Chapter 248

Judy’s POV

A second chance.

Her words rang in my head long after I left. Chester was waiting for me in the car when I returned. He was respectful enough to remain quiet for most of the drive; I knew both our minds were deep in thought. My heart had been shattered a million times over this past week, but in that one moment, when Rachel told me she wanted a second chance with Gavin, the shattered pieces of my heart were stepped on with the black pumps she was wearing that insinuated her long legs and gorgeous legs.

There was a tight knot in my throat as I breathed; I was unable to swallow it down. It only grew with each passing breath. I was numb enough that crying was off the table, but not so numb that the pain wasn’t there… it was there, and it was evident.

I didn’t bother saying goodbye to Gavin when I left. I let Rachel give me a hug; her fluorescent perfume invaded my nose… I hated that she smelled so good. Even I was drawn to her. When she released me, she gave me a warm smile and told me to take car eof myself. She also said she hopes to see me around again soon… when I’m doing tutoring sessions with Matt, that is.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Chester finally asked, breaking through the silence that consumed us. Instead of taking me back to the mansion, I asked him if he could just take me back to my family home. Being around anything Gavin-related was going to destroy me even further. I didn’t want any reminders of him right now.

“Not really,” I admitted, my eyes fixed out the window.

I could feel his unease beside me, and then from the corner of my eye I saw him nodding.

“Okay,” he said softly. “We don’t have to talk. But you know I’m going to have Nan harass you all night, right? Not that I’ll need to convince her otherwise.”

I knew Nan was going to be beyond worried about me and she wasn’t going to let me rest until I actually spoke to her.

Sure enough, the second we pulled into the driveway of my family home, Nan was right behind us. She quickly got out of her car and ran towards the passenger side of Chester’s car.

“You already told her?” I asked, glancing at him with an accusatory glare.

He shrugged, looking a bit sheepish.

“We are trying this whole honesty thing,” he explained. “I can’t keep things from her, especially when it concerns her best friend.”

I sighed, knowing that he was right. Nan was desperately trying to trust him after his playboy tendencies, so she’s making him tell her everything. She would be furious if he kept any details about me to himself.

Before I could comprehend what was happening, she had the door open, and her arms wrapped around me.

“Judy, are you okay?” She asked, hugging me tightly. “Is it true that his former ex-lover has returned?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it, Nan,” I told her, trying to shimmy my way out of her embrace so I could get out of the car.

“You might not want to talk about it, but you have to,” she told me, narrowing her eyes as she helped me out of the car. “Your heart is broken, and you need a friend right now.”

“I’m not sure what I need, but I think space is a good idea,” I told her, biting my lower lip. All I really wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry my heart out… but no tears would come. My eyes felt dry, and my heart was shattered beyond repair at this point. I didn’t need to talk about it; I needed to bury myself under my blankets and hide away from the world.

“You are depressed, and it’s understandable,” Nan said, tears welling up in her eyes. “He’s such a jerk for not talking to you about this first. I can’t believe you found out about this in this kind of way. Not even Irene knew about her.”

“Oh, please tell me Irene doesn’t know what’s happening,” I said, wanting to sink even lower into the ground.

She shakes her head, her eyes filled with remorse.

“It’s late and she’s sleeping right now,” she explained. “The baby woke up once, and I changed her and put her back to bed. Her fever completely broke thanks to you.”

I was relieved to hear that, though it didn’t make me feel any better.

“It’s only a matter of time before Irene finds out, though,” Chester said, leaning against his car. “She finds out everything, and plus… she’s a Landry.”

I thought about Matt and what he was saying the other day about his perception being off. I knew he was rooting for me and his father; he had said on countless occasions that he wished I could be his real mother and then there was that time he asked if I loved Gavin. It took me by surprise, and I didn’t answer him out loud, but that was the moment that I decided… or maybe I realized, that I did love Gavin.

He must have been talking about Rachel coming back into the picture; now he’s seeing his father being all smitten with this other woman and he’s realizing there wasn’t anything here between me and Gavin.

The thought made me feel sick to my stomach.

“We need to get revenge. There’s no way we are going to let him get away with treating you like that,” Nan said, definitely, making Chester snort.

“Woah there, firecracker,” he teased, the corner of his eyes crinkling as he looked at his mate. “How exactly do you plan on getting revenge on a Lycan? Not to mention what’s his crime besides falling in love with another woman? He and Judy weren’t exclusive, right?”

Nan was red in the face as she stared at Chester; her lips pressed in a thin line, and her arms folded across her chest.

“That’s not the point,” she muttered.

“As much as I love this conversation, I really need to lie down,” I told them, stopping their bickering. “I have a headache and I’m exhausted. It really is late…”

“At least let us walk you inside,” Nan said, softening her voice as if realizing she was being too loud.

I shake my head.

“I’ll be fine,” I tell her as I give her a brief hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Without another word, I went to the door, unlocked it, and slipped inside. The second I was alone, my resolve faded, and the tears finally started to fall freely. I managed to get to my room undetected and slip under the covers without bothering to change my clothes.

My body was wracked with sobs as I let myself cry; I was grieving the relationship that I thought I could have… the one I was stupid enough to fantasize about for even a second.

I realized at that moment, my wolf had been so quiet…

…..

It’s been weeks since I last saw Gavin or spoke to him. I hadn’t been back to the villa since I met Rachel, and Matt has been coming to my family home for his tutoring sessions. I had barely even seen Irene these last few weeks. She needed me a couple more times for the baby, but other than that, j hadn’t been by the mansion.

Nan pretty much lives at the mansion with Chester and keeps me updated on Irene and Emalyn, which is nice, but it also brings back painful memories of my time with Gavin.

With finals approaching quickly, I worry that I won’t do as well as I want. My mind has been so clouded that studying as taken a backburner. But this week was crucial, so I partook in many of the campus cram sessions with Nan.

With my relationship with Gavin dwindling, Lukas finally decided to talk to me again, so we’d study a lot after school hours.

I found it strange that Beta Taylor still bothered to pick me up and bring me home every day after school. He never explained why he did it, and after a while, I stopped asking. He was acting strange, and I wondered if his mate, Eliza, had put him up to it because she heard about Rache’s return and was worried about me. Or maybe it was Taylor who was worried about me because he was the only other person who knew about my relationship with Gavin from the beginning.

Regardless, it felt as if these rides were out of pity.

“Tomorrow is the last day we can spend studying before the finals start,” Lukas reminded me as he packed up his stuff in the library. “So, I’ll see you in our usual spot, right?”

I nodded.

“I won’t miss it,” I assure him.

He smiles, showing off his two dimples on each cheek, a very boyish feature that most likely gets him laid often.

I could definitely see the resemblance between him and Alpha Mica. They had the same shaggy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Lukas was he kind of guy that I should have fallen in love with… not someone like Ethan… or Gavin…

As I was leaving the library, my phone started to ring. I frowned at the unknown caller that flashed across the screen.

“Hello?” I said into the phone as I started my way to the parking lot where I’m sure Beta Taylor was already waiting for me.

“Hello, is this Judy Montague?” I heard a deep voice ask on the other end of the line.

“Speaking.”

“I hope this isn’t a bad time to call, Judy. This is Alpha Levi Churchill.”

My heart stopped.

Why was Gavin’s enemy calling me??