The One He Claimed by cooper (Sophie and Hunter) novel Chapter 165

Chapter 165

I sigh, watching my warriors drag Owen into the back of a windowless van, locking him in with silver handcuffs and leg restraints.

“You’ll regret this!” Owen screams at me again.

“Your pack is gone, half of them killed on Hunter and Sophie’s pack lands. The rest, I’ve taken over. You can choose to shut your mouth and take your death like a man, or I’ll shove a silver–soaked cloth into your mouth until we get to their pack. You’re lucky I don’t wrap your dick in one after what you did to that innocent girl. I’m not listening to your shit the entire drive, so shut your fucking mouth or pay the price, your choice,” I snarl, getting into his face.

When he doesn’t respond, I turn and nod to my warriors to close the doors.

“You okay, Alpha?” my Beta, Jake, asks me.

“Yeah. I just want to get this over with and get home. You need to get back to our new pack. You think Will’s got things under control for now?” I ask him, referencing our Gamma.

“There’s barely anyone there, and we’ve sent a decent contingent of warriors. Plus, Alpha Hunter’s pack is close to that one, so if there’s trouble, he’ll call you.”

I nod. Jake had been managing Owen’s old pack, but with me leaving and the other Alphas still out there threatening war, I didn’t want to

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leave my pack in the hands of my Gamma. It’s not that I don’t trust him. I just know that Jake is the stronger leader.

“If you need anything, call me.”

“We’ll be fine, Alpha. It’s you I’m worried about,” he says quietly

Being around Hunter was never easy after his sister, my mate, killed herself and our pup. I knew she hated how she was claimed, had been so traumatized by it that it had taken me years to finally put a pup in her. And then she’d gone without me to find out that we were having a girl. I didn’t find out until after I’d found my mate’s broken body and laid her body to rest, the pack and I grieving the huge loss of our Luna and my mate.

The thought of her broken body still haunts me at night when I’m alone, the cold, empty bed a constant reminder of what I had and lost.

So, yeah, it was always hard to see Hunter after that. He never blamed me, but I blamed myself. I blamed myself for losing her, for not being everything that she needed me to be for her. And now, Hunter has done what I should have done, what all of us should have done. He’s fought the system.

Seeing him and Sophie together is even harder than it was when it was just Hunter. Watching them, I can see exactly what I could have had with Diana, if I’d been a stronger man, a stronger Alpha, if I’d been the man she deserved. I didn’t know it could hurt worse to see Hunter, but it does now. Now, it’s not just a reminder of what I lost, but what I could have had if only I had made a stand.

I’ve never taken another mate, never wanted one. Diana was it for me

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and I lost her. I smile remembering my mate. She was so beautiful. with a smile that lit up a room. I didn’t see it much after I marked her, but occasionally. I’d catch her smiling at a pup or every once in a great while. I’d do something that would make her happy and she’d turn that gorgeous smile on me.

These are the thoughts that haunt me as I take Owen to Hunter’s pack. I don’t really want to stay the night in his pack, but it’s easier than dropping Owen off and turning right back around and going home. I’ll suck it up. In some ways, I crave Diana’s ghost that lives as much in the halls of this pack as it does in mine. Hunter’s pack was her home much longer than mine was.

I pull into the guard gate at Alpha Hunter’s pack.

“Can you let Alpha Hunter know that Alpha Ezra is here with the shitbag Alpha Owen?” I ask.

The guard growls a low, menacing growl, looking at the back of the van. I hear several more echoing around the guard gate and the pack. Obviously, Brooklyn is well loved around here.

“Sure thing, Alpha. Alpha Hunter says he’ll meet you at the front of the packhouse.”

“Thank you,” I say, and as I pull away, I hear the warriors murmur, “Can’t wait to see Alpha remove that asshole’s head from his body.”

Chapter 166

Chapter 166