Chapter 267
The iming by Cooper Book 4
The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)
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Chapter 67 (Evangeline)
I didn’t sleep well. Or, I should say, I wouldn’t have slept well if it weren’t for Jaxon purring everytime he
realized I was awake. So, I wake much more rested that I expected to be and after a good breakfast,
I’m feeling ready for today’s challenge.
I’m third in the queue, meaning I have about two and a half hours before it’s my turn. Caleb is first up
this morning, so we go outside to stand with Maggie while her mate runs through the course.
“I hope he does better than I did,” she says after the gun goes off and he races into the territory.
“It’ll be fine Maggie,” I tell her. And when he emerges, I’m proven right. Caleb exits the territory with
eight gs.
Maggie runs into his arms, and he swings her around. It’s very likely that Caleb just made it through to
the final round with that many gs.
I begin getting nervous as the second contestant enters the territory. I begin to fidget and move around,
I’m getting myself really worked up when Jaxon wraps his arms around my waist, putting his h*ands on
my stomach. “Rx, Eve. You’ve got this. Your senses are so much stronger right now.”
“I know, but…”
“Shhhh, close your eyes.”
“Jaxon…”
He nips at my ear. “Close your eyes,” he says.
I do as he says.
“Lean back against me,” he says as he begins purring again.
“Open your senses,” he says, his l*ips so close to my ear that I can feel his breath as it tickles m.
I open up my senses, focusing first on my hearing. I lean away from Jaxon, so he’s not right next to my
ear. He pulls his head back, so I can continue to lean against him. I tune out the purring from Jaxon
and focus on the sounds that I hear.
To the left, there is a sound of a growling mountain lion. It’s on a loop, running for a few seconds every
30 seconds.
Then, directly in front of me, there’s a mockingbird. I wouldn’t think much of it, but like the mountain
lion, it’s on repeat and once I’ve heard it several times, I recognize that the sound repeats itself over
and over.
Then, off to the right, I hear the rustling of a mole, or some other animal burrowing into the earth. Just
like the bird, I wouldn’t have paid attention except that identical sounds keep repeating.
Then, I open up my nose, quickly finding the deer. That one must be close. No deer woulde this
close to this many predatory animals.
Farther away, I smell the bear and since no one hase racing out of the territory, running from a
giant bear, I’m pretty sure that’s one of the stations to get a g.
There’s another scent that’s off in this territory, the scent of sunflowers in a ce where sunflowers
don’t grow, so I’m pretty sure that’s a station.
And finally, I catch a faint scent of blood. I’m really hopeful that it’s just a small amount of blood,
because in my current pregnant state, the scent of blood will make me vomit.
By the time I’m done, the hour is nearly up and I’m feeling calm and ready for my turn.
When I’m up and the gun goes off, I don’t hesitate. I take off, heading for the deer scent first. I snatch
my blue g and keep going, following the sound of the mountain lion. On the way, I see the squirrel.
He’s sitting on log, just looking at me.
I frown and walk over to it, not sure what it is, and then I realize that it’s a dead squirrel that has been
stuffed by a taxidermist. I look around and find the g before continuing on my way. I’m not as fast as I
would be if I wasn’t three months pregnant, but I’m still able to get to all of the stations for scent and
sound before the gun goes off letting me know that my hour is up. I jog out of the territory, Jaxon
waiting for me. I drop off my gs, get the announcement of eight gs and Jaxon whoops, rushing to
pick me up and spin me around.
We have lunch and then Enzo is up. Hees out with seven gs. Since we’re about halfway into the
contest, it’s bing clearer that anyone under seven is out, anyone over seven is in and those who
have seven gs are at risk of having to do the fourth day of sudden death.
Jace is thest of our group today and he emerges with eight gs as well. We all head inside to get
dinner.
Caleb is consoling Maggie, since she’s pretty confident that she’s out of thepetition. Jaxon, while
still making sure to t*ouch me, is distracted and I know tonight it’s my turn to purr him to sleep.
Rowan is also up tomorrow, but she’ster than Jaxon. I’m d that his slot is in the morning. By lunch
time, we should be pretty confident in knowing which of us has progressed to the next and final stage
of the contest.
Overnight, it’s as I expected. This time, it’s Jaxon who struggles to sleep, and it’s me who is helping
him rx and stay asleep.
Before we went to bed, I told Jaxon about the animals that I’d heard and smelled, and that they had
changed from day one to day two. After breakfast the next morning, as the first contestant goes into the
territory, I realize that they have switched it up overnight again.
Jaxon had already told me that the flower was most likely out and he wasn’t going to waste his time
trying to find that one unless he found the other nine and I had agreed. Flowers aren’t exactly Jaxon’s
thing.
The first contestantes out with six gs, most likely being eliminated. The second contestant,
Stefan,es out with nine. So far, he and Tobias are the only two with nine gs.
Jaxon begins walking forward, getting ready to enter the territory.
“Hey, Super Hotty, the number to beat is nine, but if youe out with nine gs or more, I’ll make it
worth your while,” I call loudly to him.
The people around us begin abination of wolf whistles, howling andining that my
motivation isn’t fair.
He rushes back to me, k*issing me fiercely before running back to the starting line. “Now, that’s what I
call incentive,” he says.
The moment the gun goes off, he takes off like a shot. I listen, hearing him as he races through the
stations faster than I did. I count them off as he goes and when the gun goes off that his hour is up, he
comes jogging out of the territory, nine gs in his h*and, a smug smile on his face.
His eyes never leave mine as hees up, lifting me so I can wrap my l*egs around his waist.
“Time to collect my reward,” he says, before walking toward the packhouse, making meugh as the
cheers, howls and wolf whistles follow us inside.