<b>Chapter </b><b>751 </b>


    Judy’s POV


    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    The chatter from the dining hall faded the further we walked. Leaving Gavin behind was difficult, but <b>I </b>would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious as to what secrets his manor held. This whole ce was like an urban legend to most, so being here piqued my interest more than anything.


    Esme, the grandmother, had recentlye to me in my dreams. She kept staring at me throughout the dinner, and she spoke no words. Apparently, she hadn’t spoken in years, and yet she spoke to me in my sleep. I knew without a doubt that it wasn’t just a dream, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to exin this to Gavin.


    I knew whatever was happening, whatever it meant, I would find the answers somewhere in this manor.


    “You carry yourself well, my dear,” Selen’s voice, low and smooth, brought me out of my head and into the present moment. “Mot would tremble under so many eyes. But not you.”


    I forced a smile.


    “I’ve faced worse.”


    Her lips curved. <fn2b2a> Readplete version only at FιndＮovel</fn2b2a>


    She was very beautiful, more so than her pictures. It was almost intimidating to look at her. I felt like I should bow or curtsy in her presence. I dismissed the thought because it’s not like she was royalty or anything. Even if that were the case, Gavin held more power than the ckwell family, despite the literal power in the ckwell blood.


    Her expression grew thoughtful for a moment.


    “You seem almost familiar,<i>” </i>she suddenly said. “Like a name I should remember, but it’s just beyond reach.”


    Something in me stirred–not my wolf, not the mate bond, but something older, stranger. It was the same pull I had felt when Esme’s pale eyes refused to leave me. It was as though threads I couldn’t see tightened around my ribs, binding me closer to this family… to this manor.


    “Perhaps we met in another life,” I tried to joke, though the words fell t on my lips.


    Selene’s fingers grazed my arm, deliberately.


    “Perhaps<i>,</i>” she murmured, her smile never fading, but her eyes glowed with something sharper than fondness. “Blood remembers, even when the mind does not.”


    I held her gaze for what felt like an eternity; a familiarity in them that not only called to me, but my wolf as well. I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by L, who appeared around the


    <b>1/3 </b>


    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    corner, wheeling Esme.


    “Am I missing a girl chat?” L asked, a glimmer of something in her eyes. “I must say, Judy, you are much prettier in person.‘


    <i>” </i>


    She was pretending she didn’t know me; she didn’t want her family to know that we’d met before. Which means, they weren’t the ones who sent her to Gavin. I wondered what her involvement with Levi entailed and how they ended up together. I wondered if they were still in contact or <b>if </b>the ckwells even knew


    about it.


    L’s connection to the ckwells confused me; she didn’t look a thing like them. While they all had dark hair, L had blonde hair. She also had bright blue eyes, while Selene had bright green eyes, and the others had dark blue eyes. Of course, I knew how gics worked, but something about it all seemed off.


    It wasn’t just their looks; it was also their scent. My wolf felt uneasy, and I couldn’t me her.


    I stared down at Esme, her eyes never wavering. It was as if she were peeling back my skin and seeing something I couldn’t. My wolf shifted uneasily, ears ttening. I had the strangest sensation that she knew me better than I knew myself.


    Her lips didn’t move. She made no sound. Yet, in that silence of that corridor, her presence read.


    Blood calls to blood.


    The words weren’t spoken, but I felt them. Inside me. Around me.


    L leaned casually against the wall, but I noticed the way her fingers drummed against the handle of Esme’s chair. Restless and uneasy.


    <b>“</b>You’ll get used to her staring,” she said lightly. “Grandma doesn’t blink much anymore. It’s unnerving if you’re not family.”


    Selene’s gaze softened as she turned to her daughter.


    “How about you take Esme to the patio for some fresh air?” she suggested. “It’s not good for her to be cooped up inside all day.”


    “Of course, Mother,” L said with a smile of her own. “It’s truly good to be home again. I’ve missed you


    dearly.”


    L pecked her mother on the cheek before she turned and walked off, wheeling Esme away as well.


    I couldn’t seem to pull my gaze away, my heart thrumming violently in my chest.


    “Are you all right?” Selene asked, drawing my attention back to her.


    “Yeah, sorry<b>,</b>” I said, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. “Esme… she’s Zachary’s mother?”