My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 122

Dr. Chen’s sob of relief was wigceral. “They’re okay. They’re really okay.”

“They are. And they’ll stay that way as long as you cooperate.” He pocketed the phone. Now, the hunters are expecting a check- in from you. What’s your normal protocol?”

“Daily text message Just confirming I’m still cooperating. They respond with a code phrase to confirm it’s really them.”

“And your next check–in?”

“Four hours from now. Three PM.”

“Perfect. That gives us time to prepare.” Lord Castellan stood. “Dr. Chen, you’re going to send that message. But you’re going to say exactly what we tell you to say. And from now on, every piece of information that goes to the hunters comes through us first. Understood?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Jeremy moved toward the door, then paused. “Dr. Chen? The wolves who died yesterday. The ones injured. The terror Emma felt thinking our daughter was going to be killed. I want you to remember all of that. Every single consequence of your choices. And I want you to use that to motivate you to make better choices from now on.”

“I will. I promise, I will.”

We left her in the interrogation room, moving back to the observation area where my father still held Grace.

“That was harder than I expected,” I admitted, taking my daughter back. “Seeing her break down. Hearing her beg about her family.”

“But necessary,” Jeremy said. “Emma, are you okay? Really okay?”

“No. But I will be.” I looked down at Grace. “She made terrible choices under duress. I understand that intellectually. But emotionally–Jeremy, I hate that I understand. Hate that part of me sympathizes with her impossible situation.”

“That’s what makes you human. What makes you a good person.” He pulled me close. “Emma, you’re allowed to feel conflicting things. Allowed to hate what she did while understanding why she did it.”

“I suppose.” I kissed Grace’s forehead. “I just want this over. Want the hunters gone. Want to feel safe in my own home with my daughter.”

“Soon,” Lord Castellan said. “With Dr. Chen’s cooperation, we can feed the hunters false intelligence. Lead them into traps. Systematically dismantle their organization.” He paused. “But Emma, Jeremy—this won’t be quick. This could take weeks or months. Are you prepared for that?”

“Are we prepared to have a traitor we’re pretending to trust feeding carefully curated hes to people who want us dead?” laughed bitterly. “No. But we don’t have better options.”

“We do have one other option,” my father pointed out. “We could execute Dr. Chen as a traitor and wage direct war against the hunters. No subterfuge. No intelligence games. Just overwhelming force.”

“Higher casualties,” Jeremy said. “Civilians at risk. The hunters are embedded in human society. Going after them directly would expose the supernatural world.”

“Which is why the intelligence approach is better,” Lord Castellan agreed. “Slower but cleaner. We destroy them from within rather than starting a war that could expose all of us.”

I looked at Dr. Chen through the mirror. She was crying silently, her head in her cuffed hands, the weight of her choices clearly crushing her.

“Use her,” I heard myself say. “Turn her into our weapon against the hunters. And after–after it’s over and the threat is gone

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send her away. I never want to see her again.”

“Exile it is,” Jeremy confirmed.

We stood together, watching the woman who’d betrayed us, who’d put our daughter aerisk, who now held part of our future in her compromised hands.

This was leadership. This was being Alpha and Luba. Making impossible choices. Using broken tools. Forgiving the unforgivable when tactics demanded it.

I hated it. Hated every part of this situation.

But I’d do whatever it took to protect Grace. To give her a safe, stable world to grow up’in.

Even if that meant working with traitors. Even if it meant swallowing my anger and hurt. Even if it meant letting Dr. Chen live when every instinct screamed for justice.

For Grace. For our pack. For the future we were building one painful choice at a time.

“Let’s do this,” I said. “Let’s turn our therapist into a double agent and destroy the people who threatened our family.”

“Together,” Jeremy agreed.

“Together,” I echoed, holding our daughter close.

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