Chapter 209
The iming by Cooper Book 4
The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)
Chapter 9 Evangeline
It sounds strange, but I’ve really enjoyed running beside Jaxon. He’s a good pacer for my speed. He
doesn’t run faster or slower, he stays at the same pace and that’s good for me. When we started
training, both Lazio and Alejandro told me and Maggie that our pace wasn’t consistent, and we’d wear
ourselves out sooner if we kept going faster and faster as we ran.
Of course, now, I have a stitch in my side that I’ve had for thest 20 miles. I was hoping that it would
go away when I used the bathroom, but no such luck.
Not only am I tired, hungry and sore, we’re going into the back half of this race in thete afternoon.
We’ll have to run all night in the dark. I love the nighttime, and I’m fully capable of seeing well at night,
but it’s going to be brutal.
And this is why it’s apetition to be Alpha. It shouldn’t be easy. It should be hard. Only the
best and the strongest physically and mentally should be eligible to take over the packs.
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Over thest three months, my siblings and I have run the full 100 miles several times. Not every
weekend and not in thest couple of weekends, knowing we needed to be strong for thispetition.
But my best time, was 30 hours. Keeping up with Jaxon’s pace, I’ve gotten halfway through the race in
10 hours. But there’s no way I can continue going this fast.
I slow my paceing off the rest area of the 50-mile marker. Jaxon slows his as well.
“You don’t have to slow down for me.” I tell him. I’m not sure why he’s slowing. This is apetition.
He should be taking advantage of my slowing pace to get ahead of me.
“I need to slow down too. My body is feeling it.”
Jaxon sets a new pace, one that is easier to manage. I notice that Tobias and Taylor both keep up their
harsh pace. Stephan seems to find a pace in between ours and theirs, and Jace has fallen behind us.
In the next ten miles, Caleb, Cillian and Enzo close in behind us. As we reach the 60-mile marker, the
sun is starting to set. This time, as we run through the rest area, Alejandro is there, handing out waters.
“You’ve got this Evie! There are only a few runners ahead of you. Keep it up! Fight for your pack!”
I down the water. We were told that the water from the 50-mile markers on would contain electrolytes to
help give us energy and replenish some nutrients in our bodies. However, it’s my brother’s words that
energize me. He’s right. I’m here to fight for my pack. I can’t let a little pain get the best of me. If these
others can do it, so can I.
“Thanks Al.” I shout as I toss the paper cup aside.
“He’s a good brother.” Jaxon says as we exit the rest area, the pathway dark now as the sun starts to
fall behind the trees.
“He is. He’s been very supportive this entire time.” I say.
Jaxon frowns. “Did you want to run faster?” He asks me.
“What? Oh, uh, no, probably not. I tend to speed up when I ran. Both Al and Laz told me so when we
were training.”
I fall back into pace with Jaxon.
“I have an idea.” Jaxon says to me as we run.
“What’s that?” I ask, hoping he’s not wanting to talk. He may have slowed our pace, but I’m still trying
to make sure I don’t get too winded and have to stop.
“For the rest of the night, we use the rest stops as our cues to learn something about the other. Each
time we pass one, we can ask the other one question. That way, it gives us something to think about in
between, something other than the pain and stitches in our sides, and we get to know each other
better.”
I like it. It’s a good idea and I tell him so.
He nods. “Ladies first.” He says.
“Catch your breath.” I say, as I begin to think of what I want to know about Alpha Jaxon.
There are probably a lot of things that I want to know about Jaxon, but I decide to start easy.
“If you win, which packnds do you want?” I ask.
“Hmmm… Do you know, I haven’t actually thought about it. I know I don’t want the one that had mines
on it. My father said they tested thend and there aren’t any, but I’d rather not find out they were
wrong.”
“One of the packs had mines on it?” I ask. I’ve never heard this.
“One of the packs that died out in the pack war.”
“That’s nuts.”
“I think I’d want the pack where my Aunt M died.”
I stumble and would have fallen if it weren’t for Jaxon grabbing me.
“You have an aunt that died?” I ask. We get back into our pace before he answers.
“It was before I was born. From what my parents told me, her mate basically bred her to death. That
was back in the days of the iming.”
“Why would you want thatnd then?” I ask.
“To bring peace to thend, I guess. Or maybe, peace to my mother and grandparents. Or at least,
that’s my thought.” He shrugs.
We run for a bit in silence, both of us catching our breath.
“I actually had the same question for you. What packnds do you want and why?” He asks me.
“Well, I definitely don’t want the iming territory. Too easy to try and keep the old buildings rather than
starting over, even though it has the mostnd. Or so Maggie said to me. And now I know I don’t want
the mine territory. But I passed these vacantnds once when my parents and I were on a trip. They
border a beautiful mountain range with snow-capped mountains. We passed thend in summer and
even then, the mountains were snow-capped. If I get my choice, those are thends I want.”
He turns and looks at me.
“What?” I ask him.
“We want the same packnds. That is ce where Aunt M died.”
“Seriously?” I ask him. What are the odds. One in ten, I guess.
“Seriously.” He says.
We fall into silence. I fall back into the rhythm of running. I don’t know how much time it took for our
questions, but it has made the time go by more quickly. Before I know it, we’reing up on the 70-
mile marker.