Chapter Two

Wrath

Something's going on with Flame; he was weird as fuck just before he left. He's never normally like that with me. I wanted to say something, but he couldn't get out of my office fast enough. Fuck one more thing I need to figure out—just what I needed on top of everything else that's going on around here.

Remind me again why I was so happy about becoming President five years ago, because right now I really can't seem to remember. I was so mellowed out after Ella came in and blew me; it was like releasing all the built-up tension. Now, after one weird encounter with Flame, all the tension is back in my body, and I"m really on edge. Just great. I"ll figure out what"s up with Flame later. I"ve got so much shit to do right now that I can"t be chasing him down for answers. Even though that"s all I want to do right now.

Looking up at the ceiling, I close my eyes and think back over the past five years. I took over as President at twenty-five years old when my dad, Blaze, was diagnosed with cancer. He needed aggressive treatment, and he felt like it was best if he stepped down as President, and me as his oldest son to take over. I was so worried at the time. My dad was everything to me and my twin brother Shadow; he raised us on his own since we were babies, and we couldn't imagine a world without him. A lot of the members were concerned about me becoming President because of my age; they also just didn't want the change. That bothered me so much that I became determined to prove I was worthy of my President patch, and I believe I've slowly done that. It didn"t mean I didn't hide part of myself to do it. Sometimes I wonder if the sacrifices I made were worth it.

My phone buzzes in my hand, looking down I see it"s a text message from Ella. I can"t help but groan. She just left here just before Flame came to see me, so why the fuck is she texting me already? She"s driving me insane; she was supposed to just be a good time whenever I felt the need for release that I didn"t get by my hand. She knew this. I was honest about it from the beginning, and now she constantly shows up here to see me and is forever ringing and texting me, acting like we're something more. She also has a serious issue with my closeness to Flame, especially with him being openly gay. Like that even matters. In all honesty, I don't care what she thinks. You see, as bad as this sounds, she doesn"t do anything for me. Yes, I"ve slept with her, but only when I was desperate for a release with another person, and she was all for no-strings sex with the Devil"s Inferno President. I thought it was a perfect arrangement, but now, not so much. She's a pretty woman. I can"t deny that, but I can only get my dick up for her when I think of someone else. Maybe that makes me an asshole, but I don"t give a fuck. I thought meaningless sex was the way to go while I was earning the respect of the club as their President. Even though I wanted a relationship, I didn't want everyone to focus on who I"d have chosen to be my partner. I didn"t want the added complications. Now I wonder: Did I make the right decision?

Checking the message I can"t help but internally cheer when I see she"s going away for a few weeks with her girlfriends. Thank the fucking lord; I need a serious break from her. She"s become far too clingy; no matter what I say, she doesn"t seem to listen. We're going to have to have a serious talk when she comes back; I need to put an end to what we have going on before she drives me insane. Plus, I"ve been President for long enough now and have certainly earned everyone"s respect. Maybe it"s time to finally be true to myself and stop hiding.

∞∞∞

After another day filled with paperwork and dealing with stupid shit, I"m sitting in The Common Room with Shadow, Vice President of Devil"s Inferno, or VP, as he"s commonly referred to. We're identical twins; we're both six foot with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. The only difference between us is our tattoos; whereas mine are all black or gray, his are all colors. It"s actually how most people tell us apart if we aren"t wearing our kutte.

I can"t help the look of disgust that crosses my face as the club bunnies walk into the room. They have hardly any clothes on and faces full of make-up; it looks more like they've painted it on with a trowel and super high heels. I honestly don't know how they're even walking in them; they honestly just look like a fucking mess and aren't the least bit attractive. They have no self-respect; do they honestly think any of them will be anything other than a hole for my brothers to fill when they act the way they do? God, why do my club brothers even bother to stick their dicks in them? Nothing is appealing about a woman who has zero respect for herself. I just shake my head at Shadow. I know he feels the same way as me about them, and we certainly have our reasons for our dislike of club bunnies.

Our mother was a bunny thirty years ago, and she really wanted to be an Ol' Lady. So to try and trap a brother into being with her, she poked holes in condoms before sleeping with one of them in the hopes of getting pregnant. Well, it worked in the sense that she got pregnant with us, but she was never an Ol' Lady. When she announced she was pregnant, she was super smug. She thought she"d gotten her meal ticket. The problem was that she didn"t know who our father was; she"d slept with so many different members, so she had to wait until after we were born for us to have our DNA tested against all the brothers she"d slept with. She was well taken care of during her pregnancy, as she was carrying someone"s legacy. It didn"t matter that our mother was a bunny; we were still Devil"s Inferno's next generation.

However, she was caught bragging to the other bunnies about what she"d done to get pregnant, and that didn"t end well for her. She was kept in The Compound until she gave birth and could hand us over to whoever our dad was. She was given the choice to either leave, and never come back, or die. The men weren"t messing around after what she"d done; she'd betrayed the club with her actions. There was no chance in hell they were going to let her have anything to do with us. She chose to leave Devil"s Inferno after Blaze got the results that he was our father.

We don't have any memories of her, and honestly, I don't care. I don't feel like we missed out on anything by not having her in our lives. Dad was and still is an amazing parent to us, and Mama June, who's one of my Dad"s oldest friends and the person who overheard our mother bragging, was always around when we needed a woman"s touch.

Shaking off the thoughts of our egg donor I can"t help the chuckle that escapes me when I see one of the new bunnies coming our way. She's got bright pink hair with dark blue eyes. All she"s wearing is a black skirt that hardly covers her crotch. I"m pretty sure it should be called a belt more than a skirt. It"s that damn short, and a lacy white bra for a top. All paired with a pair of black sky-high heels that I have no idea how she"s walking in.

"Heads up, bro. New whore incoming."I warn my brother.

It"s always the same. Every time we get new bunnies, they always make a play for us. They all want to be the one who gets the President or Vice President into bed, thinking they could be our Ol" Ladies. It never ends well for them.

"Oh, for fuck sake. I just wanted a goddamn drink with my twin, not dealing with new fucking bunnies."My brother snarls. "There"s one closing in behind you too." He warns me.

Feeling someone run their nails up my arm seconds after he finishes speaking, but I don't look at them. I"m looking at my brother. The other bunny is doing the same to him. Without saying a word to each other, we both spin at the same time, grabbing their wrists. The look of shock on their faces is hilarious. Releasing the wrist of the one who touched me, I push her back and stand up, all while noticing Shadow do the same but pushing the one he has closer to the one in front of me.

"What are your names?"I ask in a bored tone.

I"ve done this so many times now that it"s just annoying.

"I"m Cheryl, and that"s Whitney."The one who was touching me states, with a small smile on her face and her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

Yeah, that look won"t be there much longer. She's also dressed even worse than Whitney; all she's got on is a matching red thong and bra set with her blonde hair loosely flowing down to her shoulders. Fucking hell, what would even possess her to walk around dressed like that? This is what I mean about having no respect for themselves.

"Okay. Firstly, don"t ever touch me or Shadow again. I don"t know who brought you in, but it should have been made clear to you that you are not to even fucking attempt anything with either of us. We are off-limits. We don"t touch fucking club bunnies, and you don"t touch us. Ever. Do I make myself fucking clear!?"My voice rises as I talk.

"But Prez…"Cheryl starts to whine.

"Enough."I cut her off. "But nothing. Do it again, and you"re fucking gone. My club. My fucking rules. End of fucking story. Now both of you get the fuck out of my face. You won"t get a second warming."

They both scuttle off across the room towards where some of the other members are sitting, drinking, and shooting the shit. Obviously, they"re going to try their luck with them now that we"ve turned them both down. Sitting back down, I look at my brother.

"Who brought them in?"I ask.

"Candice by the look on her face right now."Shadow replies while glancing at the bunnies from the corner of his eye.

Well, that explains it. She likes to play games with the new bunnies to see what they"re made of, while also cementing herself as their leader. She thinks she"s something special because she"s a favorite of quite a lot of members, but she really isn't. I"ve heard them talking; she"s their favorite because they can do practically anything to her, and she never complains. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick, if I"m honest.

Bringing my attention back to him, Shadow asks, "Where"s Flame?"

I can"t help the small smile that tips up at the corner of my mouth at the thought of Flame. He"s six foot three inches of pure muscle, seriously easy on the eyes with his sharp jaw, bright blue eyes, and blonde hair that"s just the right length for running your hands through while you"re getting down and dirty. Yeah, okay, I may have imagined that scenario a few times, but who can blame me? Flame ticks all my boxes, and I'm pretty sure I've been in love with him for as long as I can remember. Not that I've ever admitted that to myself or anyone before now. I"ve always known what I felt for him was more than just platonic friendship, but I"ve never acted on it. I was close to making a move before I became President, but I put the brakes on that, worried about how having a gay President would be perceived. Unlike Flame, my sexuality wasn"t widely known. Only my Dad, brother, and Flame knew.

"At home. He said he wanted some time to himself. Honestly, he was acting weird earlier, and I have no idea why."I tell him, voicing my concerns about my interaction with Flame earlier in the day.

"What's going on with you and Ella? I saw her leaving again earlier; I thought she was just a piece of ass. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that"s why Flame is being weird. He was waiting outside your office when Ella was here."

"She is just a piece of ass; you know this. Why are you even asking what"s going on between us?"I reply before downing the rest of my beer.

I ignore his comment about Flame being outside my office when Ella was inside because I don"t want to think about what he would've had to stand there and listen to. It explains why he was acting weird with me earlier. Did Ella know he was out there? Probably, and she probably blew me just so he"d hear. Fucking hell.

"Because she's acting like it's more, and I find it weird with what I know about you."

"She's acting like we're more I'll give you that, but there's nothing I can do about it right now. As much as I really, fucking want to. She's gone away with her girlfriends, so I'll have to talk with her when she gets back. I plan on ending the arrangement between us. I"ve been thinking about it for a while now."

Standing after I"ve finished talking, I take a quick look around and shake my head. Shadow looks like he"s thinking hard about what I just told him, but I"m not even going to attempt to figure out what"s going through my brother"s head right now.

"I"m going home; I"ve had enough of seeing this shit. Are you coming?"I ask Shadow as I look around and see the multiple sex acts taking place out in the open for anyone to see.

"Yeah. Come on, let"s go, but I do think you need to deal with her sooner rather than later before she starts causing more issues around here. We both know she says shit to Flame all the time. He"s only going to hold his tongue for so long, Wrath."Shadow says seriously before he stands, and we both leave.

I know he's right; Flame is only holding back for me. Probably thinking it would cause issues between us if he said something to her. He's wrong if he thinks that, though. I don't think there's anything he could ever do that would cause an issue between us.

Climbing onto our Harley Dynas, riding five minutes further into The Compound to where the house I had built stands. It"s a beautiful house. Two stories tall, with three large bedrooms that all have ensuite bathrooms. There's also a smaller room that"s set up as a home office; I don't use it often, so its small size has never been an issue. The kitchen is massive and so not my thing; that was all designed by Flame; he"s the one who loves to cook, so don't even ask me to explain anything about what's going on in there. My favorite part of the house, though, is the living room, with its real wood-burning fireplace and large, picturesque windows. It's such a peaceful place to relax.

Quickly climbing off of our Harley's, we make our way inside. It"s quiet here, so Flame is either asleep in bed or out. Yes, Flame lives here in the house with us; he didn't want to at first, but I hated the thought of him living away from me. He gave in when I wouldn't stop asking, just to keep me happy.

"Night bro."Shadow says as we climb the stairs and get to our rooms.

"Night,"I reply as I enter my room, closing the door behind me before stripping down to my boxers and climbing into bed.

Suddenly I"m extremely tired, and before I know it, my eyes have drifted closed, and I"m asleep.