Chapter 106

Gavin’s POV

I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my waste. By the time I left the bathroom, Judy wasn’t in bed anymore. I frowned at the messy bed and glanced around the room; my brows furrowed. I hadn’t even realized she was awake.

I grabbed my clothes and quickly put them on, not bothering to do anything with my wet hair. I left the bedroom and went down the stairs, only to see Harper walking around the corner.

“Is Judy in the kitchen?” I asked as I adjusted my shirt into my pants.

Harper glanced up at me with a frown.

“No, Alpha. She said she had to get to school early this morning and left,” Harper explained, halting my steps.

I turned to look at her, my eyes narrowed.

“She left?”

“Yes, sir,” Harper answered before she turned and hurried away. A low growl escaped my throat; how could Judy just leave like that? She didn’t even say anything to me about it. I wondered if she mentioned something to that Chester character. I couldn’t stand Chester; I’m not sure why I’ve kept him around. He’s always been like this… a flirt. He cares more about making the women around him melt than he does his actual job.

Even though I had to admit, he was pretty good at his job too. His food was always delicious, and it was the one thing I looked forward to when I came to this section of the pack. Well, it wasn’t until Judy started to live here.

The kitchen smelled amazing when I walked in and I wasn’t surprised to see Chester behind the counter, cooking away and making his kitchen aids chuckle with his witty banter and smooth words.

I rolled my eyes.

“Stop flirting with your coworkers,” I said as I walked in, making him freeze.

When he glanced over his shoulder at me, he flashed me a smile.

“Sorry, Alpha. I can’t help myself. Maybe you shouldn’t have hired such beautiful women to work for you,” he said, winking.

I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly what he was doing; it made the women in the kitchen swoon and their knees buckle.

“I don’t pay you to flirt,” I muttered, sitting at the counter. “I hired you to cook.”

“Can’t I do both?” He asked.

“Don’t you have a thing with Harper?” I asked, narrowing my eyes, and making him frown.

I’m sure he wasn’t expecting I would know about that. I make it a point to know everything about everything. I see the way Harper looked at him and on more than one occasion I would hear them in the supply closet, or in his bedroom while I was walking by. I also noticed the giant hickey Harper was sporting… I wasn’t an idiot.

“We are friends with benefits,” he murmured. “She knows what this is…”

I didn’t believe him; if the way Harper looked at him on the daily was any indication, I would think she was head over heels in love with the fool. He was breaking her heart and soon, she would probably quit because working in the same space as someone who broke your heart is nearly impossible.

I shook my head at him.

“This is why you don’t mess with your coworkers,” I muttered.

He looked a bit awkward, but he said nothing more as he turned away and finished cooking breakfast. He plated the food and slid it across the counter and into my direction.

“Is Judy coming down soon?” He asked.

I frowned and shook my head; I thought he would have known she left already. I guess I got the answer to my question.

“Nok, she left early this morning,” I answered.

He stared at me blankly for a moment.

“Without any food?” He asked. “Why would she leave so quickly without even saying good morning to me? That doesn’t sound like her.”

“Harper said she had to get to school early and was running late or something,” I said, taking a bite of the food. It was delicious and I hated how good it was; but damn it, he was phenomenal at his job.

“She spoke to Harper and not me?” Chester asked, sounding offended.

“Yes,” I answered. “She is her handmaiden after all. You are only her chef. She doesn’t need to report to you.”

Chester folded his arms around his chest and stared at me.

“Well, seeming you got this information from Harper, I think it’s safe to assume she didn’t tell you either, Alpha,” he retorted.

I glanced up at him and saw that he was smirking. Normally I would have ripped someone’s head off for speaking to me like this, but honestly, Chester sort of made me laugh. I wasn’t going to show it though, so I bit the inside of my cheek and glared at him.

After a moment, he cleared his throat and pointed at the sink.

“I should probably clean those,” he said awkwardly.

“You think?” I nearly barked.

The second he turned his back, I let my guard down and smiled, shaking my head.

After I finished eating, I left the mansion to go straight to my Villa. The filming should be wrapped up any day now and I’ll finally have that space to myself again. I had been avoiding Skyla ever since she kissed me and let the press think something was going on between us. I called the press after the news story was released and demanded that they take the story down. I was furious when I saw it but it didn’t matter now; it was over and done with. I let them have the space and I spend most of my time at the mansion with Judy, or in my office.

But seeming the filming was about to wrap up soon, I promised Chanse I would be there at least for the next couple of days.

“Oh, hello, Daddy,” Irene said as she reached the bottom step. “You were gone all night. Everything okay?”

I ran my fingers through my still-wet hair and nodded.

“Yeah, I had some business in the north. Nothing to concern yourself with. Did Matt get home okay?”

“Yes, he just left for school with Beta Taylor,” Irene answered. “Ethan is taking me out later, so I won’t be home. Will Judy be here today?”

“Not while the film crew is here,” I told her. “We need to talk about what happened between you two.”

Irene frowned and folded her arms across her chest.

“It was about Ethan,” she murmured. “I wasn’t in the wrong.”

“You physically attacked her, Irene,” I reminded her.

“She started it!” Irene protested. “It wasn’t my fault. I was defending my honor as Ethan’s bride-to-be and future Luna. She’s just jealous and—”

“Ever since you found out that Judy is his fated mate, you’ve been jealous and angry with her,” I pointed out.

At one point, Irene and Judy were friends, of course, I’ve noticed that that’s changed lately. I wasn’t an idiot; I only chose not to get involved. But now it was starting to affect things in my home, and I wasn’t okay with that. Irene needed to know that her attitude towards Judy wasn’t called for or necessary.

“I have every right to be upset,” She said, narrowing her eyes. “They both lied to me!”

“Exactly, they both lied to you. You already forgave Ethan… why not forgive Judy too?”

She rolled her eyes and avoided my gaze as she said, “Because Ethan told me her intentions.”

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, but before she could reply, a new presence entered the foyer.

“Alpha Gavin…” Skyla said as she walked towards us. “Have you come to see our shooting?”

“Yes,” I answered. “I promised Chanse that I would be here today.”

She batted her lashes at him.

“I wanted to talk to you about the other night,” she told me, pausing when she saw Irene.

“I’ll let you two talk,” Irene said quickly.

“We’ll finish this conversation later,” I called after Irene just as she hurried out of the room. I shook my head, watching my daughter practically sprint away from me in order to avoid this much-needed conversation. I turned my attention to Skyla, currently the vein of my existence. She’s been causing a lot of issues without even knowing she was doing it. “What can I do for you?” I asked, trying to sound professional, hoping she would get the hint.

“I wanted to apologize. My behavior was embarrassing,” she told me, fiddling with her fingers.

“It’s been forgotten,” I assured her. “You can rest easy now.”

Not wanting to get into this conversation any further I walked past her through the villa until I reached the back patio. The film crew were grabbing their stuff and getting ready to move the shooting to the pack center. It was going to be mayhem there today because this was the first time the crew was filming in public. I’m sure words have spread like wildfire by now.

I greeted Chanse and then helped them move their things from my villa and towards the town. As predicted, it was complete mayhem. Paparazzi were everywhere, onlookers were attempting to snap photos and take videos. I had security guards attempting to keep them back, but there were so many of them and most of them were eager to get Skyla to notice them.

“Alpha Landry, do you have a minute to answer some questions!” One of the paparazzi asked, trying to get past the guards but there was no use, the guard was way stronger and larger.

I wondered what kind of questions he could have for me, but this filming needed to begin so I shook my head.

“Not right now,” I told him, turning my back on him.

“I wanted to know about your new relationship!” He shouted after me, making me freeze for a moment. “Are the rumors true, Alpha?”

Skyla stepped beside me, her eyes shining as she attempted to grab my hand, but I pulled back and glared at her. She recoiled from my look and took a step away.

“I’m sorry… it’s just that we are both single, so I thought that maybe—”

I cut in, stopping her words quickly.

“Who said anything about me being single?”