Chapter 235

Judy’s POV

“You cannot tell me who I can and cannot see, Dad,” I told him, my arms folded across my chest. I’m usually compliant and I don’t typically talk back to my parents, but at this point, I was furious. My father had seriously crossed the line and then he had the audacity to hang up on Gavin Landry, the most powerful Lycan chairman in the world.

He’s lucky Gavin isn’t barging down his door and ripping his head off his shoulders as we speak. My father though seemed unphased and he stared back at me with the same stubborn expression on his face, his own arms folded across his chest. His eyes narrowed and his lips were pressed in a thin line.

“I think this is just a lot for us to cope with,” my mother interjected, standing to her feet. “I think we need to take some time to think about things.”

Tears pricked the corner of my eyes, but I blinked them away.

“I need to go for a walk,” my father finally announced after a long silence.

Without another word, he left the room, leaving my mother and me alone with our thoughts. For a long while, neither of us said anything. My heart was in my throat; I couldn’t believe he just walked out like that. I wanted to cry or scream… something. But instead, I only felt numb.

I hated these stupid feelings I was having towards Gavin… I hated that I couldn’t control myself around him. Most importantly, I hated that I was falling in love with him.

“Just give him some time,” my mother finally said, sitting beside me, her eyes were now soft as she stared at me. “This is a lot of information in one night.”

I nodded, understanding where she was coming from. My words were caught in my throat though.

“How long have you been seeing him for?” My mother asked, her tone soft.

“I’ve been tutoring his son since last year,” I told her. “I guess it started around then…”

She was quiet as she processed that information.

“And entire year?” She asked.

I nibbled on my lower lip as I nodded.

“It kind of just happened,” I admitted. “I’m sorry for keeping this from you, Mom…”

A few minutes later, my father rushed back into the house. His phone in hand as he stood in front of my mother.

“I just got an alert, a prisoner just escaped,” he told her.

My mother’s face paled.

“What prisoner?” My mother asked, my heart thudded violently against my chest as panic consumed me. I was on alert, listening to each word my father spoke; none of it felt real.

“There wasn’t much details but here’s a photo,” he said, showing us his phone. The second I saw the photo; my heart fell deep into my stomach. “Her name is Samantha Churchill.”

Sammy…

“She escaped?” I asked, my tone coming out much hoarser than I intended.

They both glanced at me.

“Do you know her?” My father asked, his brows furrowed.

I let out a shaky breath, my heart pounding against my ribcage. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Sammy had escaped…

I had just spoken to her earlier this evening and she made me understand her part of the story a little better. I no longer thought of her as this villain out to betray me. So, why would she escape?

“I have to go,” I told them as I headed towards the door.

“Excuse me?” My father said, nearly shouting. “You aren’t going anywhere. Not after what we learned this evening and certainly not after someone escaped prison.”

“She didn’t escape prison; she was being held at the Landry villa and no offence, Dad, but I am an adult. Who I see and who I don’t see isn’t any of your concern,” I told him, my tone flat.

I ignored the gasp of my mother and the reddened face of my father. I didn’t want to disrespect either of them, but they were treating me like I was a child, incapable of making my own choices. This was my life, and I got to choose what I did with it. I would forever be grateful to them for raising me since I was a pup, but now it’s time that I branch out and become my own person. Everything I did was for them… the only reason I worked for Gavin in the first place was to pay off my father’s debt. I do what I can for this family and if they can’t see that, then that’s their loss.

I didn’t stick around to hear my father reprimanding me further. I left without a single word. I quickly got into my car and started to drive towards the villa. I needed to see Gavin. I needed to find out what was going on with Sammy. Why would she escape like that?

I didn’t get far when I noticed a shadow lurking through the surrounding forest. It almost looked like a wolf. It wasn’t unusual to see wolves on the prowl considering this was packland, but something about it caught my attention and I had a sudden urge to follow it.

Without much thought, I parked my car on the side of the road and quickly stripped off my clothes, not wanting to ruin them as I shifted into my wolf form. It was easier to track while in wolf form. I picked up the wolf’s familiar scent almost right away. There was recognition in the scent and my wolf’s ears immediately perked. She grabbed my clothes off the ground with her teeth and got to work tracking the wolf.

She sniffed the ground and started off in the same direction. As we ran through the forest, everything around us became a blur. She was fast, much faster than normal wolves. I never really understood how my wolf was so fast, but it came in handy during times like this. In record time, we had the wolf in sight.

It was a large black wolf and seeing it made me realize how I knew it.

It was the same wolf that saved me back in the competition, when I was on the island. My heart thudded against my chest.

I knew back then that the wolf was female based on her aura alone, but also her scent had a feminine quality to it. I wondered what she could be doing here… and who she was.

My wolf stayed back several feet as she watched the black wolf’s pace slowing. The black wolf lifted her head in the air and sniffed; for a moment, I worried she was able to detect us like we could detect her. But she didn’t turn her head in our direction, much to my relief. My wolf was careful to stay hidden in the shadows, using the pushes as a shield.

Her eyes remained trained on the black wolf, watching her every move. She was no longer moving; she was standing in the middle of the forest, sniffing around a tree. I realized she had clothes in her mouth that she carefully placed on the ground beside her as she continued her quick prowl. After a few minutes, she walked back around the large tree, her head high in the air as she let out a howl, as if she was alerting someone that she was there. She stared up at the night sky and continued to howl for another moment before she stopped.

I could feel my wolf’s confusion and then slight unease as she felt another presence approaching, though this presence was much further away, she knew it would take them no time to reach this location. A slight chill coursed through me, and I felt my wolf nearly recoiling in on herself. I had to fight her to keep our wolf form, which wasn’t something that ever happened. I wasn’t ready to shift back though, and my wolf was adamant about not wanting to remain in this form any longer.

Something stopped her from resisting me though; her eyes flashed over to the black wolf, and we watched as she shifted forms, returning to her human state.

My jaw nearly hit the ground; Sammy stood in all her glory. She was completely naked and admittedly had a great body. Her hair was long and draped over her shoulders, covering her breasts.

She quickly grabbed her clothes off the ground and changed.

Sammy was the big black wolf that saved me?

How could that be? In her human form she was so small and yet her wolf was huge.

Sammy ran her fingers through her mess of hair and leaned against the tree, her arms folded across her chest. She was waiting for someone, and they were just about to approach. My stomach was in a knot as I waited with bated breath.

It didn’t take long to see who she was waiting for. I heard some ruffling in a distance bush before someone emerged through the darkness and stepped towards her. I inwardly gasped as my wolf shook with pent up nerves and heartache.

“Took you long enough,” Sammy said, rolling her eyes.

“I had to make sure I wasn’t being followed,” Ethan replied. “You have the pack in a frenzy. What was so important that you had to sneak away?”

“I don’t want to do this anymore…” she said softly, her eyes meeting his. “It’s wrong and I don’t want any part of it.”

“What are you talking about? We had a deal, Samantha,” he said through gritted teeth.

“And I’m telling you that I don’t want it anymore,” she replied. “I know you want to see her suffer, but she isn’t the enemy, Ethan. Your attention should be on the Landry’s and not on Judy.”

“Shut the hell up!” Ethan growled, his fury evident, making he shudder. “You promised me you’d get me the information I need!”

“And I tried but I was nearly caught. She caught me snooping around her room and we don’t even know if she has it!” Sammy nearly shouted.

Had what?

I knew she was looking for something, but I wasn’t sure what it was. My chest was tight as I listened to them.

“Did you ever think that maybe she doesn’t have it?” She asked. “Maybe Alpha Landry didn’t offer her the spot in his Elite force.”

“Don’t be stupid, Samantha,” he muttered. “Of course he did.”

“Well, I didn’t see any type of company phone,” Sammy said. “Unless she had it on her at the time.”

A company phone?

So, that’s what they were after? But why?

“Try again… you need to get back there and look harder,” Ethan ordered.

“They will have me killed if I go back,” Sammy told him harshly. “I’m not going…”

Without warning, Ethan had her push against the tree, his body pinning hers.

“You aren’t going to back out of this,” he said through gritted teeth. “And if you do… you won’t be my Luna.”

My heart shattered at his words and my wolf let out an involuntary whimper. Thankfully, the sound was muffled by Ethan’s low growl. Sammy swallowed; I thought she’d be afraid… but she wasn’t. instead, something flashed in her eyes, and she looked almost… turned on.

She ran her fingers through his hair and smirked.

“It’s cute that you think you have that much power,” she murmured. “Are you forgetting who my father is?”

This was a side of her I never expected to see.

It shocked me even more when she whispered something into his ear and then brushed her lips across his.