His mate wasn’t wrong there. Finley must have had the same thought, because her shoulders curled forward ever so slightly in embarrassment.
“I always knew the position would one day be mine,” Blair went on. “But I didn’t therefore think I was entitled to have it. I didn’t feel that I could simply learn on the job. Over the years, I soaked up as much knowledge and training as I could from a whole number of people—Luke, Tate, Vinnie, Valentina, my old pack mates.
“I might not have the same life experience as you, Finley, but that doesn’t make me unsuited to my role. Because I was determined to ensure that I was never unsuited to it. This pride deserved that much from me. But you … you don’t think about the pride. Not really. If you did, you wouldn’t make this situation hard for them. You wouldn’t be so content that they’re not all on the same page right now. But that actually suits you just fine. Again, not Beta-like behavior.”
Finley opened her mouth as if she might object, but Blair spoke again before she had the chance.
“The truth is you’ve earned shit. You set your sights on the role, decided it should be yours, and that’s really it. Hey, I’m all for believing in the power of envisioning success and thereby attaining it, but not to the extent that I don’t also work for that success. And Finley, you didn’t.
“Believe it or not, I really do regret that we had to have this conversation. I would have been happy to let you live with your illusions. If someone wants to believe that they’re perfect, well, who am I to interfere with that? But you left me no choice. And I get that you probably want to launch yourself at me right now. Understandable. To have to face that you’re not quite the big deal that you thought you were … it would cut anyone deep.”
Luke squeezed one eye shut because, yeah, ouch.
“But you can learn from this, Finley. You can buck up, shape up, better yourself so you can hopefully be trusted with more enforcer responsibilities and perhaps even one day become Head Enforcer. Or you can refuse to see your faults and never progress from where you are now. I’ll leave that up to you.” Blair flapped a hand toward the front door. “Now go, I’m all talked out.” She retook her seat on the sofa and grabbed her glass of soda from the coffee table.
Seconds ticked by as Finley stood still, looking lost and disoriented—all superiority gone. Finally, she shook herself out of her daze and stiffly walked out.
Returning to the couch, Luke took the glass from his mate’s hand, set it on the table, and then hauled her onto his lap. “Woman, you are brutal at times. I probably shouldn’t like it, but I do.” He squeezed her hip. “I’m proud of you.”
Blair cocked her head. “You are?”
“You didn’t just play with Finley’s self-esteem for your own entertainment, you also gave her some home truths and very Beta-like advice.”
“She wouldn’t have listened to any advice from me if I hadn’t first broken down all that bravado. Now, whether she’ll take anything I said on board is another thing altogether. No one likes having a mirror held up to them like that. What she does next will depend on if she’s strong enough to handle her true reflection.”
He slid his hand under the curtain of her hair to splay it on her nape. “I know she’s come across as a bitch lately, but she’s not one. She just feels threatened by you, loathes that you make her feel threatened, hates that her opportunity to be made Beta is officially gone, and is handling it all the wrong way. There’s a chance that she’ll get her shit together. I guess we’ll soon see if she will.”
Blair sniffed, not really giving much of a damn right then. She just wanted to get back to relaxing with her mate. “Now can we continue watching this episode? Because it was starting to get really good.”
Using his hold on the back of her neck, he pulled her closer. “I want a kiss first.”
Blair fit her mouth to his, sliding her hands up his chest. The kiss was slow and lazy and hungry.
He smoothly thrust his hand up her top and closed it over her breast. He didn’t squeeze or stroke, though. No, the move wasn’t meant to be foreplay—she knew that. It was a statement. An act of entitled possessiveness. One she and her female kind of liked. A lot. Hence why Blair’s hormones got all flustered and her blood began to heat.
“My other boob is feeling neglected.”
One corner of his mouth hitched up. “It is?”
“Uh-huh. You should really do something about that.”
He hummed. “I suppose I could. But I’ll want you naked. And then I’ll want your pussy wrapped around my cock again.”