The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 203

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 3

Jaxon

Preparing for the contest was harder than I thought it would be. I run, a lot. But I don’t run 100 miles, no one does unless you have to. I love my sisters, but they aren’t as interested in training as hard as I am, Raelyn especially. Teagan and Rowan agreed to train with me most days.

However, the biggest surprise, and it shouldn’t have been, was Jordan. “If you have to do it, I should be able to do it too, right?” She asked me when she showed up the first day to run with us.

“Besides, you and I both know you’ll make one hell of an Alpha, we just have to get you a pack.” She said. Have I mentioned how much I love my twin?

At the end of our first run, we go upstairs to the Alpha floor. I’m ready to go shower, but Jordan calls me into her room.

“Okay, I’ve set up a board of all the ranked families and their children, at least the ones that I know. I had to ask dad about some of them and I have to be careful, I don’t know if I’m allowed to help you or not, but I’m calling this being your biggest fan.” She says, opening up the large sheet of poster paper she has.

She’s documented all of the Alpha and Beta families and their children. “I’ve put asterisks next to the ones that I think are going to be your biggest competition.” She says as she puts weights down on the four corners of her paper, holding it in place.

“The obvious guys are Jace, Caleb, Lazio, Stefan and Tobias. But I wouldn’t rule out Cillian, Enzo or Reid. For the girls, I think your biggest competition is going to be Evangeline, Magdalena, Celine and Taylor, other than Rowan and Teagan.”

“Why those three?” I ask, wondering at her choice of the females other than our sisters. “I mean, I get Taylor, she’s a powerhouse, but you didn’t add Brooke and Harper in there.” Brooke, Harper and Taylor are our cousins, the children of Uncle Seth and Aunt Hana. They also have two boys, Griffin, their oldest son, who is due to take over as Alpha in the next couple of months, and Caleb, their youngest.

“Brooke is more like Aunt Hana. She’s laid back and relaxed. And I’m pretty sure that while Harper is joining the claiming that she’s found her mate, an Alpha heir, so I’m expecting her to drop out eventually. Taylor, as you know, is more like mom and Uncle Seth. Intense. As for Evangeline and Magdalena, they are the oldest daughters of Alpha Luke and Luna Katerina. You know Luna Katerina is descended from Alpha royalty, right? That makes their Alpha blood mostly likely stronger than ours.” She says.

“But she’s mated to an Alpha that has Beta blood.” I say.

“True. At best that means their strength levels out to ours as true Alphas. But, from everything I’ve heard, Alpha Luke’s Beta line was long and he comes from a very strong line of Betas, possibly ones like Beta Jared that were second sons of Alphas way back in the day. Also, from what I know of Evangeline and Magdalena, they take after their mother. So, they are going to be competitive.”

“Isn’t there another daughter in that family?” I ask, frowning.

“Makayla. She’s too young to enter the contest, but even if she did. she’s more like Raelyn.”

I look up at Jordan. “You mean she’d be doing this to find her mate rather than claim her pack?” I ask, knowing that’s my sister’s real plan.

“Mate hunting. Exactly. There are a couple of other younger children that will most likely enter, but I don’t think that they will make it past round one and if they do, they definitely won’t make it past round two.”