The Claiming By Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper (Jara & Mason)

Chapter 63

Mason

Then next morning when I wake, everyone is moving around. No one slept well last night, since we could still here the sounds of the hunt and of killing in the night.

“What’s the plan. Alpha?” Elijah asks as we head out.

Title of the document

“Let’s head to the lake and check the hiding spots that we find along the way.” I tell him.

As we move through the territory, it’s quieter than it has been since this started yesterday. Those that tried to find Jara overnight, have finally settled or fallen asleep.

Elijah and I find several hiding spots, some with Jara’s scent and some without it. She found a lot of them, but not all of them. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. We also find some of the dead bodies that we heard yesterday. We pull the aside, knowing their bodies will begin to rot before the claiming ends.

When we get to the lake, we’re on the far side, away from the waterfall.

“What’s that?” Elijah asks pointing to the other side of the lake.

“Let’s go see. But keep your eyes open. It could be a trap.”

We walk around the lake. I use the time to sniff to see if I find Jara’s scent. It isn’t until we’re close to the bodies that I smell her. When we get to them, I can see that they’re dead and have been for a while.

“Do you think she k*illed them?” Elijah asks, having smelled Jara’s scent on them.

I look around, then up at the cave above us. “No. I think they were in the cave and were k*illed, possibly tossed into the water. Maybe Jara went to check on them and pulled them out of the water, thinking they had drowned. But either way, she was here, and I think she’s the one that pulled them out.

sniffing around the area where the

Elijah through the mind

is looking around. He crouches down at the water’s edge. “Look at this.” He

set of footprints that walk into the water. The footprints are small, either Jara’s

to the cave. ‘She was here when

must have done a damn good job of hiding. That or

on. “I want to see the cave.”

nods, standing. We climb up the side of the waterfall until we get to the top. We sniff the air before walking

were here because her

any clue as to where Jara might be.

is it?” Elijah asks, coming to

read the words of the others from this year’s claiming. Then, at the bottom, Jara

sisters-in-arms. We will prevail.

slaps his hand on my shoulder. “One hell of a

get caught up here and have to fight

shift back into my wolf to even find her scent. She was definitely in the water, and my guess, she was soaking wet last night. It was

human form and follows my wolf as I track Jara’s scent. I follow it to

Maybe we’re looking in the wrong places.” He says,

if we can figure out which tree she slept

I think is her trail, but it’s hard to catch from this far down. I realize the trees are a good spot for her. Most of her claimants won’t expect her to be up m the trees. And most of the trees don’t look strong enough to hold someone

catch her scent. I turn, sniffing the air and find the tree she exited this morning. I look back up and to where we found her entrance and I begin retracing my steps. If she’s going to be spending a lot

slowly, looking at each tree before finding the

I say to

do you say

be visible from the ground, but she would also have room in case

got other branches to catch her if

another moment. “So, now we know what to look