Chapter 294

Judy’s POV

Gavin is not my mate; why would I think such a thing, and why did my wolf purr with agreement? It wasn’t making any sense. I had a mate, and he didn’t want me. The last I heard about Ethan was that he was moving to Levi’s territory and trying to become an Alpha of one of his packs. I shuddered at the thought that I was in the same territory as my ex-mate. Then again, he could still be hanging around Gavin’s territory and continuing to be a spy, but I’m pretty sure Gavin banished him along with Levi’s daughter.

Second chance mates were incredibly rare, and we wouldn’t even find that out for sure until he marked me. I winced at the thought; did I want him to mark me? We still had so much to talk about. We had to talk about what happened back in the Silver Crescent pack, we had to talk about our future… we had to talk about the baby.

I immediately put my hands on my belly, my cheeks flushing.

I glanced at the clock and realized it was late morning. I couldn’t remember the last time I slept in this late. The morning sun cast its rays through the closed window blinds, leaving a hazy atmosphere in the room.

I needed to get dressed and go speak with Alpha Sampson. My mind was still whirling from last night, and I wasn’t sure I could have a conversation with Gavin right now. Not with how my wolf was acting and not with how confused I was. It would be better if I cleared my mind before I faced him.

I didn’t bother taking a shower because I feared it would wake Gavin, and right now, I didn’t want to talk to him. I quickly and quietly dressed in a pair of fresh Yoga pants and a white crop top. I pulled my hair into a ponytail as I walked into the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror, my eyes drifting to my belly.

In a few months, I won’t be able to wear crop tops confidently anymore because I’ll have a baby bump. Sighing, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Once I was finished, I quickly left the bathroom, taking a long look at Gavin’s sleeping form. My heart squeezed at the sight of him. I blinked back the tears that formed in my eyes; I hated feeling confused.

I hated not knowing where I stood with him, and I knew we needed to talk about it, but right now, I wasn’t in the right headspace. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned away as I left the room.

I walked to the packhouse; I didn’t have a car here because most of everything in this pack was walking distance. It was a smaller pack where everybody knew each other, unlike the Silver Crescent, the largest pack in the world.

When I reached the packhouse, I was already feeling a little lighter. That’s all I needed, a bit of distance from Gavin. Now I could clear my head and figure out what’s going to happen in my personal future before I include whatever Gavin was in my life.

I stepped into the packhouse, being greeted by some packmates. I smiled at them, hating that it felt forced.

“Judy, you’re here,” Lucy said as she came towards me.

She was dressed in a gorgeous pink dress that rested just above her knees, showing off her long and slender legs. Her blond hair was down and straightened, draping her bare shoulders. The dress hugged every one of her curves and her boobs looked incredible. I was used to her wearing flashy clothes; she was a very high-end Luna but she wasn’t a bitch which was what I liked about her the most. Despite her materialistic side, she actually cared about her packmates, and she truly did love Sampson.

I could see the concern on her face as she approached me.

“Are you okay?” She asked me. “How was your talk with Alpha Landry?” Her pink lips were turned down into a frown.

“We didn’t do much talking,” I admitted, my cheeks flushing.

Her eyes grew impossibly large.

“Oh!” She gasped. “Well, I mean… that’s good, right? That means you two are okay?”

I sighed as we walked together towards Sampson’s office.

“I don’t know, Lucy,” I told her, worrying my bottom lip. “It’s complicated, I guess.”

“Complicated how?”

“It’s just that…” I paused, trying to gather my thoughts. “So much had happened between us in the past. So much left unsaid… a lot to talk about, and we didn’t really get to talk at all. Now we have this baby growing inside me, and things are even more complicated. I’m a little whiplashed, too. Hours ago, I thought he was engaged to someone else and expecting her baby, but now I’m finding out it’s not true. I don’t know what’s real and what’s not…”

I kept the fact that my insides were screaming at me that he’s my mate because that wasn’t something I wanted to dissect right now.

“It seems like it’s obvious, don’t you think?” She asked, raising her brows.

“What’s obvious?” I asked.

“What you need to do,” she answered. “Look, Judy. He’s here… he wants you clearly. You should go be with him and raise your baby together. Your baby needs their father; it’s not like you can keep him from his own kid to begin with. He’s not engaged to anyone else, and from that blush on your cheeks, I’m assuming he rocked your world last night. So, you should be with him. Go back to Silver Crescent and live your life.”

Tears filled my eyes.

“I’m scared,” I admitted. “I’ve been hurt before… so badly…” I told her. I didn’t tell her about Ethan or anything about my past. But she could tell that something had happened from the look in my eyes.

She draped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug as we stopped outside of Sampson’s office.

“Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith,” she told me softly. “Trust your heart.”

“I’ve trusted my heart before,” I muttered. “It left me heartbroken at the end. I don’t know if Gavin is someone to put my faith in.”

I sighed, still conflicted about what to do. I wanted to trust him, I truly did. But would he want me fully, and would he fully want this baby inside of me? I couldn’t allow my baby to feel an ounce of being unwanted… I didn’t want Gavin to doubt me or our baby. I put my hands on my belly as if I could provide some kind of comfort to this fetus. I needed to protect this baby with my entire life.

The door to Sampson’s office opened, and he stood before us, staring between the two of us.

“Judy,” Sampson greeted. “I was just about to call for you. Come in, we should talk.”

I nodded, giving Lucy one last hug before I stepped into his office.

Sampson kissed his mate lovingly before whispering something to her. She nodded and then left the space, leaving me alone with Sampson. He stepped back into the office, shutting the door behind him.

“Sit down,” he said, walking towards his desk. His expression was hard to read, and I felt a nervous pit forming in my belly. I sat down in the chair in front of his desk while he sat in his desk chair.

For a long while, he didn’t say anything. He assessed me; his eyes scanning my face as if he was expecting me to start the conversation first. Maybe I should start the conversation, considering I did come to see him before he had the chance to call for me.

“Alpha, I—” He held his hand up to stop me, and I immediately clamped my lips shut.

“You should have told me that you were pregnant,” he finally spoke after what felt like an eternity.

I nodded, my eyes shifting to the ground.

“I know. I—”

“It was stupid and dangerous for you to continue working knowing about your pregnancy. If I had known, I would have pulled you from that post,” he said, shaking his head. “Did you know that you were pregnant when you were caught up in that explosion?”

I knew he already knew the answer, so lying would be pointless and possibly dangerous.

“Yes,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes before I could stop them.

These stupid hormones were out of control.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His question made me look up at him; there was a hint of hurt and vulnerability behind his tone that made my chest squeeze painfully.

“I was worried you’d fire me,” I admitted. “I just got here, and I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. I had something to prove…. I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. I’m so sorry.”

He was quiet as he processed my words; he leaned back in his seat and sighed.

“I wouldn’t have fired you, Judy. I would have put you on maternity leave until you were capable of resuming your duties. You have been here for a short while, but you are an exceptional addition to the force. You’ve proved yourself early on, and you’re making a name for yourself. It would be a shame to lose you. But I need to be able to trust you, Judy. Lying to me was not the way to go about this.”

“I know,” I said softly. “And I’m sorry for that. I was going to tell you… But I was scared. I was a coward.”

“Would you have told me before going on patrol with your team?” He asked. “After my meeting… would you have come to me and told me the truth if Lucy hadn’t done it for you?”

I was quiet; I wanted to say yes, but as I thought about the answer, it didn’t feel right on my tongue. I think we both knew the true answer to that, as did Lucy, which was why she told him on my behalf.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“That’s what I thought,” he said, taking my silence as an answer. “I’ve gotten your medical reports from Dr. Jasper. You’re about 2 months pregnant. I’m assuming Gavin is the baby’s father?”

I nodded without hesitation; I didn’t want to lie to him anymore. I was in enough trouble.

“Can I trust you, Judy?” He asked, suddenly. “Like really trust you?”

I nodded.

“Yes,” I replied. “You can trust me. I won’t lie to you again.”

He was quiet for a while before he too nodded, looking a bit more relaxed.

“I talked to Lucy about this because she doesn’t want to lose a friend, and honestly, I don’t want to lose you either. You make a great addition to this pack. But if Gavin wants to force you back, I can’t stop him. Though you pledged your allegiance to me, you haven’t been officially sworn into this pack and wouldn’t be until the next full moon. But now that you’re carrying his baby, it’s more complicated because he has a blood claim to that baby…” he paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “With that being said, I want to extend an invitation to you. Once you give birth, you are more than welcome to rejoin the Gamma Force.”

My eyes grow large.

I’m not getting fired?

“Wait… what?” I asked, not sure I heard him correctly.

“I’m allowing you to stay in this pack,” he told me. “And once you give birth, you can resume your job. But only if Gavin allows it. Get him to sign on to that, and the job is yours.”