Chapter 296

Judy’s POV

No?

Did he just say no?

Anger coursed through me; the shock of him tracking me down to the packhouse long gone as I stared up at him.

“What do you mean by no?” I asked him, my tone louder than I intended.

“Just that,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m not letting you stay here. As soon as I’m done here, you’re coming home with me.”

“You have no right to tell me that,” I nearly shouted at him, my fury getting the best of me. “This is my decision, not yours!” Truth be told, I was going to talk to him about it. I wasn’t sure if this was a decision I wanted to make. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay in this pack, but I needed to know where Gavin stood first. But hearing him deny my choice without even discussing it with me first left an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t going to remain quiet over that.

His eyes darkened.

“Are you forgetting that I am your Alpha?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. “Not to mention you are carrying my baby… something that connects you to me by blood. I have every right to make this decision for you, and right now, my decision is that you are coming home with me, where you belong.”

I stared at him in shock; he was serious. He wasn’t planning on discussing this further, and I could tell by the dismissive way he was glaring at me. I glanced over my shoulder at Sampson, whose eyes were shifted to the ground, trying to avoid my gaze and keep his nose where it belonged.

“Can’t you do something?” I asked him as if this was his fault. He lifted his gaze to meet mine, and I could see the struggle behind his eyes; I knew it was out of his hands before he even responded.

“I already told you, if Alpha Landry disapproves, I can’t do anything. He has every right to deny my offer,” Sampson said gently. “I’m sorry, Judy. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Tears burned in my eyes as I turned towards Gavin; a rage I never felt before bubbling inside of me. I pointed a finger at him, which he ignored.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said through my teeth. “You can’t come here and disrupt my life like you didn’t take part in destroying whatever was budding between us. If you only kept communicating with me during your rendezvous with Rachel, then none of this would be happening. You were never clear about what you wanted from me, and now you’re acting like you have this giant claim on me? You disgust me, Gavin Landry.”

I spat the words at him, my chest aching with each cruel thing I said to him. Though he didn’t flinch, I could see the slight pain in his eyes as my words grew colder and crueler.

“Did I disgust you when I was inside of you last night?” He asked, his tone just as menacing.

I gawked at him; I couldn’t believe he just said that… especially in front of Sampson. What the actual fuck was wrong with him?

“You’re a piece of shit,” I muttered as I shoved past him, hating that my voice cracked on that last word. It was a moment of vulnerability I didn’t need him to see.

“Judy,” he said before I could get too far. I could hear the slight apology in his voice, like he regretted what he had said to me. But the damage was done, and the words were spoken.

I was done talking to him; I was done trying to make this work. No matter what we did, we would never see eye-to-eye. I would always be someone he thinks he can control. I was stupid to think that Gavin wanted me… he only wanted to dominate me. Nothing more.

Tears blurred my vision as I hurried down the hallway, my heart shattering even more the further I got from Gavin. He didn’t follow me; part of me was hoping that he would chase me down and apologize. Another part of me, the bigger part, needed that space. I needed to get away from him to clear my head.

Though just because he didn’t follow me, it didn’t mean I wasn’t being followed. As I got outside, I felt a hand on my shoulder, making me freeze. For a second, I thought maybe it was Gavin, and I was too caught up in my own misery to notice that he was behind me the entire time, but when I turned, I realized that it wasn’t. A small flutter of disappointment grated my chest before I brushed it away.

Spencer stood behind me with a worried frown and a crease between his brows.

“What happened?” He asked.

I hadn’t realized how bad I was crying until I tried to speak. Without a word, Spencer had me wrapped in his arms, holding me close to his chest. I could hear the rapid beating of his heart, and his strong hands splayed out on my back, keeping me close.

Despite being a friend, and his embrace warm, his touch somehow felt wrong. Like, I shouldn’t be allowing him to touch me like this. But I needed to feel something… anything other than the pain I was feeling from Gavin.

“Come on,” he said softly, lifting me off the ground and carrying me bridal style. My lips trembled as I suppressed more sobs, but I couldn’t hold them in.

He brought me over to his waiting car and helped me into the passenger seat. He buckled my seatbelt because I was too out of it to do it myself. He ran around the car and got into the driver’s seat. For a moment, I thought I heard my name coming from Lucy’s lips, but it was gone as Spencer sped away from the packhouse.

He was quiet as he drove through the streets; his hands clutching the steering wheel tightly, as if it owed him money, and his jaw tensing periodically.

I glanced up at him with a frown, not sure what to say. I was grateful for my friend at that moment for getting me away from the packhouse, but now that I was getting further away, I had questions in my mind… like why?

Most of the gammas were on post with this new threat out there, so why was Spencer at the packhouse to begin with?

“Thanks,” I tell him, breaking the silence after a long while.

“Don’t mention it,” he said, his eyes remaining fixed on the road.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

He was quiet, which gave me a slightly eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was a feeling I never got from being around him before, and I wasn’t sure where it was coming from now.

I blamed it on the high tension from what I just dealt with, the heartbreak, and the pregnancy hormones. It was clouding my judgment, apparently.

As we passed my condo, my frown only deepened as I looked at him. I assumed he was taking me home, and his house was in the other direction.

“Where exactly are you taking me?” I asked him, my tone coming out rougher than I intended.

“Somewhere safe,” he assured me, though his tone was anything but reassuring. I furrowed my brows at him, not sure what he was talking about. This pack was plenty safe with the amount of security there was around here this last day or so. I wasn’t in any kind of danger… at least not physically. So, I wasn’t sure why he felt the need to take me somewhere safe.

“I’d rather just go home,” I told him honestly.

“You were crying for a reason,” he reminded me. “Once we get to our destination, we can talk about it. But I feel like you just need to get away for a bit.”

I bit my lower lip, nibbling on it as I stared up at him. He was so serious; it was something I wasn’t used to when it came to Spencer. At this point, I wished I had my phone with me and almost cursed myself for having it shut off and on my nightstand.

The second we left the parking grounds, my heart was pounding rapidly against my chest.

“Please, tell me where we are going,” I told him, hating the fear that was clear in my tone.

He heard it, too, because he frowned as he glanced in my direction.

“Are you afraid?”

I swallowed.

“Of course not,” I lied.

“Good,” he said without hesitation. “You have nothing to be afraid of, Judy. I’m your friend… remember?”

I nodded and took a shaky deep breath.

“Friends tell each other where they are going,” I told him, trying my best at witty humor, but I only sounded desperate.

A smirk played on his lips, and it gave me an even more unsteady feeling.

“There’s this cabin,” he finally said. “It’s about 10 miles south of the Redcliff pack borders. I found it when I was out exploring as a kid. It’s been abandoned for years. I decorated it and turned it into a hideout. Very few know about this place. I only tell those I trust. I figured we could stay there for a couple of days. There are 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a full bathroom. It’s not fancy or anything, but it’s a good hiding spot for when you don’t want others to know where you are.”

“A hiding spot?” I asked, my brows furrowed. “I had no idea such a place existed.”

“That’s because I never told you,” he replied. “Like I said, very few know of its existence. But don’t worry. We’ll be there soon enough.”