Chapter 37

Judy’s POV

“What exactly is going on in here?” Gavin asked as he stepped into the room; his eyes scanning the situation and then landing on the hand that was still very much wrapped around my wrist, marking it red from the force. I watched Gavin’s eyes darken in fury when he noticed the red marks on my wrist because of the principal.

“Alpha Landry,” Lucy said, bowing her head in respect to Gavin. “It’s such an honor to finally meet you. I am a huge fan. I’m Lucy—”

“I didn’t ask,” Gavin said, holding up a hand to silence her. She immediately clamped her mouth shut, her cheeks growing pinker by the second. His eyes never left Principal Thorne’s. “Release her hand from her wrist.”

Principal Thorne immediately released me, and I pulled my hand toward my chest, rubbing my aching wrist. Gavin motioned with his head towards me and his Gammas quickly rushed to retrieve me from Principal Thorne’s side and usher me gently towards Gavin’s side.

“Alpha Gavin, there seemed to be a misunderstanding. I was only protecting your reputation. This nobody half-whit is pretending to be our wife and the mother of your child,” Principal Thorne said, making my cheeks grow impossibly hot.

“Yeah, she’s a nobody! We were only standing up for your honor and reputation by teaching her a lesson,” Lucy agreed.

Gavin glanced in my direction, and I could feel the questions and judgment circling around his mind. The only thing I could do was hold my head in shame. There was no getting out of this; I was caught and now I was going to pay the price for it. I was probably going to lose my job, and Matt was going to get into even more trouble… all because I couldn’t pull off this stupid lie. I should have thought more clearly.

What was I thinking saying I was Gavin’s wife?

“Just because I am late to my son’s meeting does not give you the right to treat my wife with such disrespect,” Gavin spat, glaring at the principal. I snapped my head up to look at him, shocked by his words. Gavin looked furious as he glared at Principal Thorne and Lucy.

Both their faces had gone completely white as they stared back at him.

“W…wife?” Principal Thorne stammered. “I don’t understand.”

“What’s not to understand?” Gavin asked and to my utter shock, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. “Judy is my wife, and you treated her poorly.”

“But… but you are a bachelor!” Lucy gasped. “How is it possible that you have a wife??”

“Those were all rumors,” Gavin said, snapping her a look. “Judy is my wife and the mother of my child.”

Lucy looked as if she was seconds away from crying while the principal broke out into a cold sweat. They both were at a loss for words, and it would have been comical if I also wasn’t’ shocked.

Was Gavin really helping me out of this situation?

But why?

When I looked up at him, he was still glaring at them sternly. He was so handsome, even when he was angry. His arm was still wrapped protectively around me, and it took everything I had not to lean into him further and inhale his scent deeply.

“I am so deeply sorry, Mrs. Landry. Please, accept my apology. My receptionist is new and wasn’t sure what she was talking about.”

Lucy’s mouth dropped from being thrown under the bus like that. She whipped around to face him, and her eyes narrowed.

“You were the one trying to have your way with her!” She hissed.

I flinched at the mention of what the principal was about to do to me.

“We are here to talk about Matthew, are we not?” Gavin asked, interrupting their argument.

Principal Thorne bowed his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground.

“Yes, sir. Come into my office,” he said, motioning to the door behind him.

“Lead the way,” Gavin said. He kept his arm around me and pulled me along with him towards the office door. But then he stopped and looked at Taylor. “Deal with her.”

He motioned with his head toward Lucy who paled even more.

“Yes, sir,” Taylor said with a smirk before turning to a very frantic Lucy.

“A… Alpha?” She stammered, trying to get his attention, but he was paying her no mind.

I walked with Gavin into the office and shut the door behind me.

“Please, take a seat,” Principal Thorne said nervously, pointing to the seats in front of the desk as he sat on the other side of his desk.

Gavin entwined his fingers through mine, and it felt as if my face was being lit on fire. He ran his thumb across the red markings on my wrist and his eyes darkened, making me grimace. I wondered if it was me, he was mad at, or Principal Thorne.

He walked me over to the chairs and made me sit in one of them as he sat in the other, his fingers still wrapped around mine gently.

“So, tell us what our son had done,” Gavin said, turning his attention to the principal who was watching us warily.

Principal Thorne cleared his throat and looked between the two of us.

“Matthew got into a fight yesterday in the lunchroom,” he explained, making me gasp. “We have zero tolerance for fighting in this school and the only reason he wasn’t expelled was because he’s a Landry. I wanted to discuss with you the proper punishment for the boy.”

I expected Gavin to list out different punishments for Matt; fighting was certainly not okay and if he couldn’t be expelled because he’s a Landry, then there has to be something else that could be done. I expected Gavin to be furious with Matt about this behavior.

But what I wasn’t expecting was the calmness that fell over him as he stared at the principal, as if it was Principal Thorne who was in the wrong. He leaned back in his seat and took in the principal before him.

“And why exactly did Matt fight this boy? Do you know the reasoning?” Gavin asked.

I raised my brows at the question; that was actually a good question. I turned to face the principal, waiting for an answer.

“I… I’m not exactly sure…” the principal said, his brows pinched together.

“You didn’t bother to ask him what had happened to upset him?” Gavin asked, raising his brows. “Matt isn’t known to be violent unless there’s a reason behind it.”

I knew Gavin was right; Matt didn’t seem to have a violent bone in his body unless it was deserved. All those tutors he chased off weren’t there for good reason; they were selfish, greedy, and mistreated Matt, all because they wanted to get with his father. Matt had every reason to chase them away. But once you get to know him, he’s a sweet little boy who only wants his family to spend more time with him.

He's lonely and often sad; he craves attention, and he’ll get that attention any way he can. But I can’t see him seeking out that kind of attention at school. I knew school was important to him; it was obvious from how hard he worked during our study sessions. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that unless there was good reason.

“It doesn’t matter the reasoning. He still went against our school rules,” Principal Thorne said, folding his arms across his chest. “I know he’s your son, Alpha Landry, but something needs to be done about his behavior.”

“His behavior?” I finally found my voice to speak. “You don’t even know the cause of his behavior and you expect us to punish him? How do we know Matt was the one who started this fight? He could have been defending himself. Why aren’t the other boy’s parents here? Are you planning on punishing him as well?”

“The other boy had a broken nose and needed to go to the nurse's office,” Principal Thorne said, his frown deepening.

“And how do you know he didn’t deserve it?” Gavin asked.

“Alpha, I—”

“My wife and I had taught our son to stand up for himself, so we find it hard to believe that Matt would punch this boy in the face for no reason,” Gavin said, interrupting him.

My cheeks burned when he called me his wife; I glanced at him, and I saw that the corner of his lips was tipping upward like he was trying not to laugh.

I pressed my lips together and turned to face the principal.

“Call him to us so we can talk to him,” I said, glad that my voice came out stronger than I felt.

The principal swallowed and then nodded as he grabbed his phone.

“Can you bring Matthew Landry to my office?” He asked into the phone. “Thanks.”

He hung up and took a deep breath.

Gavin nodded his approval. We sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Gavin kept his hand entwined with mine and occasionally he’d reach over and brush a strand of hair out of my face. H was putting on a show for the principal, but it was only making my heartbeat faster.

Moments later, the door opened, and Matthew walked into the room. The moment his eyes landed on his father; his entire body froze.

“D…dad?”