maybe I was never meant to be an Alpha and the job has always been too much for me. I took over after my Alpha had to be put down because of feral fever. It was Jaxon's mother, Jara that stood beside me on that stage, announcing to my grief-ridden pack that she thought I could lead them. It probably has more to do with her than with me that I'm the Alpha today.

I sit up. It's time for me to accept that my anger and frustration has nothing to do with Jaxon and everything to do with my own guilt for not choosing my daughter to become Alpha. I slowly walk back to the packhouse, thinking about what I want to say to both of them.

I get to their room and knock. When no one answers, I knock again.

"Hey Alpha Luke, are you looking for Evangeline?" I turn, seeing Alpha Jordan.

"Actually, I'm looking for your brother, do you know where I can find him?"

"He and Evangeline left about an hour ago. They decided they wanted to head back to our pack and asked me to find out the details about the next challenge for them. Do you want me to give Jaxon a message for you?" she asks.

"No, thank you, Alpha Jordan."

I turn and walk back to my room. Now, I need to find a way to get my daughter and her mate to agree to meet with me before my mate decides she doesn't want to be mated to me anymore

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