Chapter 275

Griffin’s POV

“Tell me what you said to her,” I growled, my wolf forcing itself to the surface.

The color completely drained from Rachel’s face. She was staring at me as I had just struck her. My patience was running thin, and she knew it; I saw the way she trembled, the way her eyes darted back and forth like she was planning an escape. She glanced at her phone sitting on the bedside table, and before she could even think about it, I snatched it. She sucked in a startled breath, her fingers curling in until her hands were balled into fists.

“Give me my phone,” she said, her tone trembling though it was obvious she was trying to keep it steady.

“Answer my fucking question,” I growled.

“What proof do you have that I’m lying to you?” She asked.

“I did a paternity test,” Eliza said, walking into the room with a piece of paper. “Alpha Gavin isn’t your baby's father. Your baby is half human, which makes him an Omega. A Lycan would never have an Omega child.”

Rachel’s face paled even more before her eyes flashed with anger.

“Who gave you permission to give my baby a paternity test?!” She asked, her voice rising as her anger grew.

“I did,” I sneered. “Now answer my fucking question. What did you say to Judy that night?”

Rachel stared between the two of us, a panicked look in her eyes. Her fingers fidgeted against the thin blanket that covered her.

“I told her that I had it handled, and I’ll take care of you,” she said, refusing to meet my eyes.

“You said something else. Why was she upset?

Rachel rolled her eyes.

“I might have insinuated that we are together,” she muttered.

My heart sank at her words. I needed to find Judy and set the record straight. But first, I needed to deal with Rachel.

“Who are you working for?

She grinned.

“I will never tell you,” she said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “But know, our plan is already in motion, and you don’t even know about it.”

My blood was boiling; I had no idea what the fuck she meant. All I wanted was for her to get out of my pack.

The door opened, and Taylor and Derek walked in with a few other gamma warriors.

“Take her to the holding cell,” I ordered, pointing at Rachel.

Her eyes grew large.

“You can’t be serious! I’m pregnant you assholes!” She screeched.

The gammas grabbed her and forced her out of bed. She stumbled along with them, growling and yelling as they dragged her to the door.

“You are going to regret this!” She growled, struggling against their hold.

“You’ll tell us the information we seek sooner or later, Rachel,” I told her, my eyes narrowing. “Even if we have to torture it out of you.”

“You wouldn’t dare! I’m pregnant!!”

“Try me.”

The serious look in my eyes told her that I meant what I said; her eyes widened, and she retreated from her stance.

I motioned for the gammas to take her away, and they dragged her out of the room, leaving me alone with Derek, Taylor, and Eliza.

‘Do you think it’s Levi she’s working with?”

I nodded; I had no I doubt in my mind that fucker was behind this. My wolf was growling angrily; I should have listened to him to begin with and not allowed Rachel access to my pack. I should have kicked her out the second she arrived at my door. But I wasn’t going to let her ruin anything else in my life. I needed to fix the damage she had caused and hoped to the Moon Goddess it wasn’t too late.

“Follow them to the dungeon and try to get whatever answers you can from her,” I tell Derek.

He nodded and left the room.

I turn to Taylor.

“I want a statement made announcing that I am not the baby's father, and for everyone who saw the previous news report to disregard it.”

“I’ll get the editor on the phone,” he tells me before turning to his mate. “Can you print me a copy of the DNA report?”

“Of course,” she said, following him out of the room.

I ran my fingers through my hair and grabbed my phone. I did something I should have done a couple of weeks ago, after my night with her… I called Judy.

It went straight to voicemail.

I frowned as I stared at the screen. I tried her one more time but got the same result.

As I was leaving the hospital, I tried Nan’s phone. After a few rings, I went to voicemail.

Did she just deny my call?

Erik was waiting in the car for me; he came after I sent Taylor away on his task. I got into the backseat. I knew Erik and Judy had become friends, so I figured maybe he’d know where Judy was this afternoon.

“Do you know where Judy is?”

He tensed at my question and then cleared his throat.

“The last I saw, she was at the mansion; she wanted to talk to Irene,” he replied, though he avoided my eyes. I knew there was more to it, but I didn’t have the time to overthink it.

“Take me to the mansion,” I said, leaning back in my seat.

‘Yes, Alpha,” he replied.

It didn’t take long to get to the mansion. He parked right outside the door, and I got out without a word. I walked into the mansion and stopped when I saw that Nan was there with Irene and Chester. All three of them looked miserable. They were heading into the parlor but paused when they saw me standing in front of them. Nan’s scowl was enough to know that something was seriously wrong.

Chester wrapped an arm around her and pulled her away before she could say or do something she would regret. It was smart of him to make her leave because I wasn’t in the mood to play these games.

My daughter stared at me with bloodshot eyes, and it was clear she had been crying.

“What’s going on?” I asked her as soon as Nan and Chester were out of the room.

“Funny you should ask,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. “Why are you here?”

“Answer my question, Irene. I’m not in the mood for whatever this is,” I told her, rolling my eyes. She was always so dramatic, and I seriously couldn’t give a shit about whatever dramatic she was having right now.

“You had weeks to come here and make things right. You had months to tell her how you felt, and still you lied to her,” Irene said, her lips pressed in a thin line.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not an idiot, Dad. I know how you felt about her,” Irene said, shaking her head. I could see the disappointment and hurt on her face. “I know you loved her.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but she held up her hand, silencing me. No one has ever silenced me like that before, but her words… both my wolf and I relished in them. I realized that Irene was right; I was in love with Judy.

Tears filled Irene’s eyes as she stared at me; she could see the moment I realized it, too.

“You broke her, Dad…” she whispered. “You should have come here sooner. You should have tried harder. How could you not call her? How could you not tell her?”

“I needed to deal with Rachel first,” I admitted, my voice coming out softer than usual. “There’s a lot that happened that you don’t know about. But I wanted to come back to her with a clean slate, with proof that nothing that was said was true. I didn’t want her to ask questions I couldn’t answer because it would only break her heart even more.”

As I spoke, I realized how true those words were. I didn’t want to hurt Judy by not having real answers to her questions. But now I had answers and proof to go along with it. Now I could finally tell her everything and show her that I’m not the person the media has painted me out to be. Now I’m ready to move forward with whatever these feelings ih had for her are… now I’m ready to love her.

But the look on Irene’s face gave me pause. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to tell her that I was in love with someone as young as Judy; I don’t expect Irene to think of her as a mother, nor do I expect Judy to take on the role of a mother to Irene. But I wasn’t expecting the pure disappointment and regret on Irene’s face when I finally confessed to having these feelings.

But before I could say anything more, Nan walked in with tears in her eyes.

“It’s too late,” she whispered, shaking her head. Chester was trying to get her to return to the parlor, but Nan shrugged him off. “Judy’s gone.”

My brows dipped low.

“What do you mean she’s gone?”

“I mean, she left…” Nan said, her lip trembling. “We don’t know what pack she went to. She wouldn’t tell us because she feared you’d force the information out of us with your Lycan abilities. But she took a position with an Elite Force, and she moved.”

My blood went cold as I looked at my daughter, who was staring at me, her eyes now void of emotions.

“Tell me she’s lying,” I said, trying hard to keep control of my wolf who was now thrashing inside of me, begging to be released and find the woman he had fallen so deeply in love with.

“I wish I could,” Irene murmured. “But Nan is telling the truth, Dad. Judy came here to say goodbye. They dropped her off at the airport a few hours ago. She’s gone, and I don’t think she’s coming back.”