The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 84: Safe Rooms

Sophie

When the howls of attack go up, Hunter and | jump out of bed.

"Call your father and Kayce, and take care of my mate," he says, pullingto him and kissingfiercely

before racing out of the room and leaping off the stairwell, shifting on his way down to the first floor. | grabbed

one of Hunter's shirts and my phone as | begin racing down the stairs meeting up with Kinsley as we watch

wolves rushing out of the packhouse from every direction.

| dial my father's number.

"Sweetheart is everything okay?" he answers.

"We're under attack, Dad. Koden," | say and immediately hear my father's howl go up, waking up his pack.

"We're on our way. Get safe, Sophie."

"To the safe rooms!" | yell over the chaos on the first floor. | grab Kinsley. "Be careful!" | say before racing off. She

and | had decided to take separate safe rooms to help facilitate everyone getting into their assigned rooms

As I run, | dial Alpha Kayce.

"Yeah," he answers sleepily.

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Chapter 84: Safe Rooms

"Alpha Kayce, this is Luna Sophie We're under attack.

"Joshua?" he asks, instantly alert | can hear him moving around, Allison's voice asking what's going on in the

background. "Koden."

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"We're on our way," he says, and | hear his howl go up a moment before the phone disconnects.

"What can | do? | can't shift yet," Margot asks, rushing up.

"Helpget these people inside their safe rooms. Can you take lead in one, make sure everyone stays calm."

"Of course!" she says, rushing toward another safe room and helping the people get safely into their room.

‘Status check, Soph," Hunter says | can hear Shaw snarling in our mind as well. He's already fighting. ‘Almost

there," | say, looking around.

‘Move faster. | need you safe,’ he says just as the mind link cuts off.

"DOOR ONE CLOSING!" | hear Kinsley announce.

"Margot, you're next," | say to her

"DOOR TWO CLOSING!" she announces as | hear Kinsley's door slam shut and lock.

"ANYONE ELSE?" | yell, looking around, as Margot's door slams shut and locks.

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"Luna!" a young woman yells, she's trying to carry three young children in her arms. | race to her and grab one

of her pups, just as the glass sliders in the back of the packhouse smash open. ‘Sophie! Tellyou're in a safe

room!" Hunter's voice booms in my head.

"Go, go, go!" | yell at the woman. "DOOR THREE CLOSING!" | shout as the sounds of snarling and tearing flesh

move closer

to us.

| race into the room, handing off the pup and turning to close the door just as a wolf slams his body against it.

The women and children behindscream, but Lucas' wolf attacks the other wolf, grabbing him by the neck

and pulling him away. | slam the door closed, just as another wolf tries to break in. His en behindpaw gets

caught in the door and one of the w jumps up to help hold the door while I throw the lock, pinning the wolf's paw

in our room. His how! of pain echoes in our enclosed space as | step back panting.

'SOPHIE!" Hunter yells in my head

‘Safe!’

‘Thank the goddess,’ Hunter says, relief evident if his voice as the mind link closes again.

| step back, staring at the door, listening to the sounds of fighting just outside our safe room. It's the sound of

whimpering that makesfocus. | turn to address the room.

"Is everyone okay?" ask. Young pups are crying and sof the mothers are too, terrified for themselves, their

pups, and the mates who are outside fighting. Chapter 84: Safe Rooms

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| find the light in the room and see everyone huddled together. The woman who was last in is trying to hold all

three of her children, but they're all terrified. | sit next to her, taking one of her children and holding them

against my body as | rock gently while we all listen to the sounds of battle going on.

| open my mind briefly to the pack, feeling the fury, the fear, and the pain from the pack. I'm not sure how my

mate does it. | know he's connected to everyone, keeping tabs on the entire pack, but it's overwhelming to me.

It's like it was when he was listening to multiple conversations and keeping track of all of them. | don't know how

he does it.

‘We'll practice later. Shut it down for now. I've got this," his voice floats into my head. This time, it's distracted,

busy with everything else going on around him, but as always, my mate

e through the makes sure to look after me. | send a wave of bond, hoping to keep my mate energized.

I've never been in a safe room before, never been in a battle where | wasn't fighting. It's almost harder to be in

here. At least out there, you're focused on fighting, on staying alive. In here, you're just waiting. Waiting for

someone to give the all-clear, waiting for someone in your room to begin the keening sound of losing their loved

one, or waiting to feel the tether to your own mate snap. Tseems to stand still in this room. In the battle,

tgoes by quickly and before you know it, hours have passed, and you didn't even realize it. In here, each

minute feels like an hour.

Things are still loud in the packhouse when | hear a howl I'd recognize anywhere, My father and his pack have

arrived.

| gasp out a laugh and everyone looks at me. "My father. He and 13.0217

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his pack are hére," | say, and everyone in the room relaxes a bit.

It isn't much longer before we hear another howl, one I've heard, but don't know well. Again, everyone turns to

me.

"That would be Alpha Kayce and his pack."

| carefully reach out to my mate, making sure he's alive and still fighting, but not wanting to distract him if he's

in the middle of a fight.

'Koden's on the run,' he says, sounding exhausted. "Your father's pack and Kayce's are finishing this battle

quickly. It won't be much longer."

| tell the others in the room with me, then link Kinsley and one of the women in the third safe room, letting them

know as well since Margot isn't part of our pack and can't ...d link. It isn't long before the sounds in the

packhouse becquiet. We all wait, anxious to hear the sounds of one of our warriors knocking on the door to

tell us everything is clear.

It's Lucas who finally opens our door. | wait until all the woman and children have emptied out, before following

behind them. | look around and not seeing Hunter, | turn to Lucas. "Where's my mate?" | ask. He presses his lips

together tightly just as Hunter's voice filters into my head.

‘Sophie, I need you at the pack hospital. It's Leah."

Margot POV

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| hate safe rooms. Until | was mated to Joshua, I'd never seen the inside of one. Soon after mating him, he

insisted that | give up my training so that | could focus on giving him a pup. That man worked so hard to give me

a pup, never realizing that | would never, ever risk bringing a female into this world. Thankfully, | found a doctor

outside of our pack who was willing to givewhat | needed to ensure | never got pregnant. Joshua never

suspected a thing. Why would he? | was to do what he toldto do and never stray.

Now, as | look around this room, I'm reminded again of why | miss being a fighter. It's much harder being in this

room, hearing the soft cries and s**bs of the women and children, the smell of their fear so pungent that it takes

everything into remain strong.

"We're going to be okay. | know you don't know me, but | was a Luna for several years. We're going to be okay," |

say calmly.

"How do you know?" a woman asks me.

"Well, because your Alpha and Luha have a stronger bond than I've ever seen before and strong leaders make a

strong pack, wouldn't you agree?" | ask them.

They look around at each other, then nod.

"So, we'll be strong for the pack members who are out there fighting. If they're worried about you, they're not

focusing on the fight. We can be strong together," | say, feeling anything but strong. When Joshua comes, and |

know he will, I hope | can continue to be this stable. Maybe by then, I'll have regained my wolf and honed my

fighting skills. Maybe.

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We hear the sounds of wolves howling their arrival and I let the group know that their Luna contacted others for

assistance. It will make this battle end much more quickly and I'm grateful. I'm getting claustrophobic, starting to

feel like there's not enough air in this room, like the walls are closing in. | don't want my mind to takeback to

that dark room that Joshua used to putin.

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'Stay focused, Margot. These people need you. You're a f¥*g Luna," | say to myself. This would be easier if my

wolf was stronger, then | wouldn't feel alone, but as it is, I'm trying to hold on, to keep it together, but | need to

get out of here.

I've just reached the point where don't think | can take it any longer, when we hear the knock at the door. I look

at the others, as a gruff voice tells us that it's all clear.

| rush to the door, throwing it open, staring into the surprised eyes of a warrior. | take a deep breath of fresh air,

tainted with blood rather than fear. It's a scent | much prefer. | stumble from the room, gasping for air, just as |

see Sophie rushing past me.

"What happened, is everything okay?" | ask the warrior,

wondering if Sophie needs help. | lean against the wall, sucking in air.

"Luna Margot, cwith me," Beta Kinsley says kindly,

wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leadingaway.

When we're far enough away, she grabs a paper bag and hassit while breathing into the bag.

"Slow your breaths, or you're going to pass out," she says, kneeling in front ofand holding my gaze. 1302

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She reaches up and takes my hand. | grip it tightly, fighting the darkness that's trying to creep in

| close my eyes and focus on my breathing.

"Claustrophobic?" she asks. | nod without opening my eyes.

| feel her turn away fromand look up to see Beta Lucas checking on his mate.

"You can go," | say, hating how weak | feel.

"No. I'm right here," she says kindly, turning back to me, never letting go of my hand.

When I finally calm, my breathing and my heart rate getting back to normal, | pull the bag away from my face

and look at this woman. She's been through what | have, only her mate.

e got lucky with

"Thank you. | didn't realize that the pack is not only strong because of their Alpha and Luna, but also because of

their Betas as well."

"Well, | don't know about that," she says to me, standing and helpingto stand.

"I do. Thank you, really."

"How about we get you strong, so you don't have to go into a safe room again. | know | didn't particularly care

for it either. The fear is suffocating."

"Yes, yes it is," | say as we walk back to the main room. As soon as we do, | see that there are a lot of injured

here that need help.

"Ready?" Beta Kinsley asks me.

"Ready," | say, and we split up, going around to help those who are injured and see if they need to be sent to the

pack hospital.

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