The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 129: Girl Talk

Beth

"Hello. May | cin?" Penny asks. She's carrying the blanket that I'm guessing is for Chloe.

"Of course. It's not my room."

"Yes, it is. For as long as you choose to stay here. Or if you beca permanent member of our pack, we can

see what other rooms are open and you can choose which room you want," Beta Kinsley says. "Your brother was

worried about you. | told him I'd ccheck on you. Oh, and Dr. Felicity said you have five minutes, Beta.”

She sighs. "Can | leave them to you, Penny?" Beta Kinsley asks.

"Of course, I'd like to get to know my mate's sisters," she says smiling at me.

"If you need anything at all, Beth, let any pack member know, and they'll contactor Luna Sophie. Now, |

have to go before Dr. Felicity sends my mate after me," Beta Kinsley says before walking out. "Here you go,

Brutus," Penny says, laying out the blanket for Chloe.

He gently lays her down before stepping back. "Do you need anything else?" he asks me.

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"This is more than | had last night. It's perfect, thank you," | say, just as Leah comes back in, her arms full of

things. Brutus is in front of her in two steps, taking most of the load out of her

arms.

"What's all this?" Penny asks, walking over. "Oh good! We have clothes, nightgowns, shampoo, conditioner,

toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes, hair ties. Oh Leah, you thought of everything." "I have a daughter. | know

what young women need," she says smiling.

"I can look after them, if you two want to go," Penny says to them. I'm not sure why she wants to be alone with

me, but | get the impression that she's trying to get them out of here so she can speak to me. | hope she's not a

horrible person. There has to be at least one in this pack, right?

When they're gone, she turns to me, still smiling. "I'm Penny. We haven't been formally introduced."

"I'm Beth."

"Beth. It's nice to meet you. I... know you've been through a lot, and all of this must be overwhelming for you,

especially if you're as exhausted as Jais. But | was hoping that maybe we could talk, just briefly, while you

get ready for bed?"

I nod. "Sure."

She turns and looks at Chloe. "Is she a sound sleeper?"

"She hasn't been lately, but when we were at hshe was,

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why?"

"What do you think ofbathing her while you shower? She'll feel better waking up clean in the morning,"

Penny says. Okay, maybe she's not so bad.

"I think she'd like that."

"You will too. As tired are you are, you'll still be able to smell her after you shower."

"We smell that bad?" | ask.

She shrugs. "You've been on the run for a while now, right? | was there. | know how it is. | remember my first

shower when | was finally safe. It was incredible and | had no idea how bad | smelled until | got out and smelled

my clothes. | threw them away," she says, makinglaugh.

She followsinto the bathroom and starts to run the water in

the bath.

"So, you're my brother's mate?" | ask her.

She nods and looks up at me. "I'm not eighteen yet, so | don't feel the full draw of the mate bond, but my wolf

already loves his scent."

"My brother is a really good man, | say protectively.

She smiles softly. "I got that already. I'd love to hear your story sometime. | have my own that I'd be willing to

share if you ever you want to know. But I'm an only child, the daughter of a Ga**a. | never had any siblings. So,

I'm hoping that we can be sisters?"

"You're going to accept my brother as your mate?" | ask, surprised.

"Of course. Why wouldn't 1?"

"He's a lone wolf."

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She shrugs again. "Haven't we all been lone wolves at one point or another? I'm hoping that he'll decide to stay

here with me, and | know a large part of that decision will be whether or not you and Chloe decide to stay here

too. So, | want to make sure that the two of you are happy, so that he's happy. But more than that, lost my family

too. Being in this pack has made a huge difference to me, being part of a bigger family again. But | miss the

smaller, more intimate family that others have. I'd like for us to have that, the four of us."

"I'd like that," | say softly. I'm starting to realize that my brother hit the mate jackpot with Penny.

While | strip out of my clothes, Penny goes to get Chloe, and | help her undress my sister before she carefully

lays her in the warm water of the bath.

"Do you need help?" | ask her.

"Probably with her hair. | can bathe her while you shower and then you can hold her while | wash her hair. Then,

you need rest, and | need to get back to your brother. | told him | wouldn't be gone long." "He's a worrier, my

brother," | say, stepping into the shower and moaning obscenely.

| hear Penny laughing. "I told you it was fantastic. You never

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know how amazing warm water is until you don't have it."

"You're so right," | say, beginning to work the shampoo into my hair. | have to wash it three times before it finally

rinses clean, then | slather the conditioner on it.

"So, tellabout yourself. Tellabout Jaime," she says.

While | scrub my body, | tell her about our family and about the Alpha being jealous of Jaime.

"Your father was a Lead Warrior?" she asks, and something in her tone haslooking out of the shower.

"Yes, why?" | ask, seeing her smile.

"I can't wait to spar with him and see how good he is," she says excitedly.

"He's really good. | personally think that's another reason Alpha Leo was intimidated by him. | think Jacould

have defeated him in a challenge."

"He's that good?" she asks.

"He was. I'm not sure how long it's been since he's trained, but he's still very strong," | say, stepping out of the

shower, and seeing Penny still smiling as she carefully bathes Chloe.

I quickly wrap a towel around myself and kneel down beside her, reaching in to hold my sister. She gets the

shampoo and like me, we have to wash Chloe's hair several times before it comes clean, emptying the water in

the tub and refilling it. My sister barely moves. She must be so exhausted, and | have to admit, now that my

stomach is full and I'm clean, I'm struggling

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to keep my eyes open too.

We finish getting Chloe bathed and Penny picks her up and holds her while | dry her off. | get the brush and

begin to

untangle the knots from her hair before we get her dressed and into the bed, pulling the extra blanket off.

"Here, sit. I'll brush your hair," she says.

She gently begins to untangle my hair. | expected more questions, but maybe she realizes that I'm too tired to

keep talking. | feel like I'm in a sleep haze and when there's a knock at the door, it seems much too difficult to

open my eyes or to

answer.

"There you are," | hear my brother's voice.

"I was helping your sisters get settled in. Chloe is a heavy sleeper. She didn't even wake up when we bathed

her," Penny says softly.

"Beth looks like she's asleep in the chair," he says.

"Once she was clean, | think her exhaustion hit her," she says, and | hear her set the brush down.

"I'll get her," my brother says, and | smell his familiar scent, coated with sweat and grime.

"You need a shower," | mumble to him, feeling his body move againstas he chuckles.

"Sleep, Beth. You and Chloe are safe."

| feel the blanket pulled up over the two of us, the scent of clean linens makingsnuggle even deeper into the

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bed.

"Con, my mate. Your sister is right, you need a shower, and | just happen to know someone who is quite

adept at getting people clean," Penny says.

| hear my brother's soft growl before the door closes. | fall asleep thinking how lucky it is that we arrived here so

that Jacould find his mate.

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