My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 157

Chapter 157

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He was quiet for a moment, something shifting in his expression. “You’re askings me to let people die defending me. Defending what we’ve built here. That’s not I’m not accustomed to being worth that.”

“Get accustomed to it.” Jeremy’s voice was firm. “Cas, you’ve been family for five years. You think we’re letting the Council execute you because they’re throwing a tantrum about species integration? Grace would never forgive us. Hell, I’d never forgive us.”

“Grace is five years old-

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“Which makes her old enough to understand that Uncle Cas is family and family doesn’t abanden each other.” I crossed my arms. “We sent our answer, Cas. We meant it. You’re not negotiable. Grace isn’t negotiable. The integrated world we’ve built isn’t negotiable. If the Council wants war over that, then we give them war.”

The tactical display beeped. A new message incoming from one of our allied covens.

Cas opened it, read quickly, then displayed it for all of us to see.

*“Nightshade Coven stands with Lord Castellan. Seven additional covens across North America have pledged warriors. We will not allow the Council to execute one of our own for the crime of building family with wolves. Coordinating response forces now.

Victoria, Nightshade Second–in–Command.“*

“Your coven,” Jeremy said quietly. “They’re mobilizing.”

“Not just mine. Seven other covens.” Cas’s voice held something I’d rarely heard from him–surprise. “Victoria must have been coordinating this for weeks. Building alliance without telling me.”

“Because she knew you’d try to talk her out of it.” I smiled slightly. “Cas, you’re not the only one who values what we’ve built here. Your own people see it. The integration works. Vampires and wolves can be family. Seven covens are willing to fight to prove it.”

Another message popped up. Then another. And another.

Allied wolf packs. Vampire covens. Even a few witch circles offering support. All responding to the Council’s attacks with pledges of warriors, resources, coordination.

“This is Cas stared at the flood of incoming messages. “This is larger than I anticipated. We’re not just defending Crescent Moon Pack anymore. This is a full coalition.”

“The Council forced it.” Jeremy was reading through the pledges, his expression a mix of gratitude and concern, “They attacked our allies thinking it would pressure us into compliance. Instead, they’ve unified everyone who believes in integration.”

“Unified them into a target,” Cas said grimly. “Emma, Jeremy, you need to understand what this means. The Council won’t back down from this. They can’t. If they let a coalition of integrated territories stand against them successfully, their entire ideology collapses. They’ll commit everything they have to crushing this.”

“Then we commit everything we have to stopping them.” I moved to the display, looking at all the blue markers–allies, friends, people willing to fight for the world we’d been building. “Cas, five years ago you asked if we were willing to build this knowing the Council would keep coming. We said yes. Nothing’s changed except now we have more people who agree with us.”

“Everything’s changed. Five years ago it was theory. Now it’s Grace sleeping upstairs. Now it’s real families who will die if we

fail.”

“Then we don’t fail.” Jeremy’s voice was steel. “Cas, I need you to do what you do best. Coordinate our allies. Build strategy. Use every bit of political manipulation and tactical brilliance you’ve accumulated over centuries. Because if we’re going to war with the Council, we need you at your most dangerous.”

Cas looked at both of us for a long moment. Then his expression shifted—the mask of the ancient vampire lord sliding fully into place. The political creature who’d survived centuries through cunning and ruthlessness.

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