The Claiming By Cooper

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 40 (Jaxon)

It took me a couple of hours to recover from the morning training session, but by lunch time, I was mostly back to normal.

“Are you gonna make it, Super Hotty?” Eve teases me over lunch.

“If you had asked me a couple of hours ago, I’d have said no, but at least now I feel like I can walk.”

Title of the document

“That was brutal,” Alejandro says, having come to sit with us.

“If you think that was brutal, just wait. If he is anything like Ezekiel, we’ll all be barely standing by the end of the week,” Eve says.

“Yeah, it was about two days before we were all struggling to get through both classes each day and by the end of the week, none of us were able to hold our heads up to eat dinner.” I tell him, enjoying my lunch while my body still can.

“Was it really that brutal?” Magdalena asks.

“Yes,” both Eve and I say together.

After lunch, Eve looks at me. “I was going to spend some time with Maggie this afternoon.”

“Perfect, I wanted to speak to Rowen. She mentioned wanting to talk to me while I’ m here.”

Eve comes over, wrapping her arms around my neck and looking up at me. “See you for afternoon training?”

My arms rest perfectly around her waist, pulling her against my body. “I’ll see you there.”

Her lips start twitching and I raise my eyebrow.

“I’m sure it will get easier for you,” she says, a full-on smile spreading across her face.

“You,” I say, pecking her lips, “are lucky I love you.”

“Every minute of every day,” she says, before leaning in for a d*eeper k*iss. This one lingers until someone, presumably her father, loudly clears their throat. I pull away. No since kicking over the beehive.

Eve shoots a glare at her father before heading out with Maggie. I turn and go in search of Rowen. I follow her scent to her room, where I knock.

“Come in,” she says from inside her room. I open the door to see her sitting on her bed looking out the window.

“Oh, hey Jax.”

Rowen,” I say,

room. By chair, I mean bean bag blob on the floor. I hate the things. Once I’m in, it feels practically impossible to get out of it. But I’m here to see my sister, who said she

“What’s up, Rowe?”

at the quilt on her bed that she’s sitting on before taking a d*eep breath and looking up at me. “How do you know Evangeline is your mate? She’s not old enough

my eyes at my sister. “Did you find

he’s in the competition.” She says, looking down before looking

I’ve ever smelled before,”

had to have her and that being away from her was going to be impossible.” She nods,

to feel

talk to

looking up at

Eve’s brother Alejandro are pretty sure

that. “Teagan is going to be

guess so. But while Teagan is about to turn 18, Alejandro is still

down, frowning again. “If he can smell me, if he can sense the mate bond, then why didn’t

he knows that they are mates, because he thinks she deserves someone stronger. Although, it hasn’t escaped me that he hasn’t rejected her either, so

know, Rowe. Maybe your strength

then I deserve

is it?” I ask

looks at me, debating

You know I can keep a

me another moment. “It’s Alpha Enzo. Alpha

minute. “You beat him in the race, didn’t

think that could be

beside my sister. “If that’s the reason, you’re right, he doesn’t deserve you. He’s an Alpha and I can

but she says she only finished the race

an Alpha, because she’s strong and because she dug d*eep inside herself, just like you and everyone else that finished had

Enzo very well, but I’ll pay more attention in the next round. If you want, I’ll give you my impressions. Plus, he’ll be older. If he wasn’t sure he was feeling the pull of the mate bond then, he’ll have a harder time ignoring it when we meet

around my neck and laying her head on my shoulder. “Thanks,

her a moment before pulling

dare throw any part of this competition

at me. “Yes, big brother, I

what you want, I’ll see you

YOU going to make it?” she asks me, like the bratty sister she

Alpha, little sis, nothing is getting in

Jordan POV

h*arder than the morning and nearly as h*ard as my one-on-one training. I was still feeling the workout from

feeling stronger,