Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Kodiak

T rust that someone other than me will protect my mate? My newly claimed, heavily bearing my scent, beautiful, vulnerable mate?

Hell no.

My bear is roaring and ready to rip apart anyone standing in our way.

“Kodiak.”

It’s Callie’s soft voice that calms him. And me.

“I won’t be gone long. Besides, it’s not like I’m so far away you can’t reach me quickly on your motorcycle.”

The roads are dry after being salted. I see the wisdom in her words but still don’t like it. “In here,” I say, pointing to my head, “I get it. But here,” I continue, pounding my chest above my heart, “I don’t like it at all.”

“Trust your brother. Trust all of your brothers,” she says, her small hand lightly rubbing my cheek.

Shaking my head, I lean in and buckle her seatbelt, then give her another kiss before I close her door and tap the roof of the truck. Why today of all days do I have something I can’t push off?

Because she’s ours, my bear grumbles. Ours to protect and cherish.

He’s right, but I instinctively know my brothers will lay their lives down to keep her safe. Still, it chafes at me that I have to leave it to their capable hands. Grumbling, I head back into the clubhouse to get ready for the gym. I hope like hell the clients are ready to sweat their asses off because I’m gonna work them hard.

I snicker when I hear the groans from the class as they read the workout of the day I just uncovered.

“What the hell? A five-hundred-meter row?” Angus asks. “Fuck, my arms are already exhausted from rechecking all the fucking lights my wife just had to have on every available surface at the house.”

“Trying to outdo Clark Griswold again?” his buddy, Gerald, teases.

“Yeah, well, you’ve got those air lifts to look forward to,” Angus rebuts. “Let’s see how you’re feeling once you’re done with those.”

“Alright everyone, take your places and let’s get warmed up,” I call out, interrupting the two men.

The next hour plus goes by somewhat quickly. While we don’t offer an actual CrossFit class per se, we have some diehard athletes who asked for us to develop something similar. After discussing it with the brothers, we designed several different workouts once we determined we could properly teach the participants, and I was the lucky fucker designated to oversee the course.

“Lucky me,” I grumble, grabbing my water bottle and taking a long swallow after finishing the air squats. While my brothers and my mate are out shopping, I’m getting swamp ass. “Alright, ready for thirty sit-ups?”

Groans are heard as everyone gets in position on the mats as I count down. Once we start, I focus on watching everyone’s form, since several are still learners so to speak. “Straighten your arms and pull from your core, not your neck,” I bark out. “All you’re doing right now is giving yourself a crick in your fucking neck and shoulders.”

Snickers are heard, but I note that several are paying attention to what they’re doing, which was the whole point of me calling out to them. “If you’re gonna do this shit, do it right. Remember, with accuracy, comes speed.”

Did our mate smell different this morning? my bear asks. Sometimes, his questions come from out of the blue but this one has me nearly stopping in my tracks.

Instead, I continue walking between everyone as I think about what he asked. She did seem a little different this morning, but that could be due to the fact that our bond snapped into place. I kind of wish we had the one where we could talk to each other telepathically, but I guess that only happens if each mate is a shifter. Who knows? It’s not like there’s an instruction manual, after all.

Two more exercises later and I’m cleaning the mats while everyone hits the showers. Once I’m done, I’ll go into the office and take one in our private bathroom. Hopefully Peanut will be here soon so I can catch up to Callie and Kong. In the meantime, I’ll see about catching up on some of the paperwork while sitting at the desk.

“We really need to think about hiring a few more instructors,” I mutter as I walk through the gym, picking up used towels and wiping down the equipment. Our members are supposed to wipe things down, but sometimes, when we’re focused on a class, they just keep going. “Or maybe reiterate the fucking rules,” I snarl after finding an empty water bottle behind the bench press.

Standing in the middle of the room, I yell out, “As far as I’m aware, we’re all fucking adults. Clean up after yourselves or find another fucking gym to trash!”

Even though we do have a cleaning crew that comes in to do a thorough clean every night, whoever’s working takes care of things so it’s not too bad. Still, I hate a messy gym or trash by the machines. Time for me to talk to Peanut and get some help wanted ads placed, because I’m nobody’s maid.

Except for our mate’s, my bear whispers. We will always wait on her.

Yeah, we will, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s a completely different situation. Stomping toward the office, I head inside then grab my bag to take a shower. The fuckers can watch over themselves for a few damn minutes because I need to get my head on straight.

I’m surly, tense, and missing my mate. A terrible combination.

My bear isn’t going to feel better either until we’re back with Callie.