The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Jara
Jara
On the morning of Day 4, I wake up hungry again. Perhaps today I can find a food source that won’t require me to eat raw meat. There have to be nuts and berries around here somewhere. Just as I think it, I see a chipmunk running through a tree a couple over from where I am. Even from here, I can see his cheeks are full of some sort of food. Good.
I begin to carefully make my way through the trees moving toward the back of the territory. From up here, I can see most of what is going on below me. I periodically have to stop when wolves or men come crashing through the forest. Sometimes I hear the sounds of fighting, sometimes I hear howling, as if someone has caught my scent and sometimes, I hear the sounds of dying.
Occasionally, those beneath me actually do catch my scent and I have to stay absolutely still until they give up and move on.
It’s mid-afternoon before I finally get to a spot I haven’t been before. On the first day, I passed several of these small cliff faces without taking the time to climb them. Today, I find myself close to one that I haven’t been on top of yet.
I’m deciding on whether or not to jump down from my tree and see what I can see from the cliff face when Elijah climbs over the side of the cliff, pulling himself to the top. I couldn’t see him from where I am crouched on my tree limb, and I couldn’t smell him. If he’d have come up five minutes later, I’d have been caught.
As I watch, he crouches down on the cliff, looking out over the land, presumably looking for me. He’s patient, like Mason, surveying the landscape below us. I see him smile and I wonder if he sees Mason, or maybe one of his pack mates. I wonder where
Mason is, the few times I’ve seen them, they’ve always been together.
“I know you’re close. When the wind shifts, I can smell you.” He says, not looking up.
So much for me being hidden here.
He stands, beginning to look for me in the trees. I’m debating my escape, when I see Typhon’s Beta quietly climb over the top of the cliff behind Elijah. Elijah is too busy searching for me to realize that he’s about to be attacked from behind.
Just as Typhon’s Beta crouches to attack, I shout the warning. “Behind you!”
Elijah whips around and I can see Typhon’s Beta’s surprise at my outburst. He didn’t know I was here. He was simply coming to kill Elijah.
He and Elijah begin fighting and I know immediately, this will be a fight to the death. Both of them have their claws and canines out snarling and snapping at the other. As I watch, the Beta pins Elijah to the ground, but Elijah bites into his arm, ripping his bicep from his body. The Beta howls in pain before snapping his teeth into Elijah’s shoulder.
Elijah punches the Beta in the face, the force causing them to roll. Elijah takes advantage and gets on top of the Beta. He begins punching and clawing at the Beta like a man possessed. The Beta, however, is strong and manages to throw Elijah off of him, nearly tossing him over the cliff. Elijah catches himself just before he rolls off the edge, jumping back to his feet, snarling at the Beta.
They continue fighting for nearly 30 minutes, slashing at each other, leaving gaping wounds. The sweat and blood from their fight is splattering all over the ground, making it slippery on the
stony surface: When Elijah loses his footing, the Beta jumps on him, pinning him to the ground. As I watch, I see the Beta pull his arm back, ready to deliver the killing blow.
In an instant, I leap, landing on his back. My claws extending while I jumped and as I land, my right arm wraps around the Beta’s neck, while my left hand punches into his back. As I wrap my hand
around his still beating heart, he stops, startled at having been attacked and now being on the verge of death.
I lean forward putting my lips to his ear. “How do you like this little baby maker now?” I snarl.
I squeeze his heart, feeling his body seize in pain and the realization of his pending death. Before his heart finishes its last beat, I rip it from his body, letting him collapse onto Elijah.
I jump back, tossing the Beta’s heart aside as I watch Elijah push his body off of him.
He looks at me a moment before putting his head back on the ground, closing his eyes. “Thanks, Luna.”
“You mean Alpha, don’t you?” I ask him.
He shakes his head, no. “My Alpha intends to claim you, that makes you my future Luna.”
“And you? Don’t you intend to claim me?” I ask, still keeping a close eye on him.
He rolls to one side, slowly pushing himself up to a sitting position. “No.”
I have to raise an eyebrow at that. “And yet, here you are, in my claiming.”
He stays seated, but he puts his arms over his knees, letting his head fall forward.
“I’m here for Mason.”
I scoff at that. “You don’t think he can catch me himself?”
He smiles, looking up at me. Just like Luke, I can see the pain on his face from his fight. He’s in no position to claim me in his current state. I relax a bit and squat down near him.
“Of course he can, under normal circumstances. But he had one hell of a target on his back. I knew it was bad before I went into Hana’s claiming, but it was so much worse when I got back. I’m his Beta. What kind of Beta would I be if I didn’t protect my Alpha’s
back?”