The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 181

Layan’s Return Chapter 26: Luke

Luke

It’s been nearly a week, and no one has found Katerina yet, much less claimed her. I take a moment, a very brief moment, to appreciate how good she is at evasion. When the shot rang out that we could enter the territory, the Alphas had all headed to the

cave.

I had moved slower than Davis and Quinton. I knew she’d been there, but I wanted to try to catch her scent somewhere else, possibly get to her more quickly. What I realized almost

immediately is that her scent was amazingly absent from the claiming territory.

When I’d gotten to the lake, I had caught a scent trail. It was short and led to the lake in one direction and in the other, it just stopped. I looked around before looking up. I walked closer to the tree, lifting my nose and just catching the scent of crème brulee.

I stood under the tree then walked the 20 long steps to where her scent began. She had literally leaped off the damn tree, leaving as small of a scent trail as possible. It was at that moment that I realized, this was going to be harder than I had realized. Jara’s hunt was difficult because she’d left so many scent trails, all of them leading to dead-ends. However, Katerina was leaving us nothing.

I had moved the rest of the way down the edge of the lake, not getting another whiff of her scent until I reached the cliff face. I got down on all fours, sniffing the ground and finding the spot where she had exited the water.

Then I began sniffing the area around the cliff face. When I didn’t find another scent, I knew she had jumped from the top of the cliff

into another tree. Now I just have to figure out which one, so I know which direction to go to follow her.

I follow her scent to the top of the cliff and enter the cave. Here, her scent is strong.

“She added to the wall of Lunas.” Davis said, pointing at the wall that the females had started writing on last year. Sure enough, she had signed the wall.

‘A better future for all.’ That’s exactly the kind of thing a Luna would say.

I wait until Quinton and Davis left before searching around the cave. I noticed she left enough firewood for both McKenna and Layan. Another thing a Luna would do. Look after the others around her. I really need to catch this woman. If I hadn’t already been extremely attracted to her, I would still want her, knowing she’ll make one hell of a good Luna.

Now, nearly a week later, my frustration is at its peak. I’ve run into Quinton and Davis over the week, along with the others in the claiming. No one has seen her, the little minx. I’ve hunted her in both my human and wolf forms, but I still can’t find her. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s not part cat, she’s so damn stealthy. Some of her claimants said they tried to climb a tree to find her and ended up falling when the branch they were standing on broke.

Periodically, I catch her scent. Usually it’s on the breeze, but sometimes, like right now, there is no breeze. I lift up my nose and take a deep breath. It’s there, very subtly, but it’s there. Crème brulee.

I’m near the back of the territory by the creek. I look around but down here on the ground, I can’t see much. I walk around the cliff

face until I see an area that looks like I can climb up. I may not be able to climb a tree and leap through the branches like she’s obviously doing, but if I can get to the top of the cliff, maybe I can at least spot her.

When I get to the top, I see a watering hole and what looks like a makeshift cup sitting beside it. Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed by her scent. She’s been hiding up here the entire time. I look around, making sure she’s not here, before turning and looking out into the

trees.

I don’t immediately see her, but I realize that from here, she’s got a bird’s-eye view of the hunt going on below her. Since this seems to be where she’s been staying, I tuck myself back into the shadows, crouching down to remain hidden. I only have one more night to catch her. If she doesn’t return here tonight, I’ll get up early and head back to the entrance to try and catch her as she races out of the territory.