Chapter 219

Judy’s POV

My blood went cold at the sound of her question. I stared at her and she stared back at me with a glint of humor in her eyes. I wanted to vomit at that moment; all the food I had just eaten resurfaced.

I could feel Gavin’s agitation towards his mother, but he remained quiet, just glaring at her like he was trying to kill her with just his eyes.

“I’m sorry, was that too forward of me?” Donna asked. “You see, Judy. I have some concerns, that’s all. I’m a mother above anything else and I care about the figure of my son and his children… current and future.”

I swallowed the limp in my throat at her insinuating words; I remained silent though, not sure what to say. I waited for her to continue. She studied my face for a long while before she continued.

“I only want the best for Gavin, as you know,” she continued. “If you aren’t good enough for your own fated mate, what makes you good enough for my Gavin?”

My heart fell deep into my stomach; she was right. I wasn’t good enough for Gavin. I wasn’t even good enough for Ethan, someone who was supposed to love me above anything and anyone else. My fated mate. I was kidding myself if I thought for a second that I was good enough for Gavin Landry, the most powerful Lycan Chairmen in the world.

I looked at Gavin and saw how tense he was; his eyes remained fixed on his mother and his jaw was tensing with each passing second. Donna leaned back in her seat, placing her fork gently on her plate as she took me in.

“I hope you don’t take any offense to that, Judy. I want to like you… I really do. But what kind of future could a rejected mate give my powerful son?”

Soon, Gavin’s chair was scraping across the marble floor as he stood up quickly. I was shocked by the sudden sound, and I looked up at him with wide eyes, wondering what he was about to do or say.

“Mother, you’ve said quite enough. I came here with her thinking you wanted to actually get to know her, but instead, you’ve disappointed me by acting in the same way you did previously. Your questions and your insinuations are not welcome, and they are not necessary.”

Donna’s frown deepened as she stared up at her son.

“Gavin I am your mother. Don’t speak to me like I am a child,” she said, her brows furrowed.

“Then stop acting like one,” Gavin shot back. “I won’t hesitate to walk out that door if you don’t start behaving.”

Donna pressed her lips together.

“No need to lose your temper,” she said after a beat of silence. “Just sit down and eat your dinner. Seriously, Gavin.”

He stared at her for a long while before he lowered himself into his seat.

Donna turned her attention back to me.

“Do you have any siblings?” She asked.

“No, Mam,” I replied, trying to be as polite as possible I just wanted to get through this dinner in one piece and leave as quickly as possible.

“Do you go to school?”

“Yes,” I replied. “I’m training to be a Gamma warrior.”

I was surprised she didn’t already know this information, seeming as I was all over the news after I won the Gamma competition.

“A Gamma warrior?” She asked, looking down at my body and then back to my eyes. “That’s quite a dangerous job, don’t you think? Shouldn’t you leave that to the men?”

I took a bit of offense to that, and I pressed my lips in a thin line.

“I’m actually top in my class, and I’ve been trained by some of the most skilled masters,” I told her. “I attend the Whitmore Shifter Academy, which is the most prestigious school in the world. I might look small, but I can fight, and I know my way around most weapons.”

She raised her perfectly trimmed brows at me as she continued to assess me.

“I see,” she said, leaning back in her seat. “I personally would feel safer if you left the Gamma work to trained professional men. Those who are tall and strong and not small and scrawny… and packed in a female body.”

I was so taken aback by her rudeness that I had to fight the urge to jump across the table and attack her. I had to physically hold my wolf back; she was taking Donna’s words as a challenge, and she hated being challenged.

“Judy won the Gamma competition, Mom. She’s the real deal,” Gavin said, his eyes narrowed as he stared at his mother. “She’s about to become part of the Elite force once she graduates from college.”

Donna's eyes grew wide.

“The Elite Force?” she asked. “That’s quite an accomplishment.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear about my victory,” I told her, eyeing her carefully. She waved off my words as if they were no big deal.

“I don’t follow that kind of thing,” Donna said, rolling her eyes.

“It was all over the news,” I countered.

Something about her brushing it off after putting me down didn’t’ sit right with me. I was starting to suspect that maybe she knew about the competition, and she was just looking to put me down for no reason.

“Again, I don’t follow that kind of thing. As soon as they started talking about it, I turned it off. I knew there was a winner, j just didn’t think it was you.”

“You owe her an apology for what you insinuated earlier,” Gavin said, his eye fixed on his plate. I knew if he looked at her in that moment, he would have lost his cool and he was trying hard to keep himself under control.

“Excuse me, I don’t apologize to anyone in my own home,” Donna said, raising her brows. “I stand by what I said.”

Gavin stood to his feet, having had enough of his mother’s attitude.

“Then, we will take our leave,” Gavin said, he gently grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

“Already?” She asked, shock registering on her face. “We didn’t even get to dessert yet.”

“I’m not going to sit here and allow you to give Judy nothing but your disrespect. You’ve been rude to her since the moment we got here. I won't tolerate it anymore. She’s been nothing but kind to you and doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.”

Donna looked taken aback by her son’s words.

“Gavin…” she tried to protest as she too stood to her feet.

“No,” he said, his eyes flashing yellow again as his wolf surged forward. “You are so focused on getting me to marry Daisy, that you won’t even see anything else around you. I will never marry Daisy, Mom. Not ever. Get that through your head. We are leaving now.”

Donna was stunned and I could see it all over her face. I was stunned too if I were to be honest. Gavin didn’t really give me much of a choice, not that I would have chosen to stay. But it was odd that he was practically dragging me out of the manor by the arm.

Donna followed us through the foyer, the butler, Doug, standing at the entrance with a frown on his face.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, looking around at everyone’s faces.

Gavin turned to look at his mother, his eyes narrowed.

“I’ll come see you again… this time without Judy. But for now, try not to cause any issues,” he told her.

She looked like she wanted to protest, but her lips pressed together, and she relented.

“It was good to see you,” she said to him, giving him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. “Please, don’t be a stranger.”

He nodded, giving her a gentle squeeze which contrasted with our erupt leaving due to his aggravation. He turned to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the door.

“Judy,” Donna called after us, making Gavin freeze at the doorway. “I hope I didn’t offend you too much. I hope you understand that as a mother, I only want what’s best for my son.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat I turned to look at her.

“And you don’t think that’s me?” I asked my voice coming out as barely a whisper.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at me and Gavin’s tense posture behind me.

“No,” she finally said after a long pause. “I don’t believe you are what’s right for Gavin.”

Gavin’s grip on my arm tightened; it wasn’t painful, but enough to show his aggravation and his desire to pull me out of the manor and get me as far away from here as possible. I wasn’t going to argue with him.

I nodded, without saying another word, and turned away from her.

“Thank you for dinner,” I murmur and with that, we were leaving the manor and going back to the car.

Gavin opened the passenger door for me, and I slid in, my mind was a whirlwind, and I felt almost numb. She was right; I wasn’t good enough for Gavin and I was fooling myself. If I wasn’t good enough for my own fated mate, what made me think I was good enough for Gavin Landry?

Gavin sat down in the driver’s seat and buckled his seatbelt; once I buckled mine, he started the engine and started to drive. My head was still lost in thought as I stared out the window. I couldn’t believe that interaction actually happened, and in front of Gavin above all. I was embarrassed and I kind of felt sick to my stomach.

The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity, and then Gavin spoke… his words coming out so soft that I almost missed them.

“I’m sorry…”