Chapter 297
The iming by Cooper Book 4
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 24 (Jordan)
The bear hits the car, feeling like a freight train hit us, lifting my side of the car off the ground.
The car flips, tumbling down the incline beside the road andnding upside down. From above us, I
hear the growl of more than one bear.
“Jordan, are you okay?” Jace asks.
“Yeah, you?” I ask, smelling blood. I’m not sure if it’s his or mine.
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“I think so, I bashed my head against the window, but I’m okay,” he says. So, the blood is most likely
his.
“We need to get out of this car. I’m not going to take on a group of bears upside down and pinned in,” I
say, working to push my door open. “You’re not taking on a group of bears at all, Jordan. That’s a death
wish,” he says, but I can hearthem crashing through the brush to get to us. Jace won’t like it, but I’m his
Alpha, it’s my job to protect him.
I unhook my seat belt, careful not to let myself fall on my head and I pull myself out of the car.
“Jordan, dammit, wait for me!” Jace says.
But I don’t. I turn and just in time to. There are three of them standing there. All three are huge men,
n*aked from having shifted back to their human form.
“You were warned to stay away from ournds, wolf. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” the
leader says, just as Jace leaps over the car,nding beside me, having shifted in mid-air. “No, Jace!” I
say, grabbing his tail. I hold his tail while I speak.
“My name is Alpha Jordan Stern. We did note here to fight. We came here to see your n
Leader, Balor, and speak to him about the problems that you are having with the rogue wolves,” I say.
“The rogue problem you created?” their leader asks me.
“What makes you think we have a n Leader named Balor?” A second bear asks, his voice growly,
but before I can answer either of them another one chimes in.
“And even if we did, we wouldn’t let filth like you near him.”
Jace begins snarling and snapping at the bears.
“Watch it, pup. I could cut you in half with one swipe of my paw,” the leader says, extending his ws
that are at least two inches long.
“Easy, Jace,” I say to him quietly.
A giant of a man begins making his way toward us. He’s thergest man I’ ve ever seen, easily the size
of two Alphas. He’s big, but he’s all muscle. “What did you say your name was, little wolf?” he asks me,
and I watch as the others step aside deferring to him. ‘Jace, step back, I think this is Balor,’ I say in the
mind link. Jace moves back but ensures that he’s still in front of me. The motion does not go unnoticed
by the new leader.
Normally, I would take offense at being called a little wolf, but honestly,pared to this man, I am
small. “My name is Alpha Jordan Stern. I’m friends with Nn, who I know has been here training the
bears against the rogue wolves. He’s the one who told me of your troubles. Before that, we, the wolves
that is, didn’t know that we had a rogue problem. But we do now, and because of you, we were warned
of the pending attack on me and my cousin, the only other female Alpha. I’d like to get more
information on these rogues, and you should know that our elders are already out hunting forthem. We
intend to take them out, but we’d like to know more about them, if possible,” I say, remaining polite, but
making sure they understand that I appreciate their warning and that we are taking the problem
seriously. “Tell me, little wolf, were you nning to hunt the rogues before or after you were attacked?”
the man that I believe is Balor asks me.
“Before. As I mentioned, we didn’t know that the rogues existed until just a few days ago. We believe
that they were hiding in the vacant packnds that have now been taken over and because they are
disced, they are looking for a new ce to live.”
“That does not ount for thest 20 years that they have been killing bears, humans and who knows
what else. Those dead humans have caused us a lot of problems. Dead humans mean more humans
come traipsing around our forests, interrupting our serene lifestyle, killing my kind. I don’t take that
lightly,” he says.
“Nor should you,” I say.
He assesses me for a long moment. “So, you’re the little wolf that all the fuss was about. I can see why.
You’re a beautiful woman. Tell your guard dog to stand down. My men won’t hurt you.”
He extends his hand. “I’m Balor, by the way.”
When Jace growls, Balor looks at him, but doesn’t pull his hand away. I give Jace a low, warning growl
of my own, letting him know that he needs to calm down before stepping around him and reaching out
to take Balor’s hand.
Balor yanks me to him, leaning in to sniff me.
“For a wolf, you smell f*ucking fantastic,” he says.
Without flinching, I lean in and sniff him as well. “You smell like oak,rge and unbending,” I say.
He barks out augh. “You and I are going to get along just fine, little wolf. Come on, I’ll take you to my
lands,” he says, before turning and beginning to walk up the incline.
I turn to Jace as he shifts back. I walk to him, pulling some ss out of the injury on his head.
“Are you good to travel,” I ask quietly. “We have medical herbs for your guard dog in mynds,” Balor
says, turning to me.
He taps his nose. “Bears have a sense of smell that’s about ten times better than a wolf’s. I smelled his
injury the moment the ss cut him, just as I can smell the blood of your injury as well,” Balor says to
me.
I frown, looking down and see the barest hint of cut on my arm. I look back up at him and he just taps
his nose again.
“We actually smelled you the minute you turned on our highway here. We’ve been watching you as you
continued to get closer to ournds,” he says.
“I’li get our bags,” Jace says, going to the upside-down car and attempting to open the trunk.
Balor nods at his guys and theye over, pushing the car over so that it’s upright.
“Thank you,” I say, knowing that Jace won’t. He’s aggravated with the attack, the disrespect towards
me, and he’s concerned about us going with these bears. I can feel all of that through our bond.
Jace grabs our bags and turns, walking toward me, his jaw clenched.
“Ready, little wolf?” Balor asks.
“Ready, big bear,” I say to him, using his terminology, which only makes himugh a big bellyugh that
echoes in the forest.
“Oh yes, I like you,” he says as we begin trekking our way through the forest.