Chapter Twenty-Six

Wrath

It"s been a week since Flame came home; he"s definitely on the mend, his bruises have changed from black and blue to yellow and green. He's also moving around the house much easier and quicker than before. However, he hasn"t left the house since we first brought him back, and I know he"s going stir crazy. After a talk with Doc, who assured me Flame"s on the mend and doesn"t need total rest anymore, I"m taking him over to The Clubhouse. He can annoy all the brothers who want to see how he"s doing and that he"s really okay. They're all forever asking about him and how he"s doing, so it"ll do them all good to actually see how he"s really doing with their own eyes.

"Flame, get your sexy ass down here if you"re coming with me to The Clubhouse; I"ve got a meeting that I can't be late for!"I shout up the stairs.

All of a sudden, it sounds like there"s a herd of elephants in the house. I can"t help but laugh loudly. As I"m laughing, Flame comes stomping down the stairs. He stops in front of me with a bright smile.

"Come on, let"s get out of here."I say as I turn towards the door, heading outside to the SUV. Flame may be better, but he"s still not cleared to ride his bike, much to his disgust.

Leaving Flame in The Common Room I make my way to my office. After checking the time, I notice I"ve only got a few minutes until my meeting; luckily, it"s a video meeting, not in person. I"d be seriously fucked otherwise. Quickly logging onto my computer, I pull up the program that this meeting"s going to be over. It's something Tech designed, so don't ask me to explain it. All that technical shit goes straight over my head.

Within seconds, there"s a call coming through at the bottom of the screen. I answer, and a face I know well pops up. It"s Shadow"s best friend, Wreck; he"s been gone for six months trying to find his younger brother, who went missing abruptly.

"Long time, no see, Prez." He says with a small smile, but his eyes show his sorrow.

"You"ve got that right; when are you coming home? We miss you, man."

"Actually, that"s why I wanted this meeting; I"m out of leads out here. I"ve followed every little crumb I could find, but nothing. I think I need to come home and see if Tech can find anything, because there"s nothing here to find in person; he"s just gone."He says, sounding dejected.

He looks at his wits end, which is understandable. I can"t even imagine what he"s going through with his brother being missing and finding nothing while doing everything in his power to find him.

"You know you can come home whenever you don"t need my permission for that Wreck, but you need to be aware that shit isn"t plain sailing around here right now."

"What"s going on, Prez?" His voice and face are filled with worry.

"Did Shadow ever tell you about Claire?"

"Yeah, he told me the story when we were Prospects, and I wanted to know how you all already had road names. Why are you bringing her up?"

"It turns out she had my son, but she"s also got a vendetta against us; she wants me, Shadow, and Flame dead. A week ago, she managed to get her hands on Flame. Luckily, we got him back, but not before he was beaten and stabbed. They had him for forty-eight hours." My voice breaks slightly as I recall what happened. It still hurts to think about it.

"Fuck! Why didn"t anyone tell me? I would"ve come straight home." He exclaims, sounding pissed.

He"s no doubt unhappy about being kept out of the loop, but I understand why no one told him. By no one, I mean Shadow. Wreck would"ve been back here in the blink of an eye, and he needed to stay where he was, searching for his brother.

"And that"s why. None of us wanted to take you away from your search."

"I get that, Prez; doesn"t mean I"m not pissed." He shakes his head. "I"m already packed, so once I"m off this call, I"m on my way home. Fucking tell Shadow he"s on my shit list for not telling me what"s been going on."

"Nah, I think I"m going to keep quiet. Let you coming home, and knowing what"s been going on, be a surprise. You know how much I enjoy winding my brother up. I"ll see you when you get home." I say with a smirk.

He just shakes his head at me, laughing.

Once he"s regained his composure, he says, "I should be back the day after tomorrow; I"m riding back and don"t want to risk being on the road too tired."

With that said, he nods his head and cuts the call.

Unable to help myself, I burst out laughing. I know he"s going to give Shadow so much shit when he gets home. Shadow should know better than not to tell his best friend everything. The prick can be vindictive when he wants to be.

With the meeting over, I decide to go check up on Flame. I can"t help myself. I need to reassure myself that he's really back and okay. Entering The Common Room, I see him sitting and talking to Jake. When I get closer, I hear what they"re talking about, and I can"t help but smile. Flame"s giving Jake advice about how to deal with his sexuality in Devil"s Inferno. Pulling up a chair next to Flame, I drop a kiss on his lips before sitting down.

"Don"t mind me; carry on. I just wanted to come check up on you now that my meeting is over."

Flame just rolls his eyes at me but doesn"t say anything.

"I don"t mind if you want me to leave, Prez,"Jake replies.

"Nope, I won"t be here long; I have shitloads of work to do. I just needed to see this one for a moment before I carry on."I say honestly.

"Okay. Thanks, Prez. So, you don"t think there will be an issue with the other brothers, then? I get they"re okay with you two, but you"re an Enforcer, and Wrath is the President. You don"t think it"ll be different with me just being a Prospect?"He asks, looking unsure.

"No matter whether you"re a Prospect or not, if they have an issue with your sexuality, you need to bring it to an Officer, Jake. That"s not how things go around here. We"re all free to be who we are. So stop worrying. It"ll all be fine."Flame says, seriously, that was one of his biggest issues when we became members; the older generation wasn't very accepting. Dad soon put an end to that, and we"ve carried it on. I know I made some idiotic decision to hide myself when I became President, but that"s because, like Jake, I was worried about how others would react.

"He"s right, Jake; don"t hide who you are around here. I did that for a long time, thinking I needed to hide my feelings towards Flame, and it cost me a hell of a lot of time with him. Just be true to yourself."I say as I stand, patting him on the shoulder. "Right back to work for me; see you later, babe."

Bending down, I drop a quick kiss on Flame"s lips before leaving to go check in with Tech.

I want to see if Tech"s found out anything more about Claire and where the fuck she"s scuttled off too. There's no way she"s going to stop what she"s started now; she"s clearly just regrouping after her last attempt went bust when we rescued Flame. I know she"ll be back, coming at us hard. I want to be as prepared as I possibly can for when that happens. I don"t want to go through anything like when Flame was taken again. That was the worst forty-eight hours of my life.