Chapter 654

His body seemed to have relaxed, and his wolf's presence wasn't as potent. His gaze softened when he looked at my face, and before I knew it, his lips were crashing into mine. He was tasting what belonged to him, taking what he needed from me. I let out a guttural moan as his tongue slipped into my mouth and explored me eagerly. I felt his teeth grazing against my bottom lip, drawing it into his mouth and making it swollen and red.

When he finally pulled back, we were both breathless and panting, needing so much more from one another.

"If I knew you were my second chance mate, I would have killed him a long time ago,” he said, his lips hovering inches above mine. "I would never let anyone hurt you. There would be a path of bodies behind me from anyone who had ever wronged you."

I couldn't help but laugh; he looked so serious, and his expression was earnest.

"Your own daughter wronged me at one point," I reminded him. "I wouldn't expect you to hurt her over it."

His expression changed for a moment as he thought about how Irene had wronged me. She tried to get rid of me when she thought I wanted Ethan for myself. She had no idea that I had feelings for her father; she thought I was still pining over my ex. She did a lot of shitty things to make sure I left their lives, but her attempts were futile. I'm not so easy to get rid of.

Thankfully, Irene and I are okay now, though I can't say I trust her fully. I can't blame Matt for not trusting her fully either; she did come close to killing him. I know she wasn't aiming to kill him, but she almost did, and that's something that Matt will have trouble fully forgiving.

"You're right," he finally said, his voice softening. "I wouldn't have hurt her. But I wouldn't have let her off as easily either."

"You would have done worse than making her move away from the Villa?" I asked, raising my brows. "You pretty much kicked her out."

"I did that for her protection. Matthew's wolf would have killed her otherwise."

I knew he was right, but I also knew that a part of him wanted her out of the villa because he was so angry with her for what she had done. He didn't trust her after that, and he wanted to ensure everyone's safety by making her leave. He couldn't exactly banish her, and I knew he would never kill her.

I nodded at his words, biting my lower lip.

"She thought she was doing what she had to," I told him.

Gavin turned his head and kissed the top of mine.

"Not many would see it that way," he murmured, his lips still pressed against me. "Most would want to get rid of her for what she had done. But not you..."

I lifted my head to look at him.

"She's your daughter," I told him. would never want to get rid of her She's a part of you. She's your family... which I guess now makes her my family."

"Even before she became your family, you still saw the good in her," Gavin told

me, holding me a little tighter. "How can you be so forgiving?"

I thought about it for a moment.

"Because I know what it's like to be

driven mad with jealousy," I admitted. "At one point, my wolf would have done anything to keep Ethan by her side. What stopped her was seeing in real time that Ethan didn't want us.... he made that perfectly clear when he proposed to another woman right in front of us. Like we were nothing to him. But if he hadn't done that... if I had only heard about Irene through the grapevine and rumors, there's no telling what I would have done to keep Ethan by my side. There's no telling what I would have done to her to get her to back off if I thought for a second that she was the pursuer and Ethan was innocently trying to remain faithful. I would want someone to forgive me if the situation were reversed... so that's why it's easy for me to forgive her.”

Gavin was quiet for a long while as he processed my words, and when he spoke,

my heart skipped a beat, only to beat even faster.

"I will never give you a reason tonoveldrama

doubt my love for you, Judy," he vowed belong to you, just as you belong to me. Ethan was an idiot for letting you go, and I'm not going to make the same mistake he did."

He rolled on top of me, making me gasp, but then I let out a breathy chuckle as

his lips found mine and he kissed me sweetly.

"You're it for me," he whispered against my lips. "You're my everything, and I will make sure you feel that every single day of our lives."