Page 20 of The President

“I wondered about that,” she murmurs. “I mean, the common room is clean with nice, comfortable seating areas, and the bar itself is a work of art with the gleaming wood and sparkly shelves. Not that I was looking too closely, but I suspect none of the bottles have any dust on them either.”

Laughter bursts forth as I mentally picture our common room and the bar area. Because she’s right. We never cared all that much before Tressa showed up, but when Nini came along, it blew her organizational mind to pieces. Stealth, in an effort to give his mate what she wanted, got the rest of us on board. New paint, new flooring, new furniture. All of it happened and now, it’s a pleasant place to hang out. Hell, most of the men who imbibe in either smoking cigars or cigarettes, as well as weed, now do so outside. They started that after Stealth threw one of them across the room and through the plate glass window after he caught them lighting up.

So, now, except for a brother’s personal room, the clubhouse is smokefree. Personally, it didn’t bother me one way or another, but apparently, Stealth had been reading one of those books about pregnancy and second-hand smoke is bad for the developing babies. Since they’re shifters, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter, but there’s something to be said about walking inside and the place smelling fresh and clean.

“We gonna run, Pres?” Chaos asks, walking over to where we’re sitting.

I look around and see that the tubs have been refilled with ice, along with beer, water, and the wine coolers that Warren brought for the girls, then nod. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

Our mate is beautiful, my wolf says as I gaze down at her. She shifted before I did, and while I’ve never seen a wolf with her coloring, I can say she’s the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.

I reach out and she nuzzles my hand, then chuffs while pawing at the ground. “Okay, Vivi, I’ll shift,” I tease, running my other hand along her side. She dances back, her tail erect as I quickly strip then shift.

This is something I feel the books that the girls avidly discuss get wrong. Shifting doesn’t really hurt. One second, I’m in my human form and the next, I’ve got four paws on the ground, a snout, and a fucking tail. I run my muzzle against Vivi’s neck, lightly nip her then turn to run off.

Howls ring out from my brothers as we all chase one another through the woods. I can hear the smaller prey fleeing the area, but all of us are full so I doubt anyone will seek out a small snack tonight. Not only that but Nonna and the club girls are getting more meat cooked while we’re out since we’ll burn off most of what we ate just playing.

Vivi stays by my side, and while I can’t precisely smile in this form, it makes me happy enough that my tongue lolls out of the side of my mouth. When she nudges me then lightly nips my flank, I turn toward her, gnash my teeth then take off. If she wants to play, she needs to see how we do it.

I lose track of time as my mate and I roll and wrestle in the woods. I know that Chaos took both his and Stealth’s mates back to the clubhouse so they wouldn’t get overtired, so it’s probably time to call a halt to this run. I stand upright and howl, which my brothers reciprocate, before I turn toward home.

It’s time to feed my mate again and then actually complete our mate bond.

“That was so much fun,” Vivi says as I lead her to our den. I took her bag up earlier; not trusting anyone else to cross the threshold.

“Yeah, it’s always good to blow off steam that way, sweetheart.”

Unlocking the door, I usher her inside, not missing the slight gasp that comes from her as she starts looking around. My wolf preens inside when we both notice how reverently she’s touching some pictures I have on a shelf depicting various brothers in the club. Her eyes take in the dark colors I used for the bedding, as well as the blackout curtains on the windows.

“You prefer it to be dark?” she asks, moving toward me. Her moves are so sensual but without any guile on her part that it takes me a second to focus on what she just asked me.

“Considering there are nights that I don’t hit the bed to sleep until just before sunrise, absolutely,” I tease, watching her eyes widen. “Vivi, I’m teasing. I prefer it to be dark when I sleep. If that’s not your thing, we can change it, okay? Hell, we can completely remodel the whole room for all I care.”

“I’ve never slept with blackout curtains before, so I don’t know if I’d like it or not. How about we shelve that for the time being?” she queries. “I uh… I need to take a shower since we ran tonight.”

Nodding, I motion to her bag. “If you’ll grab what you need, sweetheart, the ensuite’s through that door.”

She has a light flush rising on her cheeks, so I move closer and run a finger across the blushing skin. “Vivi, you are a beautiful wolf. I’ve never seen coloring like yours. It almost reminds me of one of those calico cats, you know? Cinnamon, white, a little bit of black. But completely, totally gorgeous,” I say.

“I got picked on a lot by my former pack due to the mix of my pelt,” she murmurs, her eyes downcast. “Like I can control what colors my wolf has! Still, they were mean about it, so I was kind of worried you’d feel the same.”

Right now, I want to shift and run to wherever her old pack is, then shred every one of the assholes who made my mate feel like she was less than, but instead, I pull her close and kiss her. Long minutes later, I pull back and murmur, “Most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen, babe. I bet the pups we have will be stunning as well.”

“I mean, you have a streak of silver on the underside of your tail, but outside of that, you’re jet black, Fox,” she says.

“While I’m not well-versed in how all that genetic shit works, regardless of whether our future pups are solid colors or not, they’ll be loved,” I tell her. “Now, go take your shower, sweetheart. I’ll be here when you’re finished.”

She nods and then opens her bag, grabbing out a smaller toiletry bag that I presume has her shampoo and shit in it, as well as something that has lace on it then she goes into the bathroom, shutting the door. I quickly grab some sleep pants and head out to one of the communal bathrooms so I can take my own shower since I don’t think my mate is ready to share something so intimate with me just yet.

Soon, my wolf whispers as I make quick work of showering off the day as well as the run.

I manage to make it back well before she’s finished, so I send out a text to the brothers reminding them that unless the building is on fire, they’re not to bother me. The fuckers respond with various rude emojis, and even though I don’t use them often, I still know what they’re referencing. Assholes. All of them.

When the bathroom door opens, I find myself losing every molecule of air that was in my body. The steam billowing out behind her gives her an almost ethereal look, but it’s the silky nightgown, with lace along the bottom edge that has my complete attention. Her hair is down and the glossy sheen as she moves toward the bed has my dick so hard it’s almost painful.

“I take it this is my side?” she asks, pointing to the empty side of the mattress where the covers are neatly pulled back.

“Yeah, sweetheart,” I manage to rasp out due to my racing heartbeat. Once she slides between the sheets, she turns to face me.

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