Gavin’s POV

As the car pulled up to the charity event, I knew I had to put my game face on. I hadn’t been able to sleep in the last couple of days since my interaction with Judy. I could still fucking taste her on my lips from that night a week ago and she had the audacity to tell me it wasn’t her… that I didn’t have her in my arms. I knew she was lying to me; she was easy to read, but I couldn’t figure out why she was lying.

The morning after that night kept flooding my brain, how I woke up naked in bed with Rachel lying beside me. Though my body had her scent on me as well, and the markings covering both our necks were from one another, I knew the delicate taste of Judy that remained on my tongue.

Her scent lingered in the room, despite how many times Rachel sprayed her perfume around the place.

“You seem lost in thought,” Rachel said, sitting beside me in the car. “You’ve been distant these last few days. Is everything okay?”

I looked at her, the woman I used to be so desperately in love with, but all I feel right now is resentment. Resentment over the fact that she returned in the first place. Resentment because it was her, I woke up next to that morning, and not the one I truly wanted it to be. My wolf stirred in agreement, a strange reaction for him to have. No one I had ever dated or slept with had ever appeased my wolf other than my late wife, Melissa. But that was because she was my true mate. Judy was the first woman he actually seemed fond of and protective of.

It was no shock that he still couldn’t stand Rachel, even more so now.

“I need this event to go well. Some important shareholders will be there,” I tell her,

trying to distract myself from the pending doom I felt in my chest.

“Have I let you down when it comes to business meetings?” He asked, remembering how she kicked ass during the business dinner last week at the Grand Casino Hotel. “We’ve got this in the bag. Just trust me, Gavin.”

She draped her arm through mine and gave me a smile. It was a familiar smile, filled with a tender warmth that used to make my heart skip a beat, but I didn’t feel the same warmth and love and love I once did for her.

eline

She was someone I was planning on marrying; I bought the ring and planned out the perfect proposal. Then the tragedy struck, and I mourned her like I mourned my late wife was devastated at the time of her death, and I thought I would never find anyone to love again. I swore off love because it seemed

that whenever I fell in love, bad things happened to them. It seemed as if I cursed.

I should be thrilled that it isn’t the case; that Rachel was alive and that my love for her wasn’t the cause of her unfortunate death. But I didn’t feel any of that stuff. My mind kept drifting back to the doe-eyed beauty I left pressed and breathless against the side of my home.

Rachel took my silence as an agreement, and a smile lit her face.

“I won’t let you down,” she assured me. “You have my word. I have a lot to make

up for. I mean it when I say I’m in it for the long haul. I’m here to stay.”

My wolf growled deep in my chest, but I suppressed it, not wanting her to see how much my wolf truly despised her. Instead, I turned my attention to my window, watching as the crowds grew thicker and the car began to slow.

We were arriving at the event, and I could already see the paparazzi swarming the place. Crowds of

people who weren’t invited to thonet

event or who couldn’t afford to purchase tickets, were also outside, trying to get a glimpse of the important wolves. Their phones clutched in their hands as they eagerly waited to snap pictures and take videos. I had members of my Elite Force on watch, keeping the crowds at safe distances.

Taylor stopped the car and walked around to the back seat to open the doors for

us. I was the first to get out of the car, and then I held my hand out for Rachel to take, helping her out of the car too. I fully intended on releasing her hand, but she clutched me like a vise, refusing to let go.

Sighing, I went with her through the crowds and towards the front door. I could hear the questions of the

paparazzi and the flashing of then et ́

cameras. They were all inquiring who Rachel was and if she was my new girlfriend. I didn’t justify them with an answer; they would twist it no matter what I said.