The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 154

The Council Chapter 63: Jara

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288 iVouchers

Jara

At the end of the battle, we lost nearly two hundred wolves in total. All but about 15 of Alpha Gunnar’s pack with Alpha Shawn and Alpha Conrad were killed and we lost nearly fifty of our own wolves, leaving our numbers at right around 1200 werewolves left which makes us critically endangered of extinction.

We buried our dead, making our pyres and taking a week to give everyone an opportunity to say their goodbyes and grieve the loss of our pack members. Mason and I stood at the front of the pack every night, giving our remembrances of our pack members, letting others say anything they wanted to say about our lost brothers and then we’d light the pyres and watch as their ashes burned up, floating into the sky.

The last night was the hardest. That night, we said goodbye to our Gammas, Joseph and Stella. Jace stood by stoically, his hands in fists as he watched their pyres burn into the night. Luke and Mason had stayed with him, standing beside him until he was finally ready to come back inside.

That had been a month ago. Mason had asked Luke to be his Gamma and he had accepted. It was only about a week later that Luke and Brynn had asked if they could adopt Jace, knowing he had no family left.

Mason and I had talked to Jace, letting him know that no one could ever replace his parents and that there were many people in the pack that loved him, us included, but that Luke and Brynn had specifically asked if they could adopt him.

“Would I have to call them mom and dad?” He asked.

“No, we know they aren’t your biological parents. If you choose to call them mom and dad or some version of that in the future, you can, but they

The Council Chapter 63: Jara

288 iVouchers

won’t force it. They know that you and Melinda are friends, and they want to make sure that you are raised with love and encouragement.

We had given him some time to think about it, but he had eventually agreed. It was a rough transition at first, but both Luke and Brynn were patient with him and gave him the space he needed. Melinda, on the other hand, couldn’t contain her excitement and went around telling everyone that Jace was her new brother. She’d hold his hand and drag him around the packhouse, then the pack lands.

Whether it was intuitive on her part or not, she found a way to keep him from isolating himself from the pack. He wouldn’t talk to many people, but somehow, Melinda always got him to talk to her.

The

Davis, Luke, Quinton and Jonas had found the missing pack members.

were in a dungeon, of sorts, in Gunnar’s packhouse. They were all filthy and hungry by the time they were found, but they all survived and were able to return home.