Chapter 129

Shannon and Morgan froze. “What did you say?” Shannon took a step towards me.

“I said everyone now has ten thousand dollars on their card.” I rolled my eyes. “So you can leave me alone.”

“I want more.” Shannon stomped her foot.

I laughed. “What?” I shook my head in disbelief.

“I said I want more. I deserve more. If everyone else has ten thousand dollars, then I should have as much as you—one hundred thousand.”

My mother burst out in laughter. “You have to be kidding. Why do you deserve more?” She stood and paced, almost prowling. “You are still acting like you are better than everyone else.”

“Because I am,” Shannon shouted.

“You’re not!” My mom shouted back. She turned on Morgan. “This is your fault. Do you not realize that? You spoiled her and made her believe that her status as your kid made her better than the rest of her pack. You have doomed her.”

Morgan stood. “I have not.”

“Yes, you have,” my mother countered. “You want to know how?” Morgan glared at my mother, but she just continued. “She is an unranked wolf, Morgan, UNRANKED. And you have somehow convinced her she was going to land an alpha. She won’t accept any other rank in a mate, but we both know what her chances are. They are zero. Even if she somehow convinces Brandon that she can be his chosen mate, it won’t work. His wolf would reject her. So now you have a daughter who will forever be mateless—or betrayed if he is stupid enough to actually mate her. And then she will be in my position. Forced to marry a random wolf or become a whore.” My mother was screaming by the end of it, and Morgan just sunk to the couch.

“That’s how you see our marriage?” His voice was soft. “Even after all these years?”

“Come on, Morgan. We are all adults here. We can stop being fucking stupid.” Her skin rippled. “Vince enacted that vile law to force me into being his slave, and you offered me a saving grace. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe it was out of the goodness of your heart. You and Vince played the game, and I lost.”

Morgan tried to face her, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “It wasn’t like that…” He tried to say, but she laughed.

“I put up with you because I had to. I slept with you because I had to.” She went closer to him, and he tried to rally. He stood on his indignation, but faced with her fury, he wilted.

“Don’t say that. I love you.”

She tossed her head back and laughed. “You love yourself. You love the idea of owning me. But you don’t love me. You don’t respect me. If you did, you wouldn’t have ruined my first run with my daughter.”

“If this is about that, I already said I’m sorry, Ainsley, please.” Morgan lifted his arms, but she scowled. “I swear, I’ll make it up to you.”

“You want to make it up to me?” My mother looked at me, then back to Morgan. He just nodded.

“Anything, please.”

“Fine.” I narrowed my eyes at my mother, but she had a plan. “I’ll give you until Amy is done at university. Four years. Make it up to me and make me fall back in love with you.” I nearly snorted. She never loved Morgan.

He doesn’t know that, though. Megan’s voice was quiet.

True, I answered.

“Okay. And if I can?” Morgan walked closer to my mother.

“Then I’ll have pups with you.” She tilted her head as his eyes widened. “You have been saying for years you wanted another pup. Now is your chance.”

“Yes. I’ll do it.”

“But,” she lifted her finger, and he froze.

“But?”

She nodded. “But if you fail to make it up to me, if you fail to make me love you again… then we divorce.”

Morgan reeled back. “If we divorce, then the betrayal law kicks back in.”

My mom nodded. “That’s right.”

“You can’t mean that…”

“That I would rather become a slave to Vince if I can’t find a wolf to want me? Yes, at this point, I do,” she snarled.

“You ruined everything the day you ruined my run. You have always been a selfish, unreliable, vapid man. I put up with it, grew to even tolerate it enough to see the good in you. But when you broke your word, you showed me you are no better than other men.” She insinuated Morgan was on the same level as a cheating mate, and that hurt his ego. I could see it in his eyes. I just got to my feet.

“I’m done with this meeting.” And I walked back to my room, listening to Morgan and Shannon bicker to each other about how unfair life is.