His Chosen: A Claim of Passion

Chapter 173: Guards

Penny

‘Penny, Jaime, let's meet briefly then you can take your positions,” Beta Lucas says in the mind link.

‘Where are we meeting?’ Jaasks.

‘My office,” he says.

| was working with the safe room leads, making sure that everyone had arrived and that they had timed them to

under two minutes. There are a few individuals | need to speak to about moving faster, but otherwise, the drill

went well.

When | arrive at Beta Lucas’ office, Jais already there, as is Beta Kinsley.

“Penny, Luna askedto make sure the safe rooms have availability for the pups from the Survivor Center.

Let’s talk about that before you head over to guard Jocelyn.”

| run squick numbers in my head. “How many pups?” | ask.

“No more than five.”

“We can fit them, easily, if need be.”

“Perfect.”

A moment later, Brutus knocks and walks in.

He nods atand Jaime, then looks at Beta Lucas. “We're expecting an attack?”

“Yes. Alpha Hunter believes that Zahn will attack while he’s gone. We agree, and told him to go, knowing this is

our best chance to be prepared for an attack. Alpha told Alpha Zahn that he’d be gone 2-3 days, so | think we'll

be attacked tonight or tomorrow, giving him plenty of tto get Jocelyn far away from here.”

“We're letting him take her?” Brutus asks, concerned.

“Letrephrase. Zahn thinks he’ll have plenty of tto get her away from here. We're going to shut that s**

down before it even starts,” Lucas says, making all of us smile.

“What do you needto do?” Brutus asks.

“I need you and William to trade off. You're my two strongest warriors and one of you needs to be on Zahn 24/7.

You can figure it out between you, but when the alarms go up, whoever isn’t on his detail, gets there.”

“Done.”

“And, Brutus, when the alarms go off, take Zahn down. I'm not giving him a chance to do anything. He'll kill

anyone to get to Jocelyn, | have no doubt. He's not in our alliance, so we don’t have to worry about killing him...”

“Except for Jocelyn,” Beta Kinsley jumps in.

“Right,” Lucas says, pulling his mate, who is already in his lap, closer to him. “Jocelyn won't heal as quickly if

Zahn is dead. Alpha has asked us to keep him alive and if that’s not the reason, I'm sure he has a good one. So,

take him out, keep him alive if you can, but throw him in the cells and keep a guard on him. i don’t want his pack

members springing him while we're fighting.”

“What about the other members of his pack?” Brutus asks.

“Alpha has given the go ahead to kill anyone else who attacks us.”

“Good. Who's protecting Jocelyn?” Brutus asks. I've heard he turned down a ranked position when he was

younger. If I'm not mistaken, he’s a second or third son of a ranked member, maybe a Beta. He definitely has the

strategic thoughts of a man who is a ranked member.

“I'am,” | say. He nods, smiling at me.

“Well, then, she’s well protected.”

“Yeah, she is,” Jasays proudly, makingsmile.

“Letknow what you and William decide Brutus,” Lucas says to him.

“Will do. When do we think we'll be attacked?”

“Tonight or tomorrow.”

“Yeah, he and | will have to fight it out. My bet’s on tonight,” Brutus says.

“Mine too, and what are you fighting about?” Jaasks him.

“Who gets to be on when the alarms go up. Both of us want a chance to punch that arrogant Alpha again,” he

says, makingsnort a laugh.

“Oh, con, G***a. You know you do too,” he says to me.

“Yeah, | do. But I'll settle for protecting Jocelyn. I'm sure I'll get to punch someone,” | say, smiling.

He chuckles. “And that’s why she’s our G**a!” he says before heading to the door.

“Stay alert, Brutus,” Lucas says.

“The whole pack’s on alert, Beta. We'll be ready.”

When he’s gone, Lucas looks back at us. “I know it's not ideal to separate the two of you...”

“It’s okay, Beta. Jaand | understand the expectations of our position. We know it’s only temporary,” | say,

looking at my mate. It's probably easier forto say that, since I'm not eighteen yet, but I'm so close, and my

need to be around Jaincreases every day.

“You can make up toon your birthday, beautiful,” he says, pullinginto a hug.

“Deal.”

“Penny, since you're going to be with Jocelyn, and I'm stuck not fighting, I'll take lead on the safe rooms here in

the packhouse,” Kinsley says.

“Thank you, Beta. There are a couple that need follow up. They didn’t get into their room within two minutes.”

“Leavethe list and I'll follow up with them,” she says.

After our meeting, | take a moment to kiss Jaime. I'm not sure when I'll see him again.

“Take care of my mate,” he says.

“Do | need to check in with Beth and Chloe?” | ask him. | know his sisters are part of the pack now, so they know

what's going on, but theyre both still young.

“Already done. Go look after Jocelyn and show any fighters who show up what happens when they go against the

Ga**ma of THIS pack,” he growls, leaning in to kiss me.

When he pulls back, | smile up at him, loving this man so much already.

“What's that smile?” he asks.

| bite my lip, not sure if it’s too early in our relationship to say anything, but, he’s my mate. “You're so good with

your sisters. | can’t wait to see what a great father you'll be to our pups.”

He growls, pullingeven tighter against his body. “Pups, plural? More than one?”

“We should have at least one boy and one girl, don’t you think?” I ask him.

“Maybe we'll have lots of girls and have to keep trying for a boy,” he says, makinglaugh.

“Or maybe we'll have lots of boys and have to keep trying for a girl,” | say. He growls softly, before kissing me

again.

“So many good things in our future,” he says.

“So many,” | agree.

As | walk to the Survivor Center, there's a lightness in my step, a happiness that’s incongruous with the

upcoming battle. Maybe it's because | know we'll win, or maybe it's because | know that my life is going to be

great in this pack with Jaat my side. Either way, it’s hard to not feel happy, even with the inconvenient battle

coming soon.