The Claiming By Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper (Jara & Mason)

Chapter 78

Jara

When I left Mason at the cliffs, I thought he’d catch me quickly. When he didn’t, I was surprised, but also on alert. Just because I don’t see him doesn’t mean that he isn’t up to something.

It takes me awhile, but I finally find a tree that will hold my weight but few, if any, of the males left in the claiming. I climb high, knowing that Mason won’t be able to smell me when he finds me. I know he will, he won’t sleep tonight if he doesn’t find me.

Title of the document

However, because the tree is smaller, in general, than the others that I’ve been sleeping in, I can only go so high before the branches become too small to hold even my weight.

I get as comfortable as I can, using several branches that are bunched together to squish myself into. Between all of them, I feel safe that my little spot here will hold.

I’ve nearly fallen asleep when I hear the rustling of the underbrush beneath me. Then I hear a limb snapping and the growling of frustration.

I lean over and see that Mason has found me. I’m really surprised that it took him this long. As I watch, he jumps up again, only to break the limb and fall back to the ground. Then he’s up and climbing the tree next to me. When he leaps over to my tree, I feel it sway with his weight.

Shit! I didn’t plan for him to get to me up here. There’s nowhere for me to go.

falls to the ground, only when he lands, he’s in wolf

the tree like he did the other night. Then he leaps up, trying to catch my scent. His howl of frustration brings

I watch him. He continues to alternate between trying to get up the tree and scratching the tree as if he’s trying to bring it down.

night. I’m exhausted and cramped but unwilling to move. Mason lays down at the

whining and growling, then he scratches at the tree before jumping

goes on for hours. I’m exhausted by the time the sun starts to rise, but my adrenaline

again. I carefully unfold myself from this tree limb bed, hearing my joints crack and

down again. Still sleeping. Good.

down the tree, careful not to slip and send debris tumbling onto Mason. If he wakes

gotten as low as I can in the tree, the limbs having been broken off my Mason’s attempt to climb to me, I leap to the tree next to me. This is the tree that Mason climbed last night. The limbs on this tree are much larger and sturdier. I stay

me. The ranked wolves are aware enough to know that this is the last morning, their last chance to catch me and they

point, they’d probably pull the trees down to get to me. When I get as close as I can, I look out to the entrance of the claiming territory, my freedom. So close, but still

at the entrance. It’s 7:30am. I have 30 minutes and the sprint of

wolves that have congregated near here. They are all keeping their distance from each other, but right now, they are

Elijah possibly, and several warriors from Seth’s pack that I know. There are some others, one definitely is an Alpha based on his

probably 30-40 wolves waiting for me, all searching, all whining and growling in frustration at not

the time so I don’t rush it. If I tried to leave the claiming territory before the end of the claim, the males would be within their rights to chase me down until someone caught and claimed me. This way, I will have Elder

asleep? Does he not realize that I’ve moved and

begin to climb lower in the tree. I keep looking around at the ground beneath me.