Chapter 233

Judy’s POV

What are you even doing here?

That was a loaded question, with many answers. I came for answers. I came to find out if my friend was a traitor. I came to find out if she was a spy and, if so, for whom she was working. I came to find out if she was sleeping with my ex-mate. I came to find out if I had been a fool in trusting her.

Something about the way she was eyeing me warily showed me that she knew exactly why I was there. She wrapped her arms around her body, desperate to hold herself together as she watched me. Neither of us said anything for what felt like a long time. I needed to know the truth, and I had no idea how to answer her questions that were bubbling at the tip of my tongue.

“Is it true?” I finally asked, meeting her eyes. “Are you working with Ethan to hurt me and my family?” That was a question I truly had; was she working with my ex-mate, after knowing everything he had put me through? Was she out to get my family and me just like Ethan was? The thought made me feel sick to my stomach, and I had to drop my eyes from hers before my emotions leaked through. I wasn’t great at keeping a poker face, and I knew she’d be able to see the defeat on my face almost right away.

I saw a flash of remorse on her face as she stared at the ground, shuffling in her spot awkwardly.

“It’s more complicated than that,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Complicated how?” I asked, stepping towards her. “Tell me the truth, Sammy.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” she finally stated after a beat of silence. “If Alpha Landry found out—”

“It would be me who got into trouble, not you,” I told her. “You have no control over who barges through that door, especially when you can’t even leave it.” I point at her ankle monitor. “You are a prisoner, Sammy. Just tell me why.”

I was desperate for answers, and I needed her to start spilling or I was going to lose my mind. She nibbled on her lower lip, tears welling in her eyes. I wasn’t sure if I trusted her tears or not… I wasn’t sure if they were crocodiles, and it worried me that my trust in her disappeared completely.

“My intention was never to hurt you…” she whispered.

“Then what were you trying to do?” I asked her, trying to meet her eyes, but she was going through great lengths to avoid my eyes. “Sammy, please. Answer my question. Why were you working with him?”

“My name is Sammy Churchill. The youngest daughter of Levi Churchill…” she whispered, her face glowing red. “I’m Alpha Levi’s daughter.”

“Did he send you here?” I asked.

She was quiet for a moment before she nodded slowly.

“Why?” I asked her, my tone firm as I stared around her face, studying her carefully.

She took a deep breath before releasing it slowly.

“Because he wants you to be part of the Elite Force, “she explained. “I don’t know why. But he asked me to try and convince you to go to him.”

I raised my brows.

“What?” I asked her, not sure I heard her correctly.

“He wants me to convince you to join his Elite Gamma Force. He thinks you’d make a great addition. He wants to take you away from Gavin,” she explained, her eyes finally meeting mine, and I saw the unshed tears in them.

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said, shaking my head. “There has to be more to it. Why go through all of this?” I asked.

“He thought if I got close to you, then I could convince you,” she explained. “We are close in age, and I’m easy to get along with. He wanted me to befriend you and change your mind about joining Gavin’s force.”

My heart hurt hearing her words.

“Why were you snooping through my things?” I asked her, my mind was still clouded with all this new information.

“I was just trying to see if I could use something to convince you. I know you got a bunch of packets from the other Elite forces, and I was going to get rid of them and only leave you my father’s…” she confessed, her face blooming red.

She covered her face with her hands and groaned.

“Ugh, Judy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to do it…”

“So, our friends were a lie?” I asked, unable to hide the hurt in my voice.

She lifted her gaze to look at me, shock registering on her face.

“OH, Goddess, Judy. No, of course not!”

“I’m having trouble believing that…” I admit.

She nodded solemnly.

“I get that,” she murmured. “And maybe at first, I did target you, but I quickly realized that you are an incredible person, and I was lucky to get to know you. There wasn’t a moment when I didn’t feel bad for what I was doing, but you were always my friend, Judy. I promise… none of our friendship was fake.”

I was quiet for a moment as I processed her words. I wanted to believe her, I truly did. But I was still so hurt over it. I wasn’t sure if I could truly trust her or not…

“Why were you talking to Ethan?” I asked her.

Her cheeks flushed at my question, and at first, I didn’t think she was going to answer me.

“Nan saw you talking to him at the coffee shop,” I went on to explain, a hint of worry in my tone. I hated to think she was seeing him behind my back.

“He’s switching his allegiance to my father,” she explained. “I was only relaying a message to him from my father. It wasn’t anything major, I promise.”

“Ethan is switching his allegiance to Levi Churchill?” I asked. “But his family is the Beta’s of Redmoon.”

She nodded.

“That’s why he’s keeping it a secret for right now,” she replied. “I don’t think his family even knows. But my father promised him an Alpha status, and that’s why I had to talk to him. He’s wondering when Ethan plans to move so they can move forward with the next steps in that process.”

I thought about it for a moment, and I realized that it did make sense. I should have known that Sammy wasn’t seeing Ethan after everything he had put me through.

“Okay,” I finally said softly.. “I believe you.”

Relief formed on her expression, and she sighed.

“Thank you,” she said in return.

Before we could hug it out, my phone chimed. I frowned as I pulled it out of my pocket, only to see Nan’s name flash across the screen from a text message.

I opened the message.

Nan: Girl, did you see this?? It’s all over the news!

Attached was a news article. I was hesitant, my heart in my throat as I clicked on the link. The second I did, my heart sank into my stomach.

Fuck.

….

Gavin’s POV

“I want to know who released this article,” I said, slamming my fist on my desk, making Taylor and my head Gamma, Derek, flinch. “We should have had people on this already. This should never have been released.”

“The releasor was anonymous,” Taylor explained. “I already contacted your PA and PI.” Private Attorney and Private Investigator.

“These need to be pulled immediately,” I said through my teeth.

“Yes, Alpha,” they both said at the same time.

Just then, my phone started to ring, and I cursed under my breath.

“Fucking what?” I muttered before I pressed the answer button; I didn’t bother checking to see who it was this time. “Yes?”

“Is that any way to speak to your mother?” I internally groaned; I wasn’t in the mood for this right now.

“Sorry, I’m kind of going through a crisis right now,” I told her, trying to calm my tone.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. Do you have any idea how this makes the Landry family look?” She asked. “You were caught kissing her during the competition, Gavin. They are blaming you for favoritism.”

My stomach turned; if they think I favored Judy during the competition because we are sleeping together, they will not only take away her win, but they will blacklist her as well. I can’t let that happen.

“I’m dealing with it,” I told her through my teeth.

“You better,” my mother said matter-of-factly. “We can’t have that tanking our reputation, Gavin. You know how important our image is, and you know how important the Gamma competition is. You’ve put a target on her back.”

I felt sick to my stomach; I should have been more careful. Why didn’t I think pictures would have been taken of us? I was careless, and now Judy was about to suffer the consequences.

“I will fix this,” I said more to myself than to her.

She was quiet for a moment, and then she sighed.

“Gavin, once you fix this, which I know you will because you are a Landry after all and we always fix our mistakes… but once you do, I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Judy Montague is not made for our world. After all of this… You need to stop seeing her… for good.”