The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 194

The Claiming by Cooper Book 3

Layan’s Return by Cooper (Jara & Mason)

Chapter 38

Mason

Almost everyone leaves the next day. I made arrangements with Davis to get Layan’s things. I’m sure Elijah will want to go with her to collect them.

“Just let me know once she’s settled and ready to come get her belongings.” He says, his arm wrapped tightly around McKenna’s waist.

“I’ll see you soon, I’m sure, Luna.” McKenna says to Jara.

“Call me Jara, McKenna. You’re one of the Lunas now. We’ll be inviting you to attend our monthly meetings and we’ re having our first annual Luna council meeting this year. That will be in about a month at the same time that the Alphas have their meeting.”

She looks at Davis, almost as if she’s asking his permission. He raises his eyebrow at her, not saying a word.

She blinks, frowns for a moment then turns to Jara, the frown disappearing. “I’d love to. I can’t wait.”

“Good. We’ll be having a call before the in-person meeting to decide on our agenda. Last year it was two days, so we’re expecting the same. This year, however, most of us have young pups, so we’ll need to add in a lot of breaks for nursing and….” Jara’s voice trailing as they walk. She has hooked her arm into McKenna’s and is walking her to the car.

Davis watches them walk away.

“It’s amazing being mated.” He says quietly.

“It really is.” I say.

Davis frowns. “Do you think….”

“What?” I ask turning to him.

He turns to me. “I think we need to talk to Dr. Braxton or maybe Councilman Jason about the possibility that fated mate bonds are still out there. We just haven’t had enough she-wolves to really focus on it. But, after the last two claimings, after feeling the pull to McKenna that I did, and that she felt toward me, almost instantly, I think it’s worthwhile to start looking into that again.”

“I think that’s an excellent agenda item for our Alpha conference. And I think you may be right. Plus, now that we’re already adding to the female population, things will change. Not overnight, obviously, but just with the group of mated pairs from last year, we’ve already added seven females to our numbers. That’s just one year. Not that I expect our Lunas to single handedly repopulate our species. But, who knows, next year at this time, we may have even more to add to that, now that McKenna and Katerina are in the mix.” I say.

“And Layan. I hope she will be able to have pups, too. She’s a good person. She deserves that, and so does your Beta.”

“He does, they do. But I imagine they will be taking their time. They still have a lot to overcome, not the least of which are her medical issues. I know that if there is any concern that a pregnancy will cause Layan to have problems, possibly risking her life, Elijah won’t even consider pups. So, it’ II be a while before we know if they will be adding to our population as well.”

“So much has changed in such a short amount time.” He says, and we begin walking to the car.

“Imagine the possibilities of what will change in the next year, the next two years.” I say as we come up on our mates.

“I’ll see you soon, McKenna.” Jara says hugging her goodbye.

“See you soon, Davis.” I say shaking hands with him before he gets his mate tucked into his car. We wave to them as they drive off.

“What’s on the agenda for today, Mason?” She asks as we walk back into the main packhouse. We’re spending the days here so she can be available when Layan wakes up if needed.

“I’ll be calling Luke and doing some work with him via video. What about you, my Luna? It’s weird having all this free time.” I say.

“Ha, my mother and father are leaving today too. You’re ‘free time’ just turned into caring for babies.” She says.

“Always happy to look after my pups.” I tell her. “Is your mother bringing them here before she leaves?”

“She is. I’ll let you know when she drops them off.”

I kiss her, before heading to the office. It’s a couple hours later before she brings the babies in. I take a moment to say goodbye to Nina and Phillip, thanking them for helping with our twins.

“Any time.” Nina says, going to give them one more kiss. We say our goodbyes and then the packhouse returns to its state of quiet.

“Nothing from Layan yet?” I ask Jara. “Not yet. I’m going to go make some dinner for them and us. Are you good with the twins?”

“I am.” I say, just as Jordan begins fussing. “And there’s my girl.”

I pick up Jordan, tucking her against my chest with a bottle as I sit back down and continue working on the issues that are going on in the pack.