Chapter 125

Gavin’s POV

“Why are you avoiding going home?” Taylor asked, sitting in the seat in front of my desk.

“Why do you think?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at my Beta.

He shrugged.

“It’s been over a week, and you are barely there,” Taylor said. “Is it because of Judy?”

I furrowed my brows.

“What? No, of course not,” I said shaking my head. “Why would I be avoiding Judy?”

“Because you hadn’t been seeing her as often as you normally did,” Taylor said, a sly smile creeping along his lips. “You can deny it all you want, but I know you go to the other mansion to see her. You’ve been sleeping with her ever since that gala. I was there, remember? You kicked me out of the car so you could fool around.”

I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

“I’m not avoiding her. I am keeping her at a distance though. Irene made it clear that she didn’t want me to see Judy.”

“So, you’re doing this because Irene said so?” Taylor asked.

“I’m doing this out of respect for my family,” I replied. “Judy knows my kids come first. I assure you, there’s no hard feelings.”

“And you’re sure about that?”

I was quiet for a moment, thinking about the look on Judy’s face every time I canceled plans these last couple of weeks. My chest tightened at the thought of her disappointment. I told Taylor my reasoning was because of Irene, but that wasn’t the full truth. Sure, Irene made things a bit more difficult these last couple of weeks, but I could manage it.

My main concern was Levi Churchill being in my pack.

If he knew about my relationship with Judy, he would use that against me. It was better if I kept away from her until he was gone.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I murmured.

“Okay, so if you aren’t staying away from your villa to avoid Judy. Then why are you?” Taylor asked, raising his brows. “There must be more to the story. You’ve literally been sleeping here.”

He glanced at the couch on the far side of the office which still contained my pillow and blanket. He was right, I had been sleeping at my office. I had been avoiding going home, but it wasn’t because of Judy.

“Irene has been impossible lately,” I admitted. “She’s acting way needier than usual and I’m not sure what’s going on with her. I just needed a break.”

“So, you’re avoiding your own daughter?” Taylor asked. “That’s even worse.”

I groaned.

“Don’t make me fire you,” I warned.

He laughed.

“You and I both know you won’t,” Taylor said as he stood to his feet. “I’m going to leave for the night. I have a date with my mate. But let me leave you with some advice. Go home, Gavin. Deal with your shit and stop sleeping in your office. I’ll send another driver here to come get you.”

After a minute, Taylor was gone, and I was left to think about what he had said. I knew I couldn’t stay in my office forever; I did have children at home I needed to see and plus, maybe I should talk to Judy and tell her the reason why I had been so distant. It wasn’t because of her; it was because I wasn’t sure where she stood when it came to me and my children, not to mention the whole Levi thing… I just wanted to do what was best for everyone and right now, continuing our sexual relationship wasn’t what was best. It was confusing for everyone involved.

True to his words, Taylor sent Leroy to take me home.

The second I got home; I heard screaming coming from the training grounds. I ran as fast as I could and I saw Irene leaning over Matt, talking to him and trying to calm him. But he was crying and there was blood everywhere.

I was seeing fucking red!

Who had attacked my nephew?

My first thought was Levi; had he somehow gotten access to my villa?

I ran towards him and fell to the ground beside him; I didn’t think I just acted. It was a flesh wound; after a quick examination of the arrow, I knew it would be safe to pull out as long as I stopped the bleeding right away. That was exactly what I did; I pulled my shirt off and used that as a bandage to keep him from bleeding out. I could already hear the sirens in the far distance and knew they were heading in our direction.

As I worked on stopping the bleeding, I asked Irene what had happened and that was when she told me that it was Judy who shot Matt with the arrow. That was when I noticed her for the first time; Judy sat against the tree; she was in a daze, staring at Matt with a clouded expression and blood all over her.

She met my eyes, tears in glistening in them.

Rage and disappointment.

That was how I was feeling as I stared into her eyes.

How could she let something like this happen?!

How dare she put Matthew in harm's way like this.

I knew she couldn’t have done this on purpose, but still. She was acting carelessly and now Matt was injured. Yes, I knew he would be okay because it was only a flesh wound, and these arrows didn’t contain any actual silver. He would heal in no time with proper medical treatment, but Judy was supposed to protect him from this kind of thing. It could have been so much worse if it shot anywhere else on his body.

I trusted her and she broke that trust.

I spoke without thinking; I let my anger and rage take over completely and all I saw when I looked at her was red.

The EMTs quickly removed my shirt from around Matt’s leg and patched him with actual bandages. They said that he wouldn’t need to go to the hospital because he was already healing thanks to his Alpha bloodline. They gave him some pain medication and told me that he would need to rest for a couple of days.

I carried a sleepy Matt, thanks to the pain medication, to his bedroom so he could sleep for the night. He looked so pale and fragile at that moment. My heart twisted painfully in my chest as I stared down at him. He didn’t deserve this, and I was furious that it had happened, but I also knew it wasn’t on purpose.

Judy wouldn’t have done this on purpose; the expression she gave me when I ordered her to leave… she flinched as if she was afraid, I would hit her.

I needed to get to the bottom of what truly happened. I knew Irene was downstairs, so I left Matt’s room and went straight for the parlor, following her scent.

Irene was seated on the couch with her arms wrapped around her body when I walked in. She looked up at me and I could see the tears in her eyes.

“How’s Matt?” She asked, nearly jumping off the couch.

“He’s asleep. But he’s going to be fine. He just needs to rest,” I told her.

She lowered herself back into the seat and sighed with relief.

“Thank goddess,” she whispered, resting her head on the couch cushion behind her. I sat beside her, both of us remaining quiet for a moment.

“I’m going ot be gone for a few weeks. I’m leaving tomorrow night,” I told her.

She nodded.

“The Gamma competition, right?” She asked.

I nodded.

“Beta Taylor will remain here. He’ll take care of business and you two,” I told her.

“Dad, I don’t need a babysitter,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“It’ll still make me feel better knowing he’s here to watch over you,” I said. “Plus, with Matt recovering, you could use the extra help.”

She nodded and stared down at her hands, tugging her fingers nervously. I knew it was now or never; I needed to ask her the question weighing on my mind.

“What exactly did you see earlier, Irene?” I asked. “You said you saw Judy shooting him?”

She nodded and turned to face me.

“She did it on purpose.”

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I knew Judy and I knew she would never hurt Matt, especially out of spite.

“She wouldn’t do that,” I murmured, shaking my head.

Irene folded her arms across her chest and glared at me.

“She can’t be trusted, Daddy,” Irene stated simply.

“What do you have against Judy?”

She blinked a few times like she was trying to adjust her eyes.

“What?” She asked.

“You used to be friends,” I reminded her. “Then you found out she’s mated with your fiancé. That can’t be all that happened. What do you have against her?”

“She was never my friend,” Irene murmured. “She lied to me and betrayed me.”

“Her only crime was not telling you the truth about her and Ethan’s past.”

“She still wants him…” Irene complained. “Ethan told me that—”

“Ethan also lied to you, Irene,” I told her firmly. “If you are to be mad at Judy, then you should be just as mad at him as well. It’s not fair to her that you are treating her like she did something wrong. She didn’t want to hurt you, that’s why she didn’t tell you. There’s nothing more to the story than that.”

“But…” she tried to say, but I held up my hand.

“I need you to lay off her, Irene,” I said, narrowing my eyes at my daughter. “It’s not healthy for either of you to keep this grudge going. Matt was injured badly—”

“That wasn’t my fault!” She said quickly.

“I’m not saying it was, but for right now, we need to start thinking about him and not about our selfishness,” I told her. “Do you think you can get over yourself for the sake of your brother? He’s going to need you these next few weeks while I’m gone, and I’d like to leave knowing your head is in the right place.”

She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and stared at the ground. She said nothing for a while, but then she sighed and nodded.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“So, tell me. What did you see?” I asked again, hoping her answer would be different this time. She was quiet for a moment, still fixing her eyes on the ground but then she lifted her gaze to look at mine, tears filling her blue eyes.

“It was a mistake,” she whispered. “Judy was the one who pulled the bow back and shot the arrow into his leg, but she was looking at the target. Her timing was off… I don’t think she would hurt him on purpose.”

I sighed and nodded; I needed to speak to Judy and make sure she was okay. Now that I knew with certainty that Matt was okay, my anger was subsiding and now all I felt was worried. It was strange, but it was bubbling inside me and seconds away from boiling over.

“I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight,” Irene said as she left the parlor.

I grabbed my phone and dialed Judy’s number. It went straight to voicemail; that didn’t surprise me. So, I called Leroy instead. I knew he must have taken her home.

“Hello, Alpha,” Leroy greeted me on the other end.

“Leroy,” I replied. “Has Judy made it home?”

“Yes,” Leroy said. “But then she left again.”

“What do you mean she left?” I asked, my wolf officially on edge again.

“I mean she got into another car, and it drove off.”