The Claiming By Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper (Jara & Mason)

Chapter 72

Jara

After leaving Elijah, I skirted around the territory, staying in the trees. I have food now, thanks to Elijah and based on what he told me, things are going to get increasingly worse in these last few days.

As I’m skirting the edge of the territory in the trees, I find another cliff. This one has a small watering hole in it. It’s probably meant to be drinking water, which I need, but I also need to wash this blood off of me.

Title of the document

I’m careful this time, checking all sides of the cliff before leaping from my tree to the top. I turn and immediately crouch to see what is going on below me. From here, I have a better view of the chaos on the forest floor. Every where I look, there are wolves fighting, running, hiding. It’s terrible. There are very few that are still in groups now, they all seem to be on their own.

I look down at Mason’s shirt and realize that once again, it is also covered

me warm in my nakedness. I lay the shirt down on a rock, letting the heat and sun dry it before I have to leave. I wish I could spend the night here

Everywhere I look, wolves are sniffing the ground, hunting for me. And everywhere I look, there are only wolves. No one seems to be in their human form anymore. It must be because of the claiming haze, in our wolf form, our senses are heightened even more than normal. It

had planned on it anyway, since I’m going to stay in the trees for as long as I can. But knowing that my claimants would have to get out of the haze long enough to realize they need to shift to catch me just confirms that decision. Because, even if I’m marked by a wolf, the claimant wouldn’t be

here, especially since there is water. I take a couple more gulps, using my hands to

When I leap into one of the trees I use to climb down, I realize that he was not only looking for me, he climbed my tree to get to me. I sniff the air again,

the meat. He left me

I pick up the food, I hear a snarling fight going on nearby. This tree is no longer safe, so I tie a knot

been hearing them for days now, so I’ve become

hunting me. The only

protect myself. But if I don’t, every remaining wolf in the territory will be under these

all wolves. Mason’s shirt which was once white, is now