My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 133

Chapter 133

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Chapter 133

When he looked back up, the rage was still there. But underneath it-something else. Something that looked almost like grief.

“This person has been watching for months,” he said quietly. “Before Dr. Chen. Before Black River. Before any of our alliance or planning or security measures.”

“That’s what we think. Jeremy and I-”

“Jeremy and you are right.” He set the phone down on the cushion beside me with careful precision. “Emma, this isn’t just a hunter threat. This is something else. Something organized on a level that goes beyond the hunter cells we destroyed last night.”

“What do you mean?”

“The hunters at the warehouse were a regional cell. Forty-seven operatives with a single chain of command.” He moved to the window, looking out at the tree line with those still-darkened eyes. “Whoever sent these messages isn’t part of that cell. Couldn’t be-we destroyed their communications, captured their leadership, seized their intelligence.”

“So there’s another group.”

“A larger group. More organized. More patient.” He turned back to me. “Emma, the regional hunters were a distraction. A way to keep us focused while someone else positioned themselves closer to your family.”

The realization hit me like ice water. “Dr. Chen was part of it. The warehouse strike- make us think we’d won.”

designed to

“Yes. Which means whoever is behind this anticipated every move made. Anticipated the alliance with coven. Anticipated the intelligence operation. Anticipated the strike.” His expression was grim. “They’re

concerns me deeply.” operating on a level of sophistication that

my

What do we do?”

He was quiet for a moment,

the darkness gathering

his

d]

gaze moving to Grace’s bassinet. To my sleeping daughter, completely unaware of

“First,” he said, “we find the spy inside your pack. Tonight’s deadline/gives us an opportunity-a controlled environment where we can flush them out.” He paused. “Second, we dismantle whatever organization sent these messages. Not just the regional cell. The entire network.”

“That

months. Years-

11

“Yes.” His eyes met mine. “But Emma, they threatened Grace. They photographed my “He stopped. Caught himself. “They photographed your daughter sleeping. In her own home. Under my protection.”

The way he’d almost said “my” before correcting himself didn’t escape me. I filed it away for later-for when the immediate crisis had passed and I could process the implications of a centuries-old vampire lord forming an emotional attachment to my newborn daughter.

“Lord Castellan,” I said carefully. “When you said the temperature in the room dropped-

“That was me. Apologies.” He visibly composed himself, the darkness in his eyes fading slightly. Not disappearing entirely-but receding enough that I could see the familiar Lord Castellan underneath. The politician. The strategist. The ancient creature who dealt in debts and power.

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Chapter 133

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But underneath all of that-something fiercer. Something more personal than politics or power.

“I won’t let this happen,” he said quietly. “Whoever is behind this-whoever thinks they can touch Grace while she’s under my protection-they don’t understand what they’ve provoked.”

“Lord Castellan-”

“I’m not saying this as your ally. Not as the vampire lord who holds your mate’s debt.” He looked at Grace one more time. Something raw and unguarded crossed his face before the mask slid back into place. “I’m saying this as someone who understands exactly what it means to lose a child. And I will burn down everything-every alliance, every treaty, every resource I have-before I let that happen again.”

The room was silent except for Grace’s soft breathing.

I believed him. Completely and without reservation.

“Tonight,” I said. “We spring the trap.”

“Tonight,” he confirmed. “And Emma-when we find whoever is behind this, when we identify the spy, when we trace this back to whoever orchestrated all of it-“His eyes darkened again, just briefly. “There will be no mercy. No negotiation. No exile.”

“I know.”

“Good.” He moved toward the door, pausing to look back at Grace one final time. “I’ll have my lieutenants briefed within the hour. Only vampires-no pack members involved in the planning. We trust no one in your pack until the spy is identified.”

“Agreed.”

He left as silently as he’d arrived, disappearing down the hallway like smoke dissolving into air.

I sat alone in the living room, Grace sleeping peacefully beside me. The afternoon sun windows. The house still quiet and warm and seemingly safe.

still streaming through the

But everything had shifted. Again.

more organized, more The hunters weren’t our only enemy. Had never been our only enemy. Someone larger, patient was playing a game that had started long before we’d even known we were pieces on the board.

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