Page 17 of Rival Love

That had been the first time I’d screamed. The second time I’d let loose, werewolves only half transformed so they still got around on two legs came pouring into the Sinclaire packhouse. They had literal torches in their clawed hands and touched them to everything they passed.

Soon the packhouse was consumed by flames.

Cue scream number three.

Now I stood with fire on all sides of me with no clear exit. That wasn’t my main problem though because I could run through those, risking a few burns that would heal within moments.

No, the actual threat was Vince Morelli’s voice rising above the roar of the flames.

“I know you’re here, Selena!” he shouted. “I can smell you!”

Oddly enough, I couldn’t smell him. Not anymore. Bonding with Archer must have erased my ability to sense Vince, which was a shame because it certainly would have been beneficial to know he was on his way here.

And how the hell had he even found here? The Sinclaire packhouse was a well-hidden secret, as all packhouses were.

“If you come out now,” Vince yelled, “I’ll let these other wolves go.”

Fuck.

I couldn’t be the reason these Sinclaire wolves—my wolves—died. What kind of an Alpha mate would I be if I let that happen? As Alpha, Archer was bound by duty to protect these wolves.

As his mate, so was I.

I made a move to step through the flames in front of me and reveal myself to Vince, but strong arms wrapped around me from behind. They pulled me through the flames at my back and to a window where the glass had been knocked out.

Archer’s hazel eyes were glowing as he looked at me. His canines were extended, his hands clawed as they rested on my shoulders. “There’s a path in the woods out there.” He gestured to the broken window. “It leads to my house. Follow it and wait for me there while I deal with Morelli.”

I immediately shook my head. “No. I’m not going to hide away, Archer. I have a whole supply of rage for Vince. Let me use it.”

For a moment, Archer looked as if he might argue with me. Then the right side of his mouth turned up, revealing that dimple.

And a set of Alpha-grade teeth that could no doubt rip flesh from bone without the slightest struggle.

“You’re no Omega, my queen.” He bent his clawed finger and used his knuckle to lift my chin. “You’re a badass Alpha.”

He certainly made me feel like one.

“Selena Morelli!” Vince hollered. “Get your ass out here or they all die. I fucking mean it. Your little running away scene last night was cute and all, but now it’s time to come home. You belong to me.”

Archer let out a growl that would have had a lion fleeing. He bolted through the fire again so I followed him, patting out flames that had jumped to my T-shirt.

Though the fire was reducing the packhouse to ash around us, I got great pleasure out of watching Vince stumble backward when Archer charged toward him.

“First of all, it’s Selena Sinclaire now, you fucking waste of a werewolf gene,” Archer said. “Secondly, Selena doesn’t belong to anyone. She’s her own damn wolf, more than capable of making the very good decision to leave your cheating ass.”

Walt, Clark, Simon, and Mara had semi-shifted as well and were forming a line of defense behind Archer. Phil, Dominic, Reggie, and Franc joined, and little by little, more Sinclaire wolves appeared through the fire. The fact that they would walk through literal fire for their Alpha—for me—showed me what a real pack was all about.

Unfortunately, Vince’s crew was all lined up toward the front wall of the packhouse where the flames were less intense. He had brought a fair amount of the Morelli pack with him. They were all half-wolfed out, and I was the only one still in full human form other than Vince.

Well, fuck that.

Summoning my anger toward what Vince had done to me by sleeping with Vera, what he’d done to Archer and his father, and what he was trying to do right now, I had plenty to fuel me.

My wolf form exploded in a way it had never done before, as if my human flesh had been a plastic bag, stuffed too full of my wolf and unable to contain her. The Sinclaire wolves all turned to look at me, but it was the grin on Archer’s face and the heat in his hazel eyes that made me believe what he’d said about me being a badass Alpha.

I jumped forward, landing on black paws that were definitely bigger and broader than they used to be. When I lunged for Vince, I didn’t have to reach up so high. I was no longer that petite black wolf that trotted by Vince’s side.

I was something more.