by Khloe Wren
What the fuck? Hoots and hollers rose up around me but I sat there shocked mute, barely breathing. This must be what all the cryptic comments he and Arrow had been throwing my way over the past couple weeks were about.
“Do you accept the nomination, brother?”
I cleared my throat. “Ah, yeah. I’d be honored.”
This was big. Huge. They wanted me as the VP of the Charon MC. I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face, even as my heart still broke for Bulldog. That his health was forcing him to step down from the role.
Eagle and Taz both slapped my back as Scout called a vote, which was a unanimous yes from everyone present.
Bulldog walked around the table and I stood as he came over to me. He held his hand out and I didn’t hesitate to grab it. He pulled me in for a back-slap hug as he held my hand firm in his.
“I know you’ll do this club proud, brother. I can retire easy knowing you’ve got Scout’s back in the club and out of it.”
“Always.”
With a nod, he released me and moved away, allowing everyone else to come in to congratulate me.
Scout whistled, silencing the room. “Mac, getcha ass up here to the table. Taz? Go call in the prospect.”
It felt so fucking surreal to take those steps up to the front and around that big table, to take my seat between Scout and Arrow. Brought a tear to my eye that I didn’t let fall. Arrow broke the moment by slipping a VP patch across the table to me, along with a tube of super glue. “Get your old lady to sew that on later, but the glue should hold it fine.”
I slipped off my cut and after laying it out flat, covered the back of the patch in glue before making sure I had that sucker lined up straight underneath my name patch.
Fuck. I, Jacob Miller, was now the vice-president of the Charon MC. I slipped my cut back on as Taz returned.
“Here you go, prez. The prospect.”
Scout moved to stand in front of the table. “Jazz, welcome to church.” He paused, grinning like a motherfucker and Jazz stood before him frowning in confusion. “Brother.”
That one word made it clear to Jazz why he was here. You didn’t get the title of brother until you were fully patched in.
“You serious?”
“Yeah, man. Just voted. You’re in. A fully patched in brother of the Charon MC. We’ll get your cut doctored up for you in a bit.”
From my place up the front I could see the sheen of tears in the man’s eyes. He hadn’t been a prospect for as long as Bash, but it had been well over a year. It was well past time he got his full patch. I mentally made a note to find out the dates the other prospects had all joined, so this shit didn’t happen again. We needed to keep a better handle on the process of patching in the prospects.
Scout spun and grabbed the gavel, hitting it on the table. “That’s it, brothers! Church is over. Head on out and let’s get the barbecue started! Plenty to celebrate. Mac? Before you go find your girls, let’s go round up Blade.”
Zara
Mac had gone in earlier for church. Normally, we would have gone with him but he wanted to be done with the meeting so he could be with Sparrow from the start of her first club barbecue. He was such an awesome dad to both the girls. Wasn’t easy taking on a teenager. Especially one who had been so badly hurt. Sparrow had come so far in the past three weeks, but she still had a long road ahead of her. With the exercises the physical therapist had her doing, her arm was getting better. One of the beatings she’d taken did some ligament damage to her shoulder that continued to need attention. It had turned out the moments of zoning out she had were due to suffering too many concussions. Now she wasn’t getting any more knocks to the head, they were getting fewer and farther between episodes. We were hopeful that in a couple months she’d be back to normal, but we’d watch for any long-term symptoms that remained.
I was extremely grateful that her nightmares were happening less often now too. I knew what it was like to wake screaming the way she’d done every night that first week. Broke my heart what she’d been put through already in her young life. Lucky for her, she now had a huge family to help her rise above it all so she could be whatever she wanted to be.
“Mom? Do you think I could come home with Dad? On the bike?”
My heart melted. Last week she’d started calling me Mom and Mac, Dad. Told us she didn’t want to confuse Cleo by using our names while she didn’t, since they were sisters. I loved that she felt comfortable with us so soon to accept us.
After lifting Cleo out of her car seat, I glanced over to where Sparrow was staring at Mac’s gleaming Harley. I couldn’t help but grin. Girl had it bad already. I could see she was going to be like Silk, riding her own bike as soon as she could.
“Need to check with Dad on how late he wants to stay, but I don’t see why not.”
It would mean a late night for her, but she’d sleep in tomorrow and be fine. Then, as though he had some kind of radar to sense us, Mac came strolling out of the front door, heading straight for us. He had the biggest grin on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. I cocked my head out of curiosity as he got closer.
“What on earth happened to put that look on your face, babe?”
He pointed to his cut, to a new patch that hadn’t been there when he’d left home earlier.
“Bulldog’s retired and Scout nominated me to take his place. I just got voted in as the motherfucking VP of the Charon MC, bunny!”
Before I could respond, he wrapped his arms around Cleo and me and lifted us to spin us around before putting us back down. Cleo was squealing in delight, and kept squealing when Mac pulled Sparrow in against him to do the same to her. Kid went red as a tomato at the attention but her smug smile showed she loved it.
“Congratulations, honey! That’s huge.”
I didn’t bother scolding him for cursing. He was normally pretty good about keeping it clean around Cleo but when he was this excited, I knew he was going to drop a few bombs. Especially here at the clubhouse. Cleo was just going to have to get used to not repeating Daddy’s bad words as she grew up.
“Dada dada!”
Cleo started bouncing against me as she reached for Mac.
“Hey there, baby girl. You miss your old man, huh?”
He grabbed her from me and threw her into the air before blowing a raspberry against her cheek. She squealed and laughed at her daddy’s attention. He leaned over and kissed me before he wrapped his other arm around Sparrow and guided her toward the front door.
“Let’s get the girl of honor to her party! Although, now you get to share the attention today. I wasn’t the only one who got voted in at church this morning. Jazz is now a fully patched in brother and Blade is officially a prospect. It’s a good day for the Charon MC.”
I let Mac go ahead with the girls as I hung back, trying to wrap my head around his news. He was now the vice-president of the club. That was huge. If, God forbid, anything happened to Scout, he would be president. Whenever Scout was unavailable, decisions would fall to Mac to make. I knew my man could do it. He’d been a gunnery sergeant in the USMC, so ordering around a bunch of alpha males was nothing new to him. But that was a shit ton of pressure to add to his shoulders.
“Hey, babe?”
Mac had stopped and turned to face me, his eyebrow raised in question.
“I’m so damn proud of you, Mac.”
His grin got even wider and he leaned back to give me a loud kiss.
“Love you so much, Zara.”
Then we were back to walking into the clubhouse. As we made our way through to the backyard, Mac stopped and introduced Sparrow to a few people that she hadn’t already met. I peeled off into the kitchen when we passed it, allowing Mac to continue on with the girls.
“Hey, where do you need me?”
The old ladies were all in full on prep mode. Normally I would have come in with Mac and would have been in here helping while church was in session, but Mac didn’t want to miss a moment of Sparrow’s first barbecue so we’d
come in later for this one.
It took about twenty minutes to get everything outside onto the tables that the men had set up. Every time I went out, I’d looked around for my man and girls and found them happily chatting every time. It made my heart melt how the club was welcoming Sparrow. Not that I’d expected anything less. After all, they’d welcomed me and the other women who’d found themselves drawn into the club just as warmly.
Once the last of the food was brought out, I headed over to join my family. Cleo saw me approach and started wriggling against Mac.
“Mama Mama!”
“Hey there, baby girl. You done with Daddy already, huh?”
“Seems so.”
Mac stole a kiss before he passed her over to me. With a small sigh, Cleo rested her head against my shoulder, shoving her thumb in her mouth as she did. She was nearly over her ear infection now, but every now and then still got a little clingy. I ran my palm over her head as I cuddled her in against me. Baby girl was getting tired.
Scout’s loud whistle filled the air. “Quiet down for a minute. Got some shit to say.”
His booming voice silenced the yard in moments.
“We’ve had a, ah, busy, couple of years and haven’t done as many of these family barbecues as we used to. That’s gonna change. Especially considering all the kiddos we now have in the club. Today’s not just about catching up with family, though. It’s about celebrating our newest members and the elevation of a brother. In case the grapevine is broken and you haven’t heard, as of this morning, Bulldog has stepped down from being my VP. He’s still a Charon brother and ain’t going anywhere, but he’s decided he wants to hand the reins over to someone younger. That man is Mac.” Applause filled the air around us, making me grin. I turned to pull him down for a kiss, Cleo slapping her palm against his cheek as he did.
“Mac’s done this club proud in the time he’s been with us, and especially in this past month. I know he’s going to continue to do us proud and be an excellent VP.” He paused and cleared his throat. “While we’re all focused on the Miller family, Sparrow, wanna come over here for a minute, darlin’?”
I couldn’t stop grinning when I noticed what Marie had in her hands as she stood behind Scout, but from the shocked look on Sparrow’s face, I figured she had no clue what was about to happen.
“Go on, honey. You’re going to love this.”
She looked nervous as hell, but when Mac rested a palm on her shoulder and started to guide her over to Scout, she went with him. Once they were in front of the club president, Mac stood to the side so everyone could see Sparrow.
“I think most of you have met, Sparrow, our newest Daughter of the Club. With that title comes a cut.”
Marie handed the leather to Scout, and he held it up for her and everyone to see.
The squeal Sparrow let loose was pretty damn close to what Cleo sounded like. She slammed a hand over her mouth as her eyes teared up.
“Arm out, darlin’.”
She put her right arm out and Scout threaded the leather vest over it. Sparrow turned and put the other arm through the other arm hole. Once she had it on, Scout’s big palms covered her small shoulders, keeping them both facing out toward the entire club.
“Let’s hear a loud welcome to the Charon MC for Sparrow!”
Everyone cheered for her as she dashed away a few tears.
“Row Row!” Cleo called out and Scout lifted his palms so Sparrow could come over to us. Mac had been right. Cleo already had her big sister firmly wrapped around her finger.
“Looking good there, kiddo.”
Her cheeks had pinkened, and her eyes sparkled with life in a way I hadn’t seen before and it made my heart melt for her.
Sparrow reached out and took Cleo for a cuddle. “Hey, little sis. Look what I got!”
Cleo patted the Daughter of the Club patch, a red heart with barbed wire wrapped around it that sat on the left side of the front of Sparrow’s cut. Silk’s cut had the same patch, as did any other woman who’d been raised in the club. That patch was special and meant that Sparrow was protected from here on out.
“We’re not quite done. Jazz, get your ass up here, brother.”
He swaggered up to Scout like he owned the damn world, wearing his cut with its new patches declaring him a fully patched in brother of the Charon MC. Scout wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “No longer a prospect, Jazz is now a patched in brother. You’ve earned that patch time and again, and I’m proud to welcome you into the brotherhood.”
As another round of cheers went up, I noticed Sparrow cuddled Cleo a bit closer when Jazz gave her a wink before he strode off toward the other single brothers, where he got back slaps and was handed a beer. The whole time Sparrow frowned over at him. I bit my lip to stop from chuckling when she slowly moved away from me, in the opposite direction of the single men.
I hadn’t been sure how she’d go being surrounded with so many males after what she went through. Especially the younger, good looking guys. So I was happy to see, although, she was avoiding one-on-one contact with the men, she didn’t appear scared at all.
I’d noticed Jazz had flicked his gaze her way a few times now. Since he was one of the five who’d gone in and rescued her, he was most likely feeling extra protective over the teen. At fifteen, she didn’t need to be worrying about boys, even if she hadn’t been put in that damn warehouse for eight months. So I was grateful she hadn’t noticed exactly how closely Jazz was keeping his eye on her today. Jazz was a few years older than her and in no way ready to settle down either. But you never knew what the future might hold for them. She could do worse than have a Charon man as her man.
“Stop it.”
I blinked over at Mac as he wrapped his arms around me. “Stop what?”
“Marrying them off already. Neither of them is old enough for that shit.”
A round of loud laughter drew my gaze back to the single men of the club to see them all stripping off their cuts and shirts before putting their cuts back on. I also caught Jazz pass another quick glance and smirk Sparrow’s way as he shrugged his colors back on and tucked his shirt into his back pocket. He was a good-looking man, for a young guy.
Mac groaned. “Gonna have to have a talk with that boy. I didn’t think I’d have to be scaring off guys quite this early.”
I stood on my tip toes and kissed his bearded cheek. “With two daughters, you’d best get used to it, babe.”
But I wasn’t worried. I knew Jazz wouldn’t try anything while she was so young, especially considering he knew exactly what she’d been through in that warehouse. And if they did end up together later on? Well, I was perfectly fine with my newest daughter ending up with a Charon brother.
After my chat with Donna and several chats with Mac over these past weeks, my swinging emotions had thankfully settled down. For all the times I cursed the Charon MC, it was moments like this that reminded me all the stress and struggles were worth it. Not only had they brought me a new daughter to love, I knew they’d keep her protected, just like they did with me and Cleo. If any boy was ever stupid enough to break either of my girls’ hearts, the entire club would come down on them like a ton of bricks, whether they were a member of the Charons or a civilian.
All in all, this rabbit hole I fell down two years ago was ultimately the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I couldn’t find it in me to regret a damn thing that brought me to where I found myself now. I had the best husband in the world, and two gorgeous daughters to love and raise. What more could a girl want?
Mac’s arms shifted to wrap around my waist and pull me in against him. He lowered his head to my ear as his hand dropped down over my ass, to the bottom of the skirt I was wearing.
“Love you in a short skirt, bunny. Sparrow’s got Cleo taken care of and I need to be inside my woman right fucking now.”
With a chuckle, I pulled out of his arms and put plenty of sway to my hips as I headed to the door of the clubhouse. I knew he’d love the sk
irt, that’s why I’d worn it. All these cavemen bikers seemed to like their women in skirts.
Five minutes later, I found myself up against the wall in an office, my shirt pushed up, my bra down, with my man’s mouth sucking on my breasts while he unbuckled his jeans. Then he lifted me and shoved my skirt up my thighs, before he entered me in one stroke.
“Fuck, bunny. So fucking wet for me. Now this is how I wanted to celebrate. Fucking love when you wear that skirt.”
“I know you do, that’s why I wore it.”
With a growl, he picked up his thrusts, shifting his hand so he could tease my clit as he fucked me hard up against the wall like only he could. I tightened my arms around his neck as I climbed closer to my climax. Then with another growl, he flicked my clit at the same time as he sucked hard on my nipple and I went flying, coming hard as he thrust up into me once more before he filled me with his seed.
Yep, my life was about as good as it got. Great kids, awesome man, epic sex. And I’d never been happier.
The End
