Chapter 214


    The iming by Cooper Book 4


    The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)


    Chapter 14 Jaxon


    I wasn’t sure I’d see Evangeline again until tomorrow, but I was thrilled when she decided toe wait


    with my family for Raelyn to cross the finish line.


    I really had nned to walk around the packnds, just to see what they are like, but now that Eve has


    decided to join me, I think I’ll take my time and the waterfalls sound romantic.


    We begin traipsing through the forest and I realize just how overgrown it is.


    “Have your parents ever told you about their time in the iming?” She asks as we walk.


    Iugh. “My mother loves to tell the story of how she was seconds away from getting out unimed


    when my father tackled her. My father likes to say that she was so distracted by the other Alphas, your


    father included, by the way, that she didn’t even see himing.”


    I look at her. “How about your parents?”


    She nods. “Somewhere out here there is a cliff where my mother hid for nearly the entire time she was


    in the iming. I guess it made the males in her im nuts. They couldn’t smell her, couldn’t find her


    trail except her initial one near thiske and waterfall. After that, she stayed in the trees until my father


    identally stumbled across where she’d been hiding and waited for her. He’s very proud that she


    wanted him, and he loves to tell the story of how she exposed her neck for him to mark her.”


    I look at her. “Sounds romantic.” I say, not sure if that’s where she’s going with the storv;


    “You know, in theory, it has always sounded romantic.” She says distractedly, stopping and doing a full


    circle, looking around. “But now that I’m here and I can see what it must have been like for all of them,


    the romance of the story is lost on me.”


    Her eyes go unfocused as she gets lost in her thoughts. I wait, hoping she’ll keep talking.


    “I mean. I’ll be turning 18 in a few months. Conceivably, I would being here soon after my birthday


    to be captured by some man, someone I might not even know. I mean, what if I didn’t like them. What if


    we weren’tpatible.”


    Her eyes refocus on me.


    “Back then, it didn’t matter. It’s barbaric.” She says.


    I look around, seeing the area with different eyes, thinking of my mother racing from the battles she


    said they had, the deaths that littered the grounds.


    “Back then, they also went feral. Some of them even went feral during the iming. And so many were


    killed. It’s crazy to think about it now. I’m 18, so I could have been in your iming. I would not only


    have been hunting you down, which by the way, I would have caught you. But beyond that, I would


    have been fighting for my life every day against the others in your iming.”


    When I look back at her, her eyes have narrowed on mine. “No chance in hell you’d have caught me,


    Alpha. I am my mother’s daughter, after all.”


    I lean toward her, enjoying this little tete-a-tete. “And I am my father’s son. I don’t lose, especially if I


    have my eye on the prize.”


    “Am I a prize to you, Jaxon?”


    “Evangeline, I think you’d be a prize to anyone lucky enough to im you as their mate. But if I had to


    compete for you, fight against every other male in this contest, I’d make sure that I won.”


    “That’s very arrogant considering the number of Alphas in thispetition.” She says, but I can see the


    slight blush of pleasure on her cheeks at my statement.


    “Maybe, but that doesn’t make it any less true.” I tell her. “Come on, let’s get to theke before the sun


    sets.”


    We begin walking again, both of us quiet as we take in the territory.


    “From a packnd perspective, it’s not bad. It has several clearings, but overall the forest is dense, a


    perfect area for a wolfpack to run.” I say just as the scent of water hits my nose.


    “We’re close.” She says, lifting her nose into the air and smelling the water. “How big is theke?” She


    asks.


    “Fairlyrge from what my mother says. You can see across it, but it’srge enough that if you were


    trying to get the person on the other side, they would have plenty of time to escape.”


    It’s not much further before we reach the tip of theke. “Oh wow, it isrge.” Eve says.


    “I can see the waterfall at the back and see at the top? My mom said there’s a cave up there where


    most of the contestants stayed their first night.”


    “We should check it out.” Eve says.


    “Definitely.”


    We walk along the edge of the water. I lean down, touching the water with my fingers.


    I look up at Eve, smiling. “It’s warm.”


    “Really?” She says and leans down to touch it. “Oh, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” She asks.


    “We have to go for a swim.”


    “Oh yeah.”


    “Cave first, or swim first?” I ask her.


    “Let’s check out the cave.” She says.


    We get to the waterfall. It’s loud enough that I can see how my mother was able to hide and not be


    heard when she was against the waterfall.


    We climb to the top of the waterfall and look back.


    “Wow! That’s one hell of a view.” I say. From up here, you can see so much of thend.


    “I wonder which cliff my father caught my mother on.” Eve says, looking at a cliff off to our left.


    “I’ll have to ask her. It’s weird being here after all the years of hearing about how they were imed.”


    She says.


    I turn to walk into the cave. “My mom said they started signing their names to the wall in here the year


    she was in the iming.”


    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    “Oh yeah, my mom said the same.” She says, following me into the cave.


    The cave is full of cobwebs and critters that squeak and slither, but I find a piece of old wood and an


    old fire starter. I flick the lighter on and the wood immediately catches.


    I see an old firepit with ashes still in it from past fires. I guess they never blew away because it’s


    protected up here in the cave.


    I stand, holding the burning wood out in front of me.


    “They slept in here?” Evangeline asks, sounding horrified.


    “Well. I guess it was this, a tree or the ground.” I say, moving around the cave.


    “There!” Eve says, stopping me and pointing to a ce at the edge of the light where the fire of the


    wood is reaching.


    I move toward it and Evees to stand beside me.


    “Look, there is your mother’s signature.” Eve says, pointing to my mother’s words.


    “And Beta Layan’s…twice.” I say, seeing her words and remembering that my mother once told me that


    her first iming ended badly, but Beta Elijah caught her the second time. Well, actually, he made her


    im him. It’s a big romantic story in our pack.


    “There’s my mother’s signature.” Eve says, pointing to her mother’s. I read Luna Katerina’s then I read


    my mother’s again.


    “They were a year apart in their imings, right?” I ask.


    “Yes, I believe so, why?” She asks.


    “Look. Your mother’s words seem to be in response to my mother’s. My mother said ‘We will prevail.’


    And your mother said ‘We have prevailed.’


    “Wow. Oh, and look, there’s my Aunt Sophia’s signature.”


    I feel goosebumps raise on my skin.


    Eve turns to look at me. “It’s weird, right? Knowing they were here in this very spot and now we’re here.


    They were trailzers for a new life, a different life that we now get to live.”


    “Yeah, this ce feels…. special.” I say and suddenly, I have an almost irresistible urge to kiss


    Evangeline.


    I step up to her, taking my free hand and running it into her hair. Her heart rate picks up and her


    breaths begin toe faster.


    Before I change my mind, I lean down, pressing my l*ips to hers. They are warm, and soft and I want


    so much more.