Chapter 288


    The iming by Cooper Book 4


    The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)


    Chapter 15 (Unknown POV)


    “Alpha, why are we here?”


    I lift my nose in the air. “Don’t you smell her?” I ask. He’s not an Alpha, so maybe he can’t smell what


    I’m smelling.


    “Uh, what am I smelling?” he asks, sniffing the air.


    “There’s a second female Alpha. This one seems to be alone, or at least, not part of a pack. I smell


    family, but no other pack members.”


    My father was an Alpha, his mate was a female Alpha. Not my mother. My mother was a worthless


    human who did nothing worthwhile on this other than give birth to me before she died. And then,


    my father was murdered, and our pack was lost. The pack I was owed, the pack I deserve.


    I had intended to take the other female Alpha, but now that there are two, I can much more easily


    capture and mark this one. I may have been young when my father died, but he taught me everything


    he knew about catching and iming a female, specifically catching an Alpha female.


    “We’ll have to get around the patrols. Tell the others to stay here. Keep everyone quiet. I’ll get in,


    snatch her up and get out. Once she’s marked, there’s nothing anyone can do about it,” I tell him.


    “Sure thing, Alpha,” he says, as the wolves behind him begin fighting over the scraps of thest bear


    we killed. It’s the only animal big enough to fill their voracious appetites.


    “Quiet them down. NOW!” I order my warrior.


    “Yes, Alpha,” he says, rushing into the fray and tearing into our pack members. There’s no snarls or


    growls, only ripping flesh from their bodies to get their attention.


    It’s a constant problem in my pack. Too many males, no females, no way to get any relief from all this


    masculine energy. For whatever reason, whether it was our fathers or it was because they mated with


    humans, there are no rogue females, only males. I watched my father slip into his madness, watched


    him lose his mind while he tried to find a new mate, one who could save him.


    The humans didn’t save him, but they did help him to live a bit longer.


    I turn, looking at all of them, cowed for now. “Stay quiet, or I’ll kill you when I get back,” I say.


    They nod, then begin snapping at each other again, their growls getting louder. I shift and leap into the


    group, grabbing one by the back of the neck and shaking my head violently until I hear the snap of his


    neck. I drop him, looking at the others around me and snarling low, warning them that they are next if


    they make any more noise.


    Once they are quiet, I turn, slinking up to where the patrols have been running. I watch, learning their


    pattern, before sneaking past them.


    Time to get my mate.


    Nn POV


    After sending all of the new Alphas home, I had stopped in Alpha Giovanni’ s pack for the night. He had


    offered to let me stay as long as I wanted, or to bring me back to Jordan’s pack with him, but I had


    declined.


    In truth, I felt the need to get my head straight. It’s obvious to me that Jordan’ s feelings have been on


    the fence since the beginning, but now that Jace is obviously make a y for her, I can see the mate


    bond working its magic. The question I have for myself is, how hard to I want to push Jordan to


    consider me as her mate?


    Rather than driving back to the pack, I decide to run. I could use the time to clear my head and the run


    will be good for my endurance training. At this rate, it will take me a day to get back to


    Jordan’s pack. By then, the Alpha meeting should be in the end of its first day, or maybe even into the


    second day, depending on how long I decide to take.


    I’ve been running for hours when I smell something off. I stop, sniffing the air, trying to find the scent


    that shouldn’t be here.


    I catch the scent again, and slowly make my way to it. It smells like wolf, but it also smells bad, like a


    bunch of wolves that haven’t bathed in way too long. I’m not sure if these are the rogues, but I decide


    to follow the scent and find out.


    What I quickly realize is that this is not just one wolf, it’s an entire pack. As I follow the scent, it’s getting


    stronger the longer I go and that can only mean one thing, this pack is headed toward Jordan’s pack.


    I pick up my pace, but I’m still hours away from Jordan and now, I’m too far away from Alpha


    Giovanni’s pack to go back and get my phone. Instead, I push harder, trying to make up time. As a


    single wolf, I should be able to catch a pack of wolves. It just depends on how far ahead of me they


    are.


    I push harder, wanting to get to them before they get to Jordan’s packnds. If the Alphas have all


    arrived as they should have, then this fight wouldn’t amount to anything, and this pack should be taken


    out quickly. If not, then Jordan and her cousin Taylor are in danger.


    It’s when I’m getting close to Jordan’s packnds, my mind on the scent in my nose and the fear for


    Jordan, that I nearly run right into the pack that is lying in wait. It only takes me a second to realize that


    we’re on the outskirts of Alpha Taylor’s pack, the new Alpha female that borders Jordan’s pack.


    As soon as I see them, I howl the rm. It’s not the smartest move I’ve ever made, I’m alone and I’ve


    just set myself up to fight a pack of what looks like 30 wolves on my own.


    Thankfully, Jordan’s patrols answer my howl, and they begin racing toward me. I’m about to jump into


    the fight when I hear a third howl. This one I don’t recognize at all, but the rogue pack does. They turn,


    and head toward their Alpha, who I realize has breached the borders of Alpha Taylor’s pack and is


    inside her packnds.


    I give chase, hoping to corral them into the patrols, but these guys are wily, obviously used to escaping


    capture.


    A few momentster, I hear the sound of multiple howls going up from Jordan’s pack. They’ve heard


    the patrols and areing to fight. All I have to do is keep the rogues here for them to capture.


    I’m running toward where I heard the Alpha give his howl, calling his pack to him. I’ve just broken


    through a brush line, entering a clearing with a small house and a lot of construction materials when I


    see him. I can tell by his size that his father was an Alpha. No other wolf would be asrge as his. His


    pack members begin racing past him, jumping into a fight with the patrols that are outnumbered, not by


    much, but as I watch the rogues begin to fight, I realize that they are crazed animals, fighting almost as


    if they are rabid, rather than fighting for their lives.


    The Alpha’s snarl turns my attention back to him. I hunch over, lowering my head and snarling at him,


    challenging him. This may not be Jordan’s pack, but I’m willing to keep this man, this wolf, from getting


    to her.


    He leaps at me, and we begin to roll around on the ground. I remember what the councilman said


    about these rogues possibly being descendants of the banished pack members with feral fever or the


    iming haze. I’m also old enough to remember that those with feral fever could pass on the disease


    by biting another. So I go on defense, making sure I don’t get bit.


    We’ve been fighting for a few minutes, him snapping at me, me making sure that I don’t get bitten when


    I smell it, the scent of the sweet-after-death nt. It’s a scent very simr to vani,


    but only found deep in the forest, near streams orkes. I love this scent, not only because of the


    sweetness of it, but because it’s hard to find and you have to know where to go to get it.


    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    I’m so distracted, that the rogue Alpha gets the upper hand, pushing me over and getting on top of me,


    snapping at my neck and face. A momentter another wolf, a gorgeous ck wolf ms into him,


    pushing him off of me. She stands in front of me, snarling at him, protecting me. I realize, this is the


    wolf that has the scent that is so distracting that for once in my life, I can’t even think about fighting.


    He lifts his head up in the air, and howls before looking back at her, and now it’s my turn to snarl. His


    look is full of lust. Lust for MY mate.


    I slowly begin to stalk toward him, but he takes off. I’m about ready to give chase, when teeth bite,


    gently but firmly into my tail, holding me in ce.


    I turn, seeing the beautiful she-wolf holding my tail.


    I shift and stand, watching her. I’ve waited so long to find my mate, and here she is, right in front of me.


    Finally. She shifts and I take a moment to look over her gorgeous body. The Moon Goddess has finally


    blessed me with my mate and oh, what a mate she is. “Mate!” I say.


    She smiles a brilliant smile at me. “Mate!”


    I take a step toward her and then I see the other wolves, shifting behind her. I turn and look, stopping in


    my tracks. “Jordan.”


    The smiles falls from my mate’s face as she turns to look at Jordan and then back at me.


    “You’re Nn?”