Chapter 265

Judy’s POV

I should have known that’s where he had gone this morning. He had sex with me last night and then left to be with another woman. My heart was shattered, and I hated that he affected me so much. Nan, feeling my mood shift, wrapped an arm through mine and gave me a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she whispered to me.

She wasn’t meaning for Erik to hear it, but with wolf hearing, he heard her clear as day. He glanced at me through the mirror with a small frown.

“She’s in the hospital,” he clarified, drawing my attention to him.

“What?” I asked, raising my brows.

“Rachel,” he clarified. “She’s in the hospital. He went to make sure she was okay. Taylor called him this morning and told him about it. That’s all I really know, though.”

My heart thudded against my chest; many different scenarios played out in my head.

“What happened?” I asked. “Why is she in the hospital?”

“You’d have to ask him,” he replied. “I’m not entirely sure.”

“That’s all the information you have?!” I practically shouted; I was aware that I was acting stupid. This wasn’t Erik’s fault, nor was it his problem. I wasn’t being fair to him, and the look Nan was giving me told me she agreed with my internal monologue.

“It’s not my business to know these things, Judy,” he said with a sigh, his attention on the road. “You’ll have to ask him later.”

I sat back in the seat.

“Sorry, Erik,” I said softly. “I don’t mean to take my frustration out on you.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything more.

Soon, we were arriving at the school. We said our goodbyes to Erik before heading through the campus grounds. The school was packed with students who were cramming for their finals last minute.

“I’m so nervous,” Nan admitted. “I know we are prepared and all, but still.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I’m a bit nervous too. This is kind of a huge deal.”

“Hey, Judy,” Lukas said as we entered the student lounge. “Did you get anymore studying done this weekend?”

“A little, but not as much as I’d like,” I admitted. “How about you?”

“I crammed all Saturday, but didn’t do much studying yesterday,” he told me. “Hopefully, it doesn’t affect my scores.”

“At least your graduation isn’t pending until next year,” Nan told him. “You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, but every grade counts,” he told us. “If I don’t pass these with flying colors, I’ll lose my scholarship, and my uncle will force me home.”

“He’s not paying for you to be here?” Nan asked, raising her brows.

“He didn’t want me to come here at all because it’s so close to the Landry territory,” he admitted. “The only way he allowed me to come here is by my own merits.”

I nodded, understanding why this was so important to him.

“You’re going to be fine, Lukas,” I told him. “We will all be fine.”

“I have to go,” Nan said, giving me a brief hug. “My first final starts soon, and I need to get to class and prepare myself.”

“Yeah, I should probably head to class too,” I say. “Good luck, you guys!”

With a rapidly beating heart I headed out of the student lounge and went to my first class. There were already some students doing some last-minute studies by the time I reached the class. I sat down in my seat, took out my notebook and spent some time studying myself.

I knew this material inside and out, so I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous.

Maybe because my head was a bit clouded and I knew this distraction could be detrimental. The teacher walked into the classroom, putting his briefcase on his desk and then turning to the class as more students started to fill the seats.

“Welcome to your final day in this class,” he announced. “Shall we begin?”

…..

Gavin’s POV

I hated having to leave Judy this morning to go to the hospital. I couldn’t even see Rachel when I first got there because she was being examined by the doctor. I paced the living room, my heart practically in my throat.

I grabbed my phone, about to text Judy, when the doorway to the emergency room opened and Dr. Pierce walked out.

“Alpha, she’s ready now,” she announced. ‘You can come see her.”

I let out a breath and nodded as I followed her through the doors and towards the room Rachel was in.

Rachel was sitting up in bed; she didn’t look like someone who should be in a hospital. She looked perfectly fine. When her eyes met mine, there was a flash of something in them that I didn’t recognize.

“I’m still running some tests, but as far as I can tell, it was only a panic attack. I’ll leave you two to talk,” Dr. Pierce said as she turned and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Rachel.

I walked to the bed, my posture stiff and my eyes narrowed.

“Rachel, what happened?” I asked her, trying to keep my tone calm.

She folded her arms across her chest.

“You didn’t come home last night, and I freaked out,” she admitted. “I broke a few things, and then I passed out. Next thing I knew, I was here.”

“You shouldn’t have freaked out,” I told her, unable to hide my aggravation.

“You didn’t come home!” she repeated, loudly.

“It’s not your place to decide when I return to my home,” I said through my teeth. You are a guest in my home, and you were disrespectful last night.”

“I was worried about you! You wouldn’t answer my text messages or phone calls and—”

“I was busy.”

She faltered for a moment, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Is there no hope for us, Gavin?” She asked softly. “You’ve been cold towards me for days now. I thought we were building something. Is it because I betrayed you all those years ago? I already apologized for that and told you that the love was always there. I’ve always loved you…”

“Things are different now, Rachel. I agreed to give things a chance and see if we could rekindle anything…we can’t. I’ve tried, but my heart isn’t in it. So, I agreed to friendship. That’s all I can give you right now. I’m sorry if that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s all I’m willing to give you.”

“Is it because of her…?” Rachel asked, her eyes turning cold and almost calculating, causing me to freeze. “Judy?”

“Leave Judy’s name out of your mouth,” I practically growled; I felt my anger rising almost immediately.

“It is… isn’t it. You were with her all night,” Rachel said through her teeth. “That’s why you reak of her scent! Did you fuck her last night?”

“You are out line.”

“I think I have a right to know,” she hissed. “Did you or did you not fuck Judy Montague last night.”

My wolf was furious at her audacity; he felt we had every right to rip Rachel’s head off for disrespecting Judy in the first place. He was uneasy over the fact that Rachel felt comfortable slandering her in such a manner, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him. It was taking everything I had to keep myself and my wolf under control.

Before I could reply, Dr. Pierce walked back into the room holding a small file. She was reading them, her expression hard to read.

I could practically hear her heart beating at a quickened pace, and my mind was racing, wondering what could be wrong. It was obvious something was wrong from her demeanor.

“What is it?” I asked, ignoring the look Rachel was giving me.

“Alpha, I think we should speak in private,” she said, her voice sounding almost distant and at that moment, I realized her face had gone pale as well.

“Um, excuse me… if it has something to do with me, I’d like to hear it was well,” Rachel said, folding her arms across her chest. “You are not about to keep me in the dark about this.”

Dr. Peirce looked at her and then back at me.

I nodded, granting her permission to continue speaking openly in front of Rachel. Dr. Pierce took a deep breath, steeling herself.

“Well, as you know, we wanted to rule out everything. A fainting spell isn’t normal for someone who has a panic attack, and we wanted to be sure that’s all it was. So, we took some bloodwork, along with urine samples, and brought them to the lab for further testing,” Dr. Pierce explained.

“We already knew that,” Rachel scoffed, rolling her eyes. Had she always been this bitchy or am I just noticing it now? “Get on with it.”

“Mind your tone,” I said through my teeth; it felt like I was scolding a child.

Dr. Pierce cleared her throat and turned to Rachel before continuing.

“Well, we got the results from all tests, and they all came up with the same conclusion.”

“And that is?” She asked impatiently.

“You are pregnant.”