The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 6

Mason

To say that things were tense after Alpha Typhon walked into the dining room would be the understatement of the century. The smug smile fell off his face as he felt the animosity from nearly everyone in the room. No one thinks that he should be allowed to participate. He mistreated one of the few remaining Alpha females and now she’s dead. None of us can afford to lose any of our remaining females, especially not Alphas.

He had gotten some food, but he didn’t last long in the dining. room. I can’t say I blame him. The hatred pouring off Seth was palpable, causing everyone at my table except me and Elijah to leave. When Typhon had finally looked up and saw the raw fury coming from Seth, he intelligently decided to leave.

“Looks like he got himself a new Beta.” Elijah says quietly to me as we watch Typhon and another ranked member leaving the dining hall.

“Hope this one knows to watch his back.” I reply.

The next morning over breakfast, the excitement is back. Today we get our first glimpse of the females in this year’s claim. Not only that, but they’ll be also interviewed on stage for us today and will answer basic questions about themselves and their positions in their packs.

Personally, I only care about Jara. I am, however, interested in the other females as potential pack mates should one of my pack members claim them. Today we’ll find out who the first female is that will be up for claiming. They will also pull her lottery of 20 which will give them time to get to know each other this week before she goes into the claiming territory.

Today we’ll also find out which of the Alphas is here solely for one of the ranked members. I expect that a large majority will exclude themselves from the other lotteries in the hope of catching the last Alpha female. Of course, if they are pulled in the lottery and don’t claim the female, they are still eligible to join Jara’s claiming.

It’s a risk for me. If I’m pulled for a lottery for one of the omegas, the likelihood of me catching her is high. But I truly believe that having a strong female, an Alpha female, as my Luna will strengthen my pack and keep my pack members from going feral.

After breakfast, we head over to the pavilion set aside for this week. There’s a fence with a line of guards that will keep us separated from the females along with a separate area set aside for the claimants pulled in the lottery. While the omegas will only spend time with the males in their lottery, Jara will have to split her time with the rest of us. The Beta, Hana, will also probably have to divide her time among the large majority of us as her lottery won’t be pulled for a few more days.

Once we are all in place, the Elder from last night takes his place on the stage in front of a microphone. “Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this year’s Claiming. I am Elder Carson and as you are aware, I am in charge of making sure this year is a fair and safe claiming event for not only our eligible pool of females, but also you as this year’s claimants.”

There’s a round of applause. “Let me reiterate that if you do not follow the rules set aside for The Claiming, you will be disqualified at best, put down at worst. Rest assured I am absolutely serious about this. Neither I, nor my team of guards, will hesitate to put you down if you threaten to or actually cause harm to one of the females in this year’s claim.”

He pauses a moment to let that sink in. “Now, let me introduce you to our Master of Ceremonies for this year’s Claiming, Beta

Dividing

Michael.” Another man walks onto the stage. He’s as old as and rugged looking as Elder Carson. We all clap again.

“Let the festivities begin!” We all begin howling and stomping our feet.