War Claim (The Claim: Book 3)

Chapter 16 - Chloe (Part 2)

After an uneventful winter break—and a more solemn than usual Winter Moon Festival—Chloe moved her self-defense training group off of school property to a small clearing in the forest that lined the north side of the school.

It wasn't long before other wolves (students) from the neighboring packs attending their school found them and encroached on their "territory."

A blond senior with a handful of other wolves interrupted their lesson, snickering amongst themselves as they approached, the snow crunching under their feet. They were members of the pack that bordered the northeast side of their territory—the Ashtar Pack.

Anxiety mingled with hostility within as Chloe and her packmates advanced on the intruders, protecting the unaware humans huddled behind them in the middle of the clearing.

"What are you doing out here?" the blond male asked, eying each of them and sniffing, no doubt making mental notes of everyone.

Two of Chloe's senior packmates—her cousin Luke and Veronica, another female—stood on either side of her with their arms crossed over their chests. Their breaths puffed out in front of them in soft white vapors. Their cheeks and noses were pink from exposure to the frigid January air despite the heat generated within their bodies from the exercises. Snow lined their coats, hats, and gloves after repeated throws in the snow.

"What does it matter to you, Vance?" Luke demanded.

Vance shrugged his shoulders before a crooked grin slowly began to spread across his face. "Doesn't, I suppose. But being off of school property means there's no need to abide by the school's rules."

"Back off," Veronica growled.

Chloe's other five cousins present, including a set of twins two years older than her, stepped up to her sides as well—even the shy cousin her own age. All descendants from warriors, proud and fierce, and unwilling to back down from threats. Kayla likewise had her back and sniffed, imprinting their scents in her mind.

"Why should I?" Vance asked, narrowing his eyes and taking slow steps forward.

"Just because we are off of school property doesn't give you the right to threaten us," Luke said, emphasizing the last word to remind Vance of where he stood—on their lands.

"There's more of us than there are of you," Veronica added.

Which was true. There were a dozen of Chloe's packmates behind her, half of them her cousins, double Vance's numbers. With another ten humans behind them—humans who were no match against wolves but were protected by their laws nonetheless—the Ashtar wolves were outnumbered and no match for them.

Vance begrudgingly backed down and left with his entourage, grumbling under their breaths.

"We can't come back here," Luke said, turning back to their group.

James and the other humans frowned. "But we need this."

"I know, but guys like that will get us in trouble," Luke told him.

"So what should we do?" Kayla asked.

"Change location," Chloe stated. "Every day, we have to go someplace different."

Luke shook his head. "Won't stop them from finding us. They'll follow our tracks in the snow. We can't cover that up. Once the snow melts, we can cover our tracks and change location, but I think we're going to have to stop these meetups."

"Or," Veronica cut in, "take it back to school property."

All eyes turned to the older female and gave her their full attention.