Page 180 of Drama Queen

The president’s eyes were now a burnished gold, his hair lightening and thickening as it grew, and his pupils? They were blown wide with the lust she could scent coming from him, and the presence of his lion, whose own pupils were much larger than a human’s.

“I don’t know,” he purred. “I think making a mess is the best part of it.”

The implication he’d like to make a mess of her was there, and her owl practically chittered in excitement.

Mine,she stated, in no uncertain terms.

Her bird rarely talked to her, their bond not as close as some shifters were with their other halves, but she had certainly been much more communicative of late. Especially around the president.

Was that ache in her chest what she was starting to think it was? Was the president her fucking fated mate?

No, he couldn’t be. Her life could not possibly become more complicated right now. It was the stress, that was all. Her mildly chaotic world under Grace, had become a full blown maelstrom. She was just being buffeted by the winds of fate right now. They would get over the first stages of grief and anger as a community, and then things would settle as they all put their shoulders to the grindstone and started pushing harder for change.

Children were dying, they needed to focus on that, not on her dismal love life. Priorities! She had to get them straight.

Leonard

She was considering it.He could see the thoughts tumbling through her mind as Charlotte worked through all the possible permutations of what he’d said, what he meant, and what the possible outcomes were. He fucking loved that brain of hers, always looking ahead, even if she was a little off balance right now.

“Mr President?” Wilson said from the doorway.

Fuck. Not now. Not right fucking now! She was almost there, he knew it. Her scent had started to change from one of fear and shame to interest. She was open to the idea of them pursuing more. Why she couldn’t feel the steady demand of her beast to drag him into the first enclosed space they could find and shag themselves until their bond was complete, he wasn’t sure, but his own lion was driving him mental.

Over a year since she’d had sex? He couldn’t think of anything else. His cock had been hard as a rock ever since she’d uttered it, and he’d barely been able to function mentally since.

Mate, mate, mate,his lion chanted, urging him to take matters into his own hands and pull her into his arms. She’d melt into them, submitting freely to their dominance, and they’dreward her with the dicking of a lifetime. Then, and only then, once she’d had so many orgasms she was limp and listless, would they claim her for all time. She was theirs, and nothing was going to take her away.

Except drama, it seemed.

“What?” he practically snarled, not turning to face the man.

“The news outlets— You need to see this. You both need to see this.”

“Fuck,” Charlotte whispered, her face going pale.

Yes, that’s what he wanted to do, only now her mind was elsewhere, her scent changing once again to that of fear. He couldn’t mate her when she was afraid, not until she was safe and happy. He had to do whatever he could to protect her, then she’d finally see he was suitable, a good and caring provider for her and their future young. The thought of tawny little owls flapping around this monstrosity of a building filled him with a joy he’d never thought to experience. His cock once again throbbed with his pulse, the need to fuck her, claim her, and breed her.

Yet she was turning away from them. Why?

That was when he saw Wilson standing hesitantly in the doorway, the man’s eyes widening before he dropped his head in submission. Which was when Leonard realised he was growling at the man.

“Mine,” he snarled.

“Yes, sir, Mr President. Yours. She’s all yours,” the trembling man replied.

Charlotte rounded on him. “Snap out of it, Leonard. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but we’re in the middle of a fucking crisis, and I’ve already fucked up once. We need to see what this is and start damage control.”

When she turned her back on him and walked angrily away, pain speared through his heart. She was rejecting him? No, fatecouldn’t be that cruel. To finally reveal his fated mate to him, only for her to not only not recognise the call, but to turn him down flat?

A stinging sensation on his cheek brought his head snapping up, an angry growl on his lips, only for it all to die when he saw the amber eyes in front of him. Those eyes belonging to his mate.

“I don’t know what’s going on, Leonard,” she said quietly. “My owl is going insane, but whatever is up with our beasts, we need to set it aside for now. People are relying on us, and I have no intention of letting them down. Hormone haze be damned. Are you going to help me, or not?”

Hormone haze? Was that what this was? Fuck. He couldn’t think straight, not past the need pulsing in his veins.

“Wilson,” he rumbled.

“Sir?” the man positively squeaked.

---