The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 290

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)

Chapter 17 (Jordan)

After checking on my patrols and sending the ones with bites and scratches to the pack hospital, I send a mind link to my father letting him know the rogues were taken care of. I’ll need to reconnect Jaxon to my pack before I leave so he can use the mind link. ‘Griffin is sending more patrols to watch over Taylor’s land,’ my father tells me.

‘Good, because several of my patrols were injured and isn’t there some concern for them being bitten or scratched by someone with feral fever?’ I ask him.

‘The wolves had feral fever?’ he asks, concern evident in his voice.

‘According to my patrols, they weren’t normal wolves dad.’

‘I’ll get Councilman Jason and head over to the pack hospital to see what they doctors are saying. I’m guessing we’ll need to put your patrols into quarantine for the time being, honey. I’ m sorry, but it’s probably the only way to be safe.’

‘I understand, Dad. Their mates and pups may not, but I do,’ I say, closing the mind link and sighing.

“That’s the third time you’ve sighed in the last two minutes, Jordan. What’s up?” Jace asks me as we hear Griffin’s patrols heading our way.

“Dad says our patrols that were bitten or scratched will have to go into quarantine until we know for sure that those wolves didn’t have feral-fever.”

“I thought we were immune to that.” Jace says. “Wasn’t that like a huge deal with our generation, the immunity to feral fever and the claiming haze?”

“It was, but we don’t know if that’s what this is. Remember, these rogues haven’ t been part of a pack. The patrols said they only saw males and those males were acting erratically. We’ll have to bring in the scientists to do blood samples. Hopefully, even if it is a new strain, they will be able to come up with a vaccine for it. The whole issue of feral fever in males was because of the limited female population. Or, at least, that’s what I remember my parents telling me.”

“It sounds right. So, do we need to call the lead scientist? I think it’s the same one from our parents’ generation, right? His daughter is still too young to have taken over?”

“Yes. I understand he found his mate a year or so after the last claiming, and they had a pup, a female, but she would be a couple years younger than me still, so maybe she’ll be involved. We’ll have to see.”

By the time we get back to the packhouse, my mom and Aunt Hana are helping people out of the safe rooms. I jog up to my mother. “Do you need anything? I want to head over to the pack hospital and check on my patrols.”

“Go, we’ve got this. The council canceled the rest of today’s meeting and they’ve called in Dr. Braxton and his daughter. She’s studying to be a doctor and will most likely follow in her father’s footsteps, so I guess it’s good that we have her.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I leave Jace to help Elijah make sure everyone is set up for the afternoon, having a place to work and some privacy to call their packs and make arrangements to increase their own patrols. In addition, several of the previous generation went out hunting for the rogues but lost their scent in the rivers and lakes in between pack lands.

In total, I have six patrol members that have to be quarantined. I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening speaking with mates and family members, explaining what happened and why their loved ones are in quarantine. We make arrangements for them to be able to speak to their loved ones so they know that they aren’t alone, and I also went around to each of them, letting them know that Jace, Elijah and I will be by every day that they are in quarantine to check on them and make sure that they don’t need anything.

They were appreciative and understanding, even though they are unhappy about having to be separated from their mates. I had the hospital set up a kid’s area where the pups could play while parents talked and had them also set up spaces for the pup-less mates to stay in the hospital if they wanted to be closer to their mates.

By the time that is done, it’s late. I head back to the packhouse, my head spinning with everything that is going on, what it could mean and trying to decide if I feel better or not that the rogue Alpha has set his sights on Taylor.