Chapter 68

Judy’s POV

“And who do you think you are?” Meredith asked, raising her brows at the man standing behind me.

“This is a private party,” Sophia chimed in. “You weren’t invited.”

“This is a pack party and you are not pack,” Meredith added, rolling her eyes.

“He’s handsome though. Maybe he should stay,” Kelsey purred, batting her lashes. My stomach twisted and I fought the urge to growl at her.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and my entire body seemed to immediately respond to the touch. I felt myself relaxing and releasing a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

“Are you okay?” Gavin asked me. I glanced up at him and I could see the concern in his eyes.

I nodded at him, despite my heart feeling heavy in my chest.

“Oh, please,” Kelsey laughed. “Don’t tell me you brought a callboy to the pack barbeque. That’s a new low even for you.”

“You seriously had to hire someone to be your date this evening?” Meredith asked, shaking her head at me. “That’s truly disgusting.”

“Pardon?” Gavin asked, raising his brows.

Gavin was dressed casually, and it made my heart flutter. He was barely recognizable without his suit, but he was still so handsome. He also hadn’t really been in the media as of late, so it didn’t surprise me that he wasn’t recognized at first. I stayed silent, not sure what to say, watching as Ethan’s family made a fool out of themselves.

Gavin had a deep frown on his lips as he observed the Cash family and their treatment of me.

“I can’t believe she even bothered to show up at all… but with a male prostitute?” Sophia asked, her lip curled in disgust. “You are a shameless woman!”

“Is this how you treat your guests?” Gavin asked, his brow raised to his hairline. “With this much disrespect. Who’s responsible for the wine on her clothes?”

“It’s honestly fine,” I said, grabbing onto his arm. “I think it was a mistake to come here. I would like to leave now.”

“Not until I find out who’s responsible for this,” he said, his voice low and sending warmth to form on my cheeks.

“She deserved it after what she said to me,” Kelsey said, folding her arms across her chest. “I bet you didn’t know that she was engaged to marry my brother. He didn’t want her, just like her birth parents didn’t want her. You are wasting your time with this one, sir. She’s an abandoned orphan and nobody in their right mind would ever want her. I’m glad my brother came to his senses. You should come to yours soon too.”

“Is that right?” He asked, his voice having a rather dangerous edge to it and I felt the chill run up my spine.

“How much is she paying you to be here?” Kelsey continued to flirt. “I’ll pay you double if you come with me right now.”

“Kelsey Cash!” Meredith scolded, but she had amusement in her eyes. “You are only 18 and this man is old enough to be your father. You aren’t as shameless as Judy here. You don’t need to pay anyone to be your escort.”

“Oh, but mother. Look at him, he’s so hot,” Kelsey purred. “He can do so much better than that bitch. Her family is broke; if she promised you any kind of money, I promise you’ll never see it. But I can offer you cash up front.”

“And you believe I need your money?” Gavin asked.

“Look, I don’t know who you are. But this a family matter,” Meredith said, glaring at Gavin as if he was nothing but a bug on the bottom of her shoe. “So, if you don’t mind, we were just having a discussion.”

“There is wine on her clothes; what part of that was the discussion?” Gavin asked; his aura growing darker. I was surprised that Ethan’s family hadn’t noticed it, but he was getting more dangerous by the second and I knew he was holding himself back, not wanting to make a scene.

“She was disrespectful towards our family,” Meredith said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“It seems to me that you are the ones who are disrespectful,” Gavin said through his teeth. He was seconds away from bursting and I did not want to be here when it happened. I tried to step away, but his grip on my shoulder tightened as he kept me in place in front of him.

Meredith pursed her lips and pointed her long finger at him while saying, “Look, sir… I don’t know you think you are but—”

“Daddy?” Irene asked as she stepped around the women to stare up at her father with wide eyes. “W…what are you doing here?”

The color in Meredith’s face drained as she stared at Irene and then up at Gavin. Kelsey’s eyes were so big, I thought they were going to fall out of her head and Sophia sucked in a sharp breath, staggering backward. All three of them were speechless and unsure of what to say.

“I was invited,” Gavin said, his eyes finding Irenes. “I thought I would pay some respect to my daughter's future family members, but when I got here, I wasn’t feeling very welcomed.”

His eyes found Meredith again and she looked horrified.

“I… I’m so sorry,” Meredith stammered. “Mr. Landry, I—”

“It’s Alpha to you,” he growled, his eyes glowing yellow as his wolf surged forward. “Only those I respect can speak my name, whether it is first or last. And as of right now, I don’t respect any of you.”

“Daddy!” Irene gasped, rushing to his side. “Don’t be rude to Ethan’s family.”

“I’m not the one being rude,” he said through his teeth.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Sophia went on to say, her words coming out hoarse. “We didn’t know who you were.”

“And that makes it okay?” Gavin asked, raising his brows. “Do you call every gentleman that walks through the door a call boy? Or just me?”

Irene sucked in a sharp breath as she glanced at Sophia and then at Ethan’s mother who was bowing her head, her entire body trembling. Kelsey looked as if she was about to get sick.

“I’m glad I came here when I did because who knows how much worse things could have gotten,” Gavin said, his lip curling in disgust.

“It was a mistake, Alpha. We didn’t recognize you,” Sopha tried to explain. “Please, don’t take any of what we said the wrong way.”

“How could I not—”

“Daddy, please!” Irene said, her eyes pleading with her father to drop the issue. “Not here… please, don’t make a scene…”

I hadn’t realized that there were now bystanders watching everything happen, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. My mother’s eyes were wide as she stared at me, and I could hardly look her in the eyes.

Gavin looked as if he was about to say something, but then he decided against it. He cleared his throat and straightened.

“I’ll be taking my leave then,” he murmured.

“Alpha, you are more than welcome to stay,” Meredith tried to say, but was interrupted by a male voice who simultaneously said, “Alpha Landry, it’s a pleasure for you to be here… what seems to be the issue?”

I turned to see Ethan’s father, Raymond, walking toward us with a frown on his lips. He was a nobleman and a good friend of my father's. At least he appears to be a good friend; I thought Meredith and Sophia were friends of my mother's until they spoke cruelly about her earlier. Now, I’m not entirely sure if Raymond was the same as them as well, but he recognized Gavin immediately and came over to defuse the situation.

“Raymond,” Gavin greeted, his tone icy. “I was just leaving.”

“But Alpha, you just got here. Why not stay? The food is almost ready; let the bartender fix you a drink,” Raymond said, stopping beside his wife who suddenly looked incredibly small and vulnerable.

“It seems I’m not very welcome here,” Gavin said, his eyes flickering to Meredith.

Raymond's eyes darkened as he glared at his wife.

“What exactly happened?” He asked, his aura darkening. “What had you done?”

“I—”

“Please, Daddy. Just let it go. They didn’t mean any harm…” Irene pleaded.

“Whatever my wife had said to you, I’m sure it can be cleared up,” Raymond said, his eyes still pouring into Meredith's face. “I apologize for any rudeness. Please stay for a little while and get some food.”

“It’s okay…” I whispered for Gavin’s ears only. “You can stay.”

He turned to look at me, his eyes narrowed, but they softened when he looked into my eyes.

“I want to take you home,” he told me softly.

“I’ll stay for a bit,” I assured him. “I’m just going to clean up.”

He looked at me for a moment longer before nodding. I didn’t miss the looks that Meredith and Kelsey exchanged with one another, hearing some of the dialogue between us.

“I’ll help you clean up,” my mother said, draping an arm through mine. I hadn’t even noticed she was nearby until she spoke, but I was relieved by her presence.

I nodded and turned back to Gavin.

“I’ll see you later, Alpha,” I told him, a bit louder for those around us to hear.

He gave me a curt nod before turning back to Raymond. Their conversation was drowned out as we headed into the Cash family manor and towards the bathroom.

“How could you make a scene like that?” my mother asked once we reached the bathroom.

“I wasn’t the one making the scene,” I murmured.

She sighed as she grabbed a hand towel and wet it with some warm water.

“Look, I need you to know something, and I don’t want you to freak out.”

I frowned, worry bubbling in my belly.

“Okay?” I urged her to continue.

“I spoke to Ethan’s parents earlier. Raymond went over details on how much I could get for the house,” she explained; my heart sank.

“Our house?” I asked her.

She nodded.

“I could get a lot of money that could pay off a lot of the debt your father owes,” she told me. “It won’t be enough to get him out of prison… but it’s something.”

“If you are going to sell the house, then where exactly are we going to live?” I asked her.

She was quiet for a moment as she attempted to clean the wine stain from my blouse while I wiped my face with another hand towel.

“Mom?” I asked after she hadn’t answered.

She sighed and looked up at me, her eyes soft and apologetic.

“Meredith and Raymond offered us their guest room,” she told me gently.

“What are you saying?” I asked, my entire body feeling paralyzed.

“I’m saying…we would be living here; with the Cash family.”