Chapter 225

Judy’s POV

“What do you mean she’s working against your family? I know she’s been talking to Ethan behind your back, but does that mean she’s working with him?” Gavin asked, his voice being reasonable.

When Nan sent me that photo of Ethan and Sammy talking in the coffee shop, I showed it to Gavin around that same time.

“Tabby and some of the others are back at the mansion,” I explained. “They came here to tell me that they suspect Sammy is some kind of spy.”

“That’s a serious accusation,” he said, his tone darkening as his brows furrowed. He studied my face for a long while, trying to detect a hint of deception.

“Since she’s been here, I’ve noticed that Sammy has been acting strangely. Secret phone calls, disappearing at all hours, sketchy behavior…”

“What kind of sketchy behavior?”

I nibbled on my lower lip.

“I caught her snooping through my things the other night,” I told him. “Things like that…”

His eyes darkened at my words, and I could tell he was not only pondering this information but trying hard to control himself.

“I was so busy with the competition that I didn’t notice those things a few weeks ago,” I continued. “But Tabby had noticed. Her, Sherry, and Chuck are from the same pack, and they’ve grown closer since the competition. She’s been confiding in Sherry about Sammy’s strange behavior, and because Sherry works as an investigator for the pack, she agreed to help Tabby look more into it once the competition ended.”

Gavin listened, nodding along with each word I said, his eyes growing darker by the second. He didn’t like what he was hearing so far.

“Why is this being brought to my attention just now?” Gavin asked, his eyes searching mine.

“Because I’m just finding out about it now,” I told him honestly. “Tabby hadn’t mentioned any of this to me until today. It’s why she’s here. They agreed to look more into Sammy after the competition, and they were true to their word. They looked more into her.”

“And what did they find out? That she’s a spy?” Gavin asked.

I shook my head.

“It’s a suspicion, and because she’s having secret meetings with Ethan, I think she’s one of his spies. I think he’s trying to get my family into trouble again… make me dependent on him or something. Using someone I thought was my friend to do that…” My voice cracked when I spoke that last sentence, tears welling in my eyes.

“You don’t know that for sure, though?” Gavin asked, his hands coming up to my face; his thumb gently brushed across my cheekbone. Though his eyes were still dark and searching my face for answers, I could also see the worry and compassion in them, causing my heart to skip a beat.

“That’s the thing… nobody really knows anything,” I admit to him. “Her home life… family, pack… friends… they couldn’t find a thing on her. It’s like all her personal information on the internet was wiped… deliberately.”

Gavin was quiet as he processed that information; his thumb absentmindedly stroking my upper cheeks, sending a wave of tingling throughout my entire body. Goosebumps stood tall on my flesh, and for the first time since seeing that photo of Ethan and Sammy together, my wolf was completely at ease. It was a strange effect that Gavin had on my wolf, but I’ll take it over her being anxious and hurt any day.

I hated that Ethan still affected her so much; I was glad that the pain of him being intimate with others no longer hurt her… but that didn’t mean being near him or seeing images of him was easy.

Thinking that Sammy and Ethan were in cahoots together really scrambled her, but being back in Gavin’s presence, having his attention on us and his arms around me, feeling his touch and warmth… it settled her in a way that I couldn’t describe.

“Did they find out anything?” Gavin finally asked after a beat of silence. “Something useful?”

“When I met Sammy at the airport on our way to the competition, she mentioned that her boyfriend was competing, and she was going to support him. He was in a different group from me, so I never got to meet him. I was so focused on competing that I never noticed any strange behavior. But Tabby and Sherry found out that he didn’t exist. She never had a boyfriend there. She was there for something else, and I don’t think it was a coincidence that Ethan was also there, and now Sammy is here. I think she’s working for him, Gavin…”

“Okay, calm down,” Gavin said when he detected the panic in my voice. His voice was oddly calming, and his gaze softened. “Whatever she is after, I’m not going to let it happen. I need you to trust me; can you do that?”

I nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, of course,” I whispered. “I trust you.”

A small smile tipped the corner of his lips, the tough and dangerous façade fading only slightly before it was snapped back into place.

He released his hold on my face, making me feel cold for a moment. He grabbed his phone and swiped across the screen before putting the phone to his ear.

“I need you to look into Samantha, the maid in the mansion,” he said into the phone; I assumed he was speaking to Beta Taylor. “I want a full report on everything she does. In the meantime, I’m having Judy stay in the villa, so go there and pack some of her things to bring to the Villa.”

My heart skipped a beat at his words.

“Tabby, Chuck, and Sherry are also at the mansion,” I told him.

He nodded as he waited for confirmation on the other end.

“She has some friends at the mansion as well. Bring them to the villa and get them settled into the guest rooms,” he continued. After a beat of silence on his end he said, “Perfect. Talk soon.”

He hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket.

I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

“It’s being taken care of,” Gavin assured me. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have some of my gammas keeping guard of your family home as well to make sure no danger comes to them. Consider the Montague family under Landry protection.”

“Really?” I asked, my heart racing in my chest. “You’d protect my family?”

He met my eyes, and for a moment, I thought he was about to say something, but he only nodded.

“Dad?” A soft voice said from the hospital bed, bringing our attention to Matt.

His eyes were open, and he looked so weak and small in the hospital bed.

Gavin went to his bedside.

“Hey, buddy,” Gavin said, touching his face gently. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

“Where am I?” He asked, squinting his eyes.

“In the pack clinic. You’re safe,” Gavin assured him. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” he said softly. He looked down at his body curiously. “I had the craziest dream though…”

“A dream?” Gavin asked, his brows raised. “What kind of dream?”

“I don’t know… I had a dream that I shifted, and we were running around in wolf form. But that’s not possible, right?”

Gavin fell silent as he stared at Matt, and I wondered what it was that he was thinking about. I stayed back, letting them have their moment. I knew there was a lot they needed to talk about. I thought about leaving the room, but the second I started to pass the bed, Gavin shot me a look that told me to stay without him actually saying the words, so I stayed rooted to my spot.

“Matthew, that wasn’t a dream,” Gavin said softly. “You did shift. And you are right, that shouldn’t be possible. But it somehow happened, and we are still trying to figure out how.”

Matt’s eyes grew large.

“I turned into a wolf?” Matt asked, his voice hoarse. “A…are you sure?”

Gavin nodded.

“Yes,” he replied.

“How?” Matt asked, his brows furrowed. He finally noticed me standing in the distance. “Judy?”

I smiled at him.

“Hey,” I said to him, keeping my tone low.

“Did you see me turning too?” He asked.

I bit my lower lip, and then I nodded.

“It’s true, Matt,” I confirmed. “You shifted into a wolf.”

Matt let out a breath as he pulled his eyes from mine and stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes for the brightest moment, his small chest rising and falling and then soon his eyes were opening, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“I can feel it… my wolf… he’s still inside me,” Matt said, touching his chest. “I can feel him. Like he’s a part of me.”

“He is a part of you,” Gavin confirmed. “Right now, he’s a bit wild, and it will take some time for you to work with him and learn to live with him, but we will train, and over time, it’ll get better.”

Before Matt could respond, Eliza Pierce came into the room. She smiled when she saw that Matt was awake.

“I thought I heard your voice,” she said as she strolled over to the bedside. “How are you feeling, Matt?”

“Confused…” Matt admitted, knowing that’s not what she was talking about.

Eliza nodded.

“That is to be expected. Your body had been through something traumatic,” she told him gently. “We’ve been trying to figure out how it’s possible for you to shift at such a young age, and I was hoping you’d be able to shed some light on the matter.”

Matt shook his head.

“How am I to know? I have no idea how I shifted…” Matt told her.

She nodded thoughtfully.

“Right, but can you tell me what happened just before your first shift? I’m almost thinking something your wolf and that’s what caused your shift.”

Gavin snapped a look at her.

“You think something triggered him?”

I knew what triggered him, but I wanted him to be the one to tell the story.

He thought about it for a moment, thinking about the leading events that caused him to shift, and then suddenly his eyes grew wide, and his body tensed.

“Matthew?” Gavin asked after a while, about Matt not saying anything. “What is it?”

Matt looked up at Gavin, his eyes a whirlwind of confusion.

“Dad… did… did Irene try to kill me?”