Page 20 of Rival Love

“Go away, Vera.” Morelli’s face was stern, but he was able to stand fully upright now, his broken ribs no longer a problem.

They’re easy enough to break again.

“She’s not going to take you back.” Vera motioned to Selena. “Look at her. Can’t you tell how different she is now? Something has been unleashed inside her, Vince. Something that can’t be bottled again. She’ll never serve you. Not like I will.”

Serve? Is that how Morelli viewed fated mates? I’d always believed fated mates should be partners. Equals. Wolves who looked out for one another. Even if Selena had stayed an Omega, I would have done what I could to make sure she felt as if she had power in the Sinclaire pack. She wasn’t my mate to serve me. She was my mate to journey through this life with me. To accomplish goals together.

And now that she was an Alpha too, we would be unstoppable.

“She’s right,” Selena said. “I’m not going to take you back, Vince. Maybe I could have forgiven you for cheating on me.” She looked at me. “But I can’t forgive you for having Archer and his father abducted. For having Archer’s father killed. For the wounds you ordered to be inflicted upon Archer. For making a play to get Sinclaire pack territory.” She waved her fisted hand with the earrings at him. “For monitoring me like a fucking pet. I don’t know what possessed you to think any of those moves were good ideas. They weren’t, so we’re through.” She threw the earrings at him, and they landed in the dirt at his feet.

Morelli’s hands curled into fists at his sides, and his gaze zoomed in on me. “You can’t have all that territory and Selena.” He shook his head. “It makes your pack too powerful and a threat to the other packs living in Moon Valley.”

“Well, that is easily solved then,” Lunai said. “I propose you take your pack elsewhere, Vincent. There are unclaimed areas in Maine that would be perfect for the Morelli pack. That way you don’t have to be burdened by seeing your former mate with her new mate, nor do you have to feel as if the packs have unequal power. You’d be the only pack if you picked a new area, making yours the only one with power there.”

At the mention of him having power, Morelli’s eyes flared. “I’d have more territory than I have now?”

“Sure.” Lunai shrugged as if it was no big deal to give him more territory in another area. “I can make it so you have the most territory in whatever area you choose. You can be top dog there, but you have to stay there.”

Those words top dog appeared to stroke Morelli’s ego just right. He turned to face his wolves.

“What do you say, pack? Do the woods of Maine sound good to you?” he asked.

Howls erupted from his wolves that sounded like agreement to me.

He spun back around to face Lunai. “We’re in.” Morelli then spent a long moment looking at Selena and me before glancing Vera’s way. “What about you? You coming with me?”

“Do you want me to come with you?” She at least had enough self-esteem to sound a little jerked off at his tone.

Morelli looked back at Selena again, and I could tell he really wanted her.

Too fucking bad.

But why wouldn’t he want her? He’d probably regret his decision to fuck around with Vera for the rest of his pathetic life.

I kinda liked that punishment.

His gaze slid back to Vera. “Yeah, sure, I want you to come.”

Not the most heartfelt answer if you ask me, but Vera’s eyes brightened, and she ran to him, throwing her arms around him and shooting Selena a glance. The look was probably supposed to be an I-got-him victory look, but Selena leaned against me again as if she couldn’t care less where Vera or Morelli went.

God, I love her.

Lunai smiled broadly at me, approval clear in her eyes. I knew you would. She bowed her head at me then said to Morelli, “Take the week to get organized, and I will show you and your pack to your new territory.”

Morelli nodded, then with a final look at Selena, he kissed Vera as if he was going to swallow her whole. The display was tasteless and immature, but Vera kissed him back with the same exhibitionist quality.

I looked at Selena, and she rolled her pretty brown eyes. Had I been in human form, I would have laughed. Instead, I settled for playfully nipping at her hip, making her laugh.

She lowered her face to my right ear, stroking it until a satisfied buzz vibrated in my throat. “That looks like bad porn,” she whispered. “Not at all like what you and I did in the shower.” She kissed right below my ear. “Not at all like what we’ll do again later.”

I pushed my nose right into her cleavage, reveling in the sound of her laughter again. With my wounds more healed now, I was eager to show her the full power of my love-making skills.

“One condition, Vincent,” Lunai said as his wolves vacated Sinclaire land.

He tore his mouth from Vera’s to look at the Moon Goddess, an eyebrow raised in a silent question.

Lunai motioned to my decimated packhouse. “You will pay for the rebuilding of what you’ve damaged here. You will also find a way to compensate Archer for the untimely loss of his father by your order.”