The Claiming By Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper (Jara & Mason)

Chapter 69

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.

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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.

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

I see him smile and I wonder if he sees Mason, or

the wind shifts, I can smell you.” He says,

for me being hidden

the top

crouches to attack, I

outburst.

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.

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,

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,

and as I land, my right arm wraps around the Beta’s neck, while my left hand punches into his back. As

my lips to his ear. “How do you like this little baby maker now?” I

death. Before his heart finishes its

back,

heart aside as I watch Elijah push his body off of

his head back on