Judy’s POV I snapped a look at Gavin, shocked that he knew Ethan was my ex-fiancé. He really has done his research on me. Initially, I thought he just looked up my name, but he knew more information than I was prepared for. “How did you know that he was my ex-fiancé?” “There’s very little I don’t know,” he answered casually. “Like the fact that Ethan, who is my daughter's current fiancé, was your fated mate.” I took a sharp breath from his bold statement and felt my cheeks warming. “Am I wrong?” He then asked; telling from his tone, I knew that he knew he wasn’t wrong. I shook my head and looked away from him; unable to hide the embarrassment off my face. This was the one thing I didn’t want him to know about. “Regardless of what happened in the past, Irene and Ethan are to be married soon and I hope everything goes smoothly for her sake.” I bit my lip, not wanting to discuss this any further. I hope he will get the hint based on my silence. I kept my gaze out the window and my frown deepened when we reached the borders of my pack. I hadn’t told him where I lived, but the driver was heading in the direction of my parents’ house. My heart hammered against my chest; was there anything this man didn’t find out? I found myself looking at him; he was staring out the window, his eyes fixated on the sight before him. His strong jawline looked tense, and his full lips were pressed in a thin line. Memories of the other night invaded my mind, and I thought about how his lips felt against mine. The sweetness and the softness of them, yet he kissed me with so much passion and desire. I licked my lips at the memory. Instinctively, my fingers reached up to the nape of my neck and touched the spot where he sucked and kissed. The hickey that Ethan had seen and lost his temper over. My face warmed from the marking Gavin left on my flesh. “If you are done staring at me, you can get out now,” Gavin’s voice broke me from my thoughts. I blinked a few times and looked out the window; I realized we were outside of my parents’ house. “Oh,” I breathed, unsure what to say having been caught staring at him. I was embarrassed, and I just wanted to get away from him as fast as I could. I quickly unfastened my seatbelt and shouldered my purse before opening the car door. “Uh, thank you for the ride,” I told him lamely. He gave me a curt nod. As I slid out of the car, I felt his hand wrap around my wrist, halting me. “Judy,” he said, his voice filled with authority. The sound of my name on his lips made warm chills course through my body. I paused and met his gaze, holding my breath as I did so. “Yes?” I asked, my voice coming out almost breathy. His grip loosened around my wrist as he said, “We won’t be meeting again; understood?” And just like that, it felt like someone stabbed me in the chest. I was stunned by his remark and hurt. I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave him a curt nod. “Understood,” I managed to whisper. He released my wrist, and I immediately felt cold from the lack of contact. It was a strange feeling to have considering we only made out once and barely had a proper conversation, but I felt the absence of his touch as if I had just taken off a coat in the middle of a winter storm. I didn’t say anything more as I got out of the car. The door shut after me and I could no longer see Gavin behind the tinted windows, but I knew his eyes were on me. I turned and hurried towards the house, getting my keys out of my purse in the process. The lights were off, so I knew my mother was either sleeping, or she went out. I unlocked the door and pushed it open, pausing when I felt Gavin’s gaze still on me. I realized the car was still in the front of the house. I turned back slightly and gave the car an awkward wave before stepping into the house, shutting the door behind me. A few seconds later, I heard the car driving off. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I went upstairs and into my room so I could change clothes; I was done with this uniform. I didn’t want to do a degrading job and lose my self-respect only to gain money. I was better than that. I needed to focus on my studies so that I could graduate and become a Gamma. I already sent a ton of applications elsewhere that could help me with my career goals. Hopefully, I’ll hear back from them soon. I took my phone out of my bag so I could text Nan that I made it home okay and to not expect me back at work anytime soon. There was no way I was going to return to that place after what happened tonight. I made a mental note to apologize to the manager as well. But just as I was about to pull up Nan’s contact, a message appeared. I frowned when I saw Ethan’s name flashing on the top of the screen. Sighing, I opened the message and gasped when I read the words he sent me. Ethan: How dare you leave with another man! You truly are a slut!! Ethan: You’ll spread your legs for anyone for money. Have you always been this shameless? Ethan: Maybe if I gave you money, you’d spread your legs for me in the 2 years I’ve wasted on you. I flinched at his words; 2 years he’s wasted on me? My wolf whimpered in pain from the cruelty of our mate, and tears immediately filled my eyes as I sat on my bed. Then, another message popped up. Ethan: He’s never going to care for you like I do! He hasn’t had a serious relationship in 20 years. You could never be anything to him besides a desperate slut. When you come to your senses, I’ll be here, waiting. Your father could be out of jail tomorrow if you take me up on my offer. I pressed my lips together as tears ran down my cheeks. I was seconds away from throwing my phone across the room, but then a new message appeared. I was relieved to see that this message was not from Ethan. Nan: Are you okay? You left so suddenly. Me: Sorry. I don’t think I can do this job anymore. It’s too much and I feel gross. I hope you aren’t mad. Nan: I’m not mad. I kind of figured you wouldn’t want to continue working here after today. You are better than this place. Did you leave with Ethan? Me: No. I got a ride with someone else. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her that Gavin was the one who dropped me off at home. Nan: Who? I didn’t want to lie to her, so I started to type in a response, but then she texted again. Nan: Tell me later; we just got a huge rush of people. I sighed and typed a quick response. Me: Okay, talk soon. I threw my phone at the end of my bed and rested my head on my pillow. I knew with certainty that it would be yet another restless night. ….. Third Person POV Ethan stared in the direction that the car went; it was Gavin Landry, Irene’s father, and the man that Ethan so desperately wanted to impress. Yet, his mate just got into the car with him and drove off. “Did that just happen?” Ethan’s friend asked, equally shocked. None of them expected Judy to be telling the truth about getting together with Ethan’s future father-in-law. But her getting in that car casually was proof enough. This was not supposed to happen; Judy was supposed to take Ethan up on his offer. That was the whole point of Ethan’s plan. He knew when he married Irene, he would lose Judy and the only way he could get Judy to stick around was to blackmail her using the only thing he could against her… her family. Bankrupting her father’s company was easy considering he had connections everywhere. Ethan’s family was very well known and now that he was the candidate for becoming the Alpha of the Redmoon pack, he had even more connections. He thought Judy would have jumped at the opportunity to save her family. But she was stubborn. When Ethan found out Judy worked at this restaurant, he brought his friends along to scare her away from this job but that also didn’t work out as planned. He pulled out his phone and made a call. “Cut off all of Judy’s job opportunities. I don’t want her working anywhere around here,” he ordered into the phone. “Are you sure? Miss Montague has quite a few applications around town,” the man on the other end stated. “They are pretty good positions too and her applications are flawless.” “Get rid of them all,” Ethan ordered. “She isn’t to get any of those jobs. Understood?” “But—” “I’ll pull my family's sponsorship from your business and ruin you if you don’t do as I say!” There was a moment of pause on the other end before he said, “Yes, sir.” The call was cut off and a slow smile spread across Ethan’s lips. It won’t be long now before Judy grows so desperate that she crawls into his bed, begging to be his mistress. Meanwhile, as Beta Taylor drove away from Judy’s house, he peered through the mirror at Gavin who was staring out the window with a tense expression. He had been quiet since dropping Judy off at her house. When they saw her arguing with Ethan outside of the restaurant, Gavin ordered his Beta to stop driving immediately and he did so. It was a strange reaction for someone who claims to not care for the girl. “Why don’t you pursue her?” Taylor asked as he fixed his attention back on the road. Gavin looked at him and furrowed his brows. “What?” Taylor smirked. “I see the way you look at her, Alpha. You are clearly more interested in her than you have been with the others. So, why not pursue her?”