My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 146

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Chapter 146

Chapter 146

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“So we keep the alliance.”

“We keep the alliance.” The decision settled in my chest, solid and certain. “We tell the Council no. We work with Lord Castellan to protect Grace from their operations. And we start building the kind of integrated world we want her to grow up in.”

“Even if it’s dangerous? Even if it makes us targets?”

“We’re already targets. The Council has been operating for eight hundred years-they’re not going to change just because we ask nicely.” I pulled Emma closer. “But maybe if enough people start refusing to play by their rules, start building alliances anyway, start proving that cooperation works-maybe eventually their power erodes. Maybe in a generation or two, the Council becomes irrelevant.”

“That’s thinking long-term.”

“Grace is long-term. She’s got potentially a hundred years of life ahead of her. Why should we plan for anything less?” I touched her tiny hand, watched her fingers curl reflexively around mine. “This alliance-with Lord Castellan, with his coven-it’s not perfect. God knows it’s complicated. But it’s working. And Grace deserves to grow up seeing that as normal.”

Emma was quiet for a moment, watching Grace. “You know the Council won’t accept this. They’ll escalate. Try harder to break the alliance or eliminate Grace as a symbol.”

“I know. But Lord Castellan seems pretty committed to preventing that.” I smiled slightly. “Did I tell you he called us family this morning? When he was making phone calls to his contacts. Said the Council had threatened family.”

“He told me something similar. About not wanting to lose another daughter.” Emma’s voice was soft. “Jeremy, I think he’s actually attached to Grace. Like-genuinely attached, not just politically invested.”

“Is that good or bad?”

I don’t know. But right now, I’ll take any ally who’s willing to fight for her.” She adjusted Grace carefully. “Even if that ally is a centuries-old vampire lord with unresolved trauma and a disturbing talent for political manipulation.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds less reassuring.”

“Nothing about our situation is reassuring. But we’re alive, we’re together, and we’re making choices that feel right even if they’re terrifying.” Emma looked up at me. “That has to count for something.”

It did. It counted for everything, actually.

We stood at the window together, watching the pack lands in the morning light. Somewhere out there, Lord Castellan was “sending messages” to Council operations. My father and Marcus were coordinating with vampire guards to establish new security protocols. The pack was adapting to this new reality where alliance with vampires wasn’t a temporary crisis measure but a permanent feature.

And we were here. Making the choice to keep building that alliance. To raise Grace in a world where cooperation between species was normal. To refuse the Council’s offers and face whatever consequences came from that

refusal.

It felt impossible. Overwhelming. Terrifying.

But it also felt right.

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Chapter 145

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Grace stirred in Emma’s arms, making a small sound. Not distressed-just waking up more fully, ready to eat or be changed or simply be held. Normal baby things.

“She has no idea,” I said quietly. “No idea what’s happening around her. What we’re deciding. What her existence has sparked.”

“Good. She shouldn’t. She should just be a baby.” Emma smiled down at Grace. “We’ll handle the impossible parts. She can focus on eating and sleeping and learning to smile.”

“Deal.” I kissed Emma’s forehead, then Grace’s. “We keep the alliance. We build the integrated world. We protect our daughter from eight-hundred-year-old conspiracy organizations.”

“Just another Tuesday for the Trent family.”

“Apparently.” I pulled them both close. “Emma, whatever comes next-whatever the Council throws at us-we face it together. Like everything else.”

“Together,” she agreed. “Always together.”

Grace’s tiny hand found my finger again, gripping it with surprising strength. This tiny person who’d turned our lives upside down in the best and most terrifying ways.

We’d make this work. The alliance. The integrated future. The protection against ancient threats.

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