Chapter 108

Judy’s POV

I stared at Ethan in shock; his face was so serious, and his eyes were flaring with anger as he glared at me. He was holding my wrist so tightly that it actually hurt. But I was about to grab him and throw him to the ground; with all my training, I knew I could take him down in a heartbeat. I never used my strength on him before because I didn’t want him to feel bad about himself, but I didn’t care anymore. He hurt me for the last time, I wasn’t going to let him get away with this.

Just as I grabbed his arm, Ethan went down, blood oozing out of his nose and his grip on my wrist immediately dropping. I staggered backward, confused as to what just happened. I heard the crunch of his nose, and I knew it was broken. He yelled out a ton of different curses as he whaled on the ground, covering his bloody and broken nose.

I looked up to see Beta Taylor growling at Ethan, his fist outstretched and a little red from the punch.

“Lay your hands on her again and the next it won’t be just your nose that’s broken,” he spat down at Ethan.

I was still in shock, not really registering what had happened until Beta Taylor looked up at me.

“Are you okay?” He asked me, studying my face for any potential damage. I managed to nod and then the fog lifted from my head.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, my eyes narrowed.

“I was told to come pick you up. The paparazzi have been ruthless, and the Alpha wanted someone he trusted to get you through the crowd and to the villa.”

I raised my brows at him.

“The paparazzi?” I asked. “What do they want?”

“They want to ask you questions about your relationship with the Alpha,” Taylor said with a smirk. “You should see him running around all day trying to get the stories pulled. He managed to get the paparazzi off his property earlier, but they are ruthless and keep reposting the articles, despite him getting each one pulled. Right now, they are all over the place, including the mansion you’ve been staying at.”

My heart sank. So, in other words, it wasn’t safe for me to return home.

“You asshole,” Ethan said as he continued to roll around the ground.

Taylor rolled his eyes and paid him no further attention. He motioned for me to follow him. We walked to his waiting car, and I slid into the back seat. Taylor got into the front seat. Neither of us spared Ethan another look as the car sped away.

As soon as we left the campus grounds, my mouth nearly dropped. Taylor wasn’t kidding. The entire place was surrounded by paparazzi. They were swarming the place with their cameras, trying to get a picture of the moving car. Thankfully, the windows were tinted so none of them were able to see me. But it was still unsettling to see them all trying to peer into the window and get a glimpse.

I was not the kind of person who was noticed, so this was bizarre for me.

By the time we reached the villa, the paparazzi were long behind us. There were extra guards outside the front gates, keeping the paparazzi away, so I knew we were safe now.

“What about my tutoring session… and the film crew?” I asked as Taylor parked the car.

“The film crew finished up earlier today,” he told me. “You’ll have your tutoring session here. It’s not safe to return to the mansion just yet. Gavin spent the day working on it,”

Gavin was waiting inside when we entered and the flash of relief that went across his eyes didn’t go unnoticed by me. But I was too wound up to find it too sentimental right now.

“I’m working on it,” he assured me before I could utter a single word. “If I have to break every single camera of theirs, I will.”

“Taylor already told me everything. I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” I told him. “But who took that photo in the first place?” That was the one thing that’s been bothering me all day; someone was outside of the mansion and snapped that photo. The thought left me feeling unsettled.

Gavin shook his head.

“I don’t know,” he told me. “But I’ll find out and then I’ll destroy their phone too.”

I smiled, unable to help myself. He can be so adorable sometimes. I would have told him that if pack gammas and the Beta didn’t surround us.

“Is Matt in the parlor already?” I asked, looking around to see if I could get a glimpse of him.

“Yes,” Gavin replied. “By the time your tutoring session is over, it’ll be safe for you to return to the mansion. You have my word.”

I nodded, still feeling unsure, but trusting him.

I stepped around him to head towards the parlor, but he grabbed my arm to stop me. My entire body lit up from his touch; warmth spread across my cheeks and an electric sensation formed where his fingers were.

“We’ll talk later, okay?”

I nibbled on my bottom lip, hoping that the others didn’t see how red my face was getting.

“Okay,” I replied before I turned and went to join Matt in the parlor. I was surprised that he was already hard at work on his homework. I raised my brows as I shut the door behind me. “What’s all this?” I asked him, pointing towards his 3 open books, a scatter of paper, and his notebook which he was messily writing his notes in.

Matt looked up at me and a grin spread across his face.

“I wanted to get this done quickly so we can spar outside!” He told me. “I kind of wish we were still at the mansion though. I liked it over there.”

“Your father thinks it’s better if we worked here because of the paparazzi. Until he takes care of it, it’s better if you didn’t go over there,” I told him. I just hoped that they would be cleared by the time it was time for me to go home. The last thing I wanted was the stay here… not with Irene under the same roof. I knew she didn’t like or trust me right now and I didn’t want things to continue being awkward between us. I think spending the night with her father would make things even more awkward.

He nodded thoughtfully and then he grinned again.

“So, are you going to be my mom?”

I nearly choked on my spit as I sat down beside him.

“I’m sorry, what? “I asked him, snapping my eyes in his direction.

He shrugged as if he didn’t just ask me that question so casually.

“I saw the news reports. I don’t live under a rock,” he told me, eyeing me suspiciously and making my cheeks burn even more. “I’m not upset if you are going to be my mom. I would really like it if you were.”

“Oh, Matt…” I said, my heart squeezed in my chest. The last thing I wanted was to disappoint and hurt him, but I certainly didn’t think I was going to marry Gavin. “Maybe we should talk about this later?”

His face fell a little, but he nodded. He wasn’t stupid, he knew I was avoiding the subject. But he was polite enough to not say anything. We continued with his homework and then we spent time sparring in the backyard. Now that the film crew was done, it was nice having the space to ourselves again.

I hadn’t noticed someone else had joined us in the training grounds until Matt’s eyes wandered and then grew large.

“Oh, hello Miss Sinclaire,” Matt said.

I turned and my jaw nearly dropped when I saw Skyla approaching us. She gave Matt a small nod and then her eyes shifted into my direction. My cheeks burned under her scrutiny.

“H…hello,” I said to her, hating that I stuttered.

“Can we talk for a minute?” She asked me.

My eyes grew large; what could she possibly want to speak to me about? I glanced down at Matt, and he seemed to get the hint because he nodded and quickly went to finish practicing with the bow and arrow. I turned to Skyla, forcing a smile in her direction.

“What’s this about?” I asked her.

“I think you know what this is about,” she told me, raising her perfectly trimmed brows. “It’s about you and Gavin’s relationship.”

My cheeks burned even more. I wanted to tell her that we didn’t exactly have a relationship; at least not like that. But the words wouldn’t leave my lips. My wolf wouldn’t allow me to say those words to her because she didn’t want them to be true. I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but I found myself clamping my lips shut and listening to more of what she had to say.

“If I had known he was already committed to someone, I would have never pursued him,” Skyla continued to tell me. “I just wanted you to know that I’m not a homewrecker and I can’t have the paparazzi thinking that I am.”

I was surprised by her words.

“I don’t think anyone is calling you a homewrecker,” I assured her.

“I kissed him on camera,” she said, her cheeks reddening slightly. “At some point, they will start talking about it. They are so focused on his new relationship that they haven’t put any of the pieces together yet. I know Gavin is working on getting the stories pulled, but I worry about my reputation.”

“Well, if it comes down to it, I will tell them that our relationship is new and that he was single when he met you.” The words left my lips before I could stop them, and I immediately regretted them. Was I really planning on telling the paparazzi that I was in a relationship with Gavin Landry? As if things weren’t hard enough as they are.

Skyla also looked surprised; she thought about it for a moment before she nodded.

“Just don’t make it seem like he left me for you,” she told me, winking as if she were telling a funny joke. But I knew she was serious. “Look, I’m really sorry for any misunderstandings I may have caused. I was under the impression that his fling with you wasn’t serious. I wouldn’t have pursued him if I knew.”

“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “It’s not your fault. We were keeping things secret. That’s not on you.”

Her face softened and she nodded.

“Well, that’s all I wanted to say,” she told me and turned to leave but then she paused for a moment. “Oh, and Judy?”

“Yes?”

“Hold onto him tightly,” she told me. “He’s a good man… and he deserves someone who will stick by his side no matter what.”