Chapter 720
Judy’s POV
“Gavin, you came!” I nearly squealed as I wrapped my arms around him; 8 days without my mate had been brutal. I had missed him so much it was painful. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I had nothing to blame other than these damn pregnancy hormones; they had been so bad today… worst than they’ve ever been, and I’m assuming it was because I finally popped.
Gavin held me, his face buried in my neck, sending waves of warmth through my body with each breath he took.
“Did you think I would miss this?” He asked, pulling back slightly to look down at me.
“I thought you were going to be too busy to return,” I admitted. “I know Chester wanted you as his best man, but you’ve been so busy tending to Levi’s territory, I didn’t think you’d come back this soon. You were scheduled to come back next week.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead.
“I wanted to surprise you,” he admitted. “I would never miss this, plus no man is allowed to walk with my mate down the aisle other than me…”
I blinked up at him, a smile threatening my lips, but I wanted to tell him that Lukas was harmless. However, Lukas beat me to it. He had his hands held up, and he took a step away.
“I swear, I didn’t mean anything by it. They asked me to be a stand-in because they didn’t think you were coming, Alpha. I would never try to get with your mate. I don’t have a death wish,” Lukas explained, a slight tremor in his voice.
Despite Lukas having Lycan blood because of his uncle, Mica, he still cowers under the scrutiny of Gavin.
Gavin glanced at Lukas, a frown marring his lips, though he didn’t look threatening, and his eyes almost glinted with amusement.
“Go find your seat, Lukas. We will talk later,” Gavin said, his eyes narrowed.
Lukas’ face paled, and he swallowed, his Adam’s apple moving from the notion.
“Y…yes, Alpha,” Lukas said; he didn’t bother looking at me as he walked to his seat on the other side of the wall we stood behind.
I sighed; I was hoping to become friends with him again after Gavin scared him off the first time.
Looking up at Gavin, I folded my arms across my chest.
“I never yelled at you for scaring him off the first time,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “How could you do that? He was my friend… nothing more.”
“I don’t like other men sniffing around what’s mine,” he told me, his brows raised. “Is that a problem that I’m protective?”
“It’s a problem when it interferes with my friendships,” I told him. “Even before you knew I was your mate, you still scared him away…”
“Because even then, I knew you were mine,” he told me with a slight shrug.
My cheeks flushed at his admittance, and I nibbled on my lower lip.
“Careful… keep biting that lip and we won’t make it down that aisle,” Gavin said, his eyes fixed on my lips and his eyes dark with desire.
I released my lip from my teeth, my mouth falling open. I slapped his arm, snapping him back to the present moment.
“Gavin!” I scolded, but I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me.
He shrugged, and then he bent and kissed me lightly on the lips.
“I’m just saying,” he murmured against my mouth.
I kissed him softly on the lips before I pulled back.
“Lukas helped me a lot in college,” I told him. “If it weren’t for our study sessions, I don’t know if I would have been able to get through finals…”
His eyes narrowed for a moment.
“He means a lot to you.”
It wasn’t a question, but is still nodded, feeling tears well up in the corners of my eyes. I hated these hormones; they were making me cry way too much.
I felt Gavin’s warm touch on my cheek as he wiped away a stray tear that I didn’t know had fallen. I looked up at him and noticed that he was staring down at my belly, which made my cheeks name hotter.
“You’ve rounded,” he whispered, his hands flying to my stomach.
I nodded, unable to hide the smile on my lips.
“I did,” I told him.
Now both of his hands were on my belly, and I felt the warmth of his touch coursing through me. His eyes had softened drastically, and he looked like he was about to cry himself.
It would have been comical if I weren’t such a hormonal mess.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, his eyes meeting mine.
I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted by Irene.
“Dad! You made it,” Irene said, a smile on her face. “We are about to get started. I’m assuming you’re still taking Judy down the aisle?”
Gavin finally pulled his eyes away from me to look at his daughter, and he nodded.
“You’ve assumed correctly,” he said, his arm wrapping around my waist.
“You knew he’d be here, didn’t you?” I asked Irene, who only smiled wider.
“Of course,” she said with a wink. “He might be busy, but he’d never miss this, and he’s never going to be too busy for his mate. I knew the Second he found out that Lukas was here, he’d come right away.”