The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 160

Layan’s Retum Chapter 5: Eljah

Elijah

It’s the day of my assessment. They scheduled us to be assessed a month before the claiming. The council sent the group of assessors to each of the packs and because our pack is one of the larger ones, several assessors were sent to complete our evaluations.

This year, we have nearly fifty guys going into the claiming. While no one is excited about the assessment, everyone is excited about the claiming this year. With the no kill order from the council, even omegas have a better chance of claiming one of this year’s females.

Mason had agreed to allow Jara to assist with the assessment aftercare, but only with certain parameters. I know he’s worried about her. but the doctor agreed that she could assist as long as she complied with the conditions which mostly consist of her taking hourly breaks. Since I’m up for assessment. I can’t help Mason with the aftercare of our pack members, but both Luke and Brynn agreed to help That will take a lot of the pressure off of Jara, which I know gives Mason some peace of mind.

I tell Mason that I want to go on the first day of assessment. That way. I can help our pack members who are assessed on the second and third day. But it will also give me a chance to tell Layan that I’ve passed assessment. As the time comes closer to the claiming, she’s becoming increasingly nervous. She’s told me that she wakes up almost every night now with nightmares I’ve told her she can call me any time, day or night, but she says that her mother and Alpha Davis are there for her and that she is okay

I hate that she’s in Alpha Davis’s pack and he is able to be there when she needs him. It should be me. And I can tell that she has become more attached to her Alpha, but I’m not giving up. We still talk every day and even this morning, she called me to wish me luck and tell me that she would be there for me this evening if I needed to talk. She had told me

that she wished she could be here for my assessment, but her pack is

getting assessed as well and she felt the need to be there to help them. I understand, and I love that she wants to help her pack, but I really miss her.

Since I’ve been through assessment many times before, so I know what to expect, but it doesn’t matter. Assessment is meant to try to push you to a point where you lose control. That’s why you feel so sick afterward. You have to fight against your own nature, your own instincts, to pass.

I’m not sure if this year they are pushing harder or if they just use what they know about me to provide the worst possible scenario for me to face. But the assessment takes me into the claiming with Layan. At first, it’s fine. I’m in wolf form chasing her and she’s giving me a good run. But then, it happens. I’m forced to watch as the Alpha from last year’s claim overtakes her in his wolf form, biting her, trying to mark her as she screams, begging me to help her.

Somewhere in my head, I know this is the assessment, but everything in me wants to kill him, wants to fight him and get him off of Layan. But I have to think. I have to be smart. I need to do something. I can’t stand by and watch him hurt her, but I can’t kill him either. It will eliminate met from this year’s claiming.

So, I leap at him, biting into his back leg. I taste his blood as my teeth. puncture his flesh. His howl of pain lets me know that he let go of Layan and I tear him away from her, putting myself between him and her. He comes in to attack me, trying to get to her. I grab him again, throwing him aside before pushing back against Layan, moving her against a rock face where I know that no one can sneak up behind us. I can hear her crying, hear the pain in her voice, but I can’t lose my focus, or the Alpha will get her.

He gets up again, this time, I can see that he seems crazed. The only way he’ll stop is if I kill him, but I’m not allowed. I quickly look up, seeing the guards with guns. They are watching the scenario play out. They should

have stopped him when he tried to claim Layan in wolf form, but they didn’t. If they don’t do their job, I’ll have no choice but to kill him to protect her.

He comes at me again. This time, I leap, attacking him. While we’re fighting. I see more Alphas coming. They are racing trying to reach Layan, trying to take what’s mine. I rip a chunk of fur out of the Alpha in front of me before turning, trying to protect Layan who is watching with fear in her eyes as the group of wolves approaches her.

One of the Alphas jumps on me. Another attacks the Alpha I’ve been fighting. But there is a third. I try to get past the Alpha that’s on me, try to bring him down. But he’s strong, stronger than I am. I’m forced to watch as the third Alpha shifts. Alpha Davis. I watch as he walks slowly to Layan, crouching down in front of her. My snarls of fury only increase, knowing she might accept him. She turns her head, looking straight into my eyes, before moving into Alpha Davis’s arms. I’m forced to watch as she turns her head exposing her neck and he leans forward, sinking his canines into her marking spot, claiming my mate.

I shoot out of the virtual reality that the assessment put me into. I open my eyes to a dim light that still feels blinding.

“Congratulations Beta, you passed assessment. You may go see your Alpha and Luna. They have a room set up to help the pack members heal after assessment.”