My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Chapter 135

+25 BONUS

We spent the next hour going over every detail. Vampire positions. Communication protocols. Contingency plans if things went wrong. Extraction routes if Emma and Grace needed to be pulled out quickly.

It was thorough. Professional. Exactly the kind of planning that should have made me feel confident.

Instead, I felt like I was sending my family into a meat grinder and hoping the blades would miss.

At 10 PM, my phone buzzed. A text from Emma.

“Grace is fed and changed. I’m getting ready. Are you sure about this?”

I typed back quickly: “No. But it’s our best option. I’ll be watching every second. The moment anything feels wrong, I’m pulling you out.”

“I know. I love you.”

“I love you too. Both of you.”

I pocketed the phone and found Lord Castellan watching me.

“She’s stronger than you think,” he said quietly.

“I know how strong she is. That doesn’t make this easier.”

“No. But it should make you confident she can handle this.” He paused. “Jeremy, I’ve watched Emma over the past months. Watched her survive your betrayal, rebuild trust, face mercenaries and hunters and vampire politics. She’s a survivor. More than that-she’s a fighter.”

“She’s also a new mother who shouldn’t have to walk into traps with our daughter.”

“No, she shouldn’t. But she is. Because that’s what mothers do.” Something flickered across his face. “They walk into fire for their children. It’s one of the few truly universal constants I’ve observed across centuries and cultures.

At 11 PM, we moved into position.

Lord Castellan and I took a position a quarter-mile from the eastern tree line-close enough to reach Emma quickly if needed, far enough to avoid detection by whoever was waiting. His vampire lieutenants were already deployed throughout the forest, invisible in the darkness.

My father and Marcus were back at the pack house, monitoring communications and watching for any suspicious behavior.

Everything was in place.

I checked my watch. 11:30 PM.

Thirty minutes until Emma walked into the tree line.

Through the secure channel, Lord Castellan’s voice came through my earpiece. “All vampire units report ready. Perimeter is secured. No movement detected yet in the target zone.”

“Pack house reports no suspicious communications so far,” my father’s voice followed. “All monitored wolves are behaving normally.”

I keyed my own mic. “Emma,

Chapter 135

+25 BONUS

“Walking out now.” Her voice was steady. Calmer than I felt. “Grace is sleeping. I’m heading to the tree line.”

I could see her through the night-vision scope-a small figure moving across the open ground between the pack house and the forest, carrying a bassinet. Moving with deliberate slowness, like someone terrified and complying with demands.

It was an act. I knew it was an act. Emma was one of the strongest people I’d ever known.

But watching her walk alone into darkness with our daughter-knowing someone hostile was waiting-it took everything I had not to break position and run to her.

“Steady,” Lord Castellan murmured beside me. “She’s covered. Three of my best are within ten yards of her position at all times.”

“I don’t see them.”

“That’s the point. But they’re there. I promise you, Jeremy. They’re there.”

Emma reached the tree line. Paused at the edge, looking into the darkness. Waiting.

11:55 PM.

Five minutes to midnight.

Through the scope, I watched her shift her weight, adjusting Grace’s bassinet. The picture of a frightened mother complying with demands to save her child.

“Any movement in the target zone?” I asked quietly.

“Negative,” the vampire lieutenant responded. “No heat signatures except Emma and the baby. Whoever is supposed to meet her hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Or they’re better at hiding than we anticipated.”

“Unlikely. We’d detect them.”

Midnight.

Emma stood at the tree line, alone in the darkness. Waiting. Grace sleeping peacefully in the bassinet, completely

unaware.

One minute passed. Two. Three.

Nothing.

“This doesn’t feel right,” I said. “They gave a specific deadline. Where are they?”

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