Chapter 137
+25 BONUS
Chapter 137
My Cheating Mate
Emma pov
The pack house living room was too quiet except for Lord Castellan’s footsteps. Back and forth, back and forth, a predator caged by his own fury. Each step perfectly measured, perfectly controlled, but I could feel the violence radiating off him like heat from a furnace.
Grace slept in my arms, completely oblivious to the vampire lord currently having what I could only describe as a controlled meltdown three feet away.
Jeremy sat beside me on the couch, his hand on my knee, his presence grounding but tense. My father and Marcus stood near the doorway, uncertain whether to stay or leave. Lord Castellan had dismissed his vampire lieutenants twenty minutes ago-sent them away with curt orders to secure the perimeter and interrogate Connor and Michael.
But Sarah. Sarah he’d sent somewhere else. Somewhere I didn’t ask about. The look on his face when he’d ordered
her taken away had been enough to know I didn’t want details.
Now he was pacing. And making phone calls.
The first call had been in a language I didn’t recognize. Harsh, guttural sounds that made my wolf want to retreat. Lord Castellan had spoken for maybe thirty seconds before whoever was on the other end hung up on him.
He’d stared at the phone for a long moment. Then thrown it across the room hard enough to shatter against the wall.
Jeremy had silently handed him a replacement phone from his pocket.
The second call was in English, but heavily accented. “I don’t care about protocol. I need information about Council activity in the Pacific Northwest. Now.” A pause. “Because they’ve targeted a child under my protection and I’m going to burn their operations to the ground, that’s why.” Another pause, longer this time. “Fine. You have two hours. If I don’t hear back, I’m coming to Montreal myself.”
He hung up. Started pacing again. Pulled up another contact.
This call was different. Softer. In French, I thought, though I couldn’t be sure. Lord Castellan’s voice had lost some of its edge, replaced with something that sounded almost pleading. He was asking for help. Actually asking, not demanding.
Whoever was on the other end must have agreed to something because Lord Castellan’s shoulders relaxed fractionally. “Merci. Yes. I understand the risk. I’ll owe you.” He listened for another moment. “No, it’s personal. They threatened-” He glanced at me and Grace. “They threatened family.”
My heart clenched. Family. He’d called us family.
After he hung up, he turned to face us fully for the first time since we’d gotten back from the tree line. His eyes were still that unsettling black I’d seen earlier, but something in his expression had shifted. Less rage, more
calculation.
“The Council,” he said
years. Maybe longer-ho preamble, “is an organization that’s existed for approximately eight hundred
origins
origins are
between supernatural species.”
deliberately obscured. They were formed originally to maintain separation
“Separation?” Jeremy’s hand tightened on my knee. “You mean segregation.”
1/2
Chapter 137
+25 BONUS
“Exactly. Wolves with wolves. Vampires with vampires. Witches with witches. No intermingling. No alliances. No cooperation.” He stopped pacing, standing in the center of the room like a statue. “They believe that mixing supernatural species weakens both. That alliances lead to conflict. That isolation is the only path to survival.”
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