My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 156

Chapter 156

My Cheating Mate

Emma pov

The Council’s response arrived six hours after we sent our letter.

Not through email or phone. Not through diplomatic channels or formal messengers.

It arrived as a coordinated attack on three of our allied packs simultaneously.

+15 Bonus

I was putting Grace to bed when the emergency alerts started flooding through the pack mind–link Jeremy’s father’s voice, controlled but urgent: *“Silverbrook Pack under attack. Multiple Council operatives. They’re asking for Castellan’s location.” Then Marcus: *“Moonshadow reporting the same. Twenty hostiles demanding we revoke our integration alliance.

Then my own father: *“Ironwood hit. They want Grace. They’re threatening civilians if we don’t cooperate.“*

I tucked the blanket around Grace with shaking hands, forcing my voice to stay calm even as terror ripped through me. “Sleep tight, baby girl. Mama will be right downstairs if you need anything.”

“Is something wrong?” She was too perceptive. Had been since birth. Those wide eyes saw everything understood more than she should at five years old.

“Just pack business. Nothing for you to worry about.” The lie tasted bitter. “Uncle Cas is here. Daddy’s here. You’re safe.”

“I know.” She yawned, trusting in a way that made my chest ache. “We’re family. Family keeps each other safe.”

I kissed her forehead, breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo, memorizing the feel of her small body relaxed and secure in her bed. Then I closed the door and ran downstairs.

Jeremy was already in the war room–what we’d started calling his office after the Council’s first ultimatum. Cas stood at the tactical display, his face that particular blank mask that meant he was running calculations too complex for the rest of us to

follow.

“Three simultaneous attacks,” Jeremy was saying into a phone. “No casualties yet but they’re threatening escalation if we don’t hand over Castellan and Grace. Understood. Hold your positions. Reinforcements are coming.” He hung up and immediately dialed another number.

“Emma.” Cas acknowledged me without looking away from the display. “Grace is secured?”

“In bed. Vampire guards are positioned outside her room?” I’d stopped questioning the constant security months ago. Now I was grateful for it.

“Yes. My best warriors. Nothing gets to her.” He tapped the screen, pulling up a map. “The attacks are coordinated. Professional. They’re hitting our three strongest allies simultaneously to send a message.”

“What message?” I moved closer to see the display. Red markers showed hostile positions at Silverbrook, Moonshadow, and Ironwood territories. Blue markers showed our forces and allied vampires.

“That they’re serious. That they have the resources to wage war on multiple fronts.” Cas’s finger traced lines between the attack sites. “But Emma, look at the positioning. They’re not trying to destroy these packs. They’re applying pressure. Demonstrating capability.”

“Demonstrating they could kill our allies if we don’t comply.”

“Exactly.” Jeremy hung up from his second call. “That was Silverbrook’s Alpha. The Council operatives delivered a message: we have forty–eight hours to reconsider our answer. If we maintain our refusal, they escalate from demonstration attacks to actual war.”

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“Forty eight hours.” I sank into a chair. “To decide between surrendering our daughter and our family member, or watching people die.”

“They’re not giving us a choice they’re forcing our hand.” as finally looked at me, hi

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