My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 160

Chapter 160

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He was quiet for a long monent. “Genuinely uncertain. The Council has resources we haven’t mapped, Centuries of contingency planning. They’ve survived challenges before not on this scale, but they’ve adapted.” He turned to look at me. “But Jeremy, they’ve never faced an alliance like this. Never faced a coalition where wolves and vampires genuinely trust each other. Their tactical models are all built on species séparation. They don’t know how to fight integrated fortes.

“So our greatest strength is the thing they least understand.”

”

“Exactly. They cannot comprehend what we’ve built here because they’ve never believed it was possible.” He almost smiled. Which means their intelligence is compromised by their ideology. They’ll expect is to fracture under pressure–expect wolves to distrust vampires when things get desperate. Expect me to become a liability rather than an asset.”

“And when we don’t fracture?”

“They’ll be forced to adapt. To make decisions without solid intelligence about our capabilities.” His expression hardened. That’s when we hit hardest. When they’re confused and reacting instead of executing a predetermined pran.”

I nodded, filing the tactical insight away. Then I went to find Emma.

She was in the kitchen–naturally. She cooked when she was stressed. Currently the kitchen contained two fully cooked casseroles, a pot of soup, and what looked like the beginning of a third casserole.

Grace sat at the kitchen table with her blocks, building something that she was explaining in great detail to the vampire warrior stationed near the doorway. The vampire–a young one named Elara who’d barely been turned a century ago–was listening with apparent genuine interest.

“And this part is the stable,” Grace was explaining, “because Uncle Cas told me about when horses were the fastest transportation and I thought that was interesting so there’s always horses in my buildings.”

“That’s very historically informed architecture,” Elara said seriously.

“Thank you.” Grace’s acknowledgment was perfectly casual. Afive–year–old accepting a vampire warrior’s compliment about her block stable like it was completely normal. Which, for Grace, it was.

This. This was what the Council wanted to destroy.

“Emma.” I touched her shoulder as she stirred the soup. “Can we talk?”

She read my expression immediately. “Grace, baby, why don’t you show Elara your room? Show her the drawings you did last week.”

“Okay.” Grace swept up a selection of blocks with the pragmatic efficiency of a child who moved between ‘activities like water. Come on, Elara. I drew a picture of all the vampire guards and tried to get everyone’s faces right but Uncle Cas said some of them are too dignified for my version.”

“I’m sure it’s perfect,” Elara said, following her out with the patience of someone who’d probably guarded a hundred people but never quite like this.

The kitchen was quiet except for simmering soup.

“The safe house,” Emma said before I could speak.

“How did you-

“Because I know you. Because you’ve been looking at me with that specific expression all morning—the one where you’re steeling yourself to say something I won’t like.” She turned off the burner and faced me. “You want Grace and me at the secondary location.”

“Cas thinks they’ll hit sooner than the deadline. Maybe twenty–four hours.” I held her gaze. “Emma, the pack houses the primary target. If you’re here”

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“I Lin here. I can help defend my horne. My pack.” She crossed her arms. “Jeremy, I’m not helpless. I’m a wolf. I can fight.”

“I know you can fight. I’ve seen you fight. You’re–Emitra, you’re incredible.” I moved closer. “But if something happened to you if they got to you or Grace while I was trying to command a defense I’d fall apark I can’t lose you both while trying to protect everyone.”

“You can’t protect everyone by making me hide

“I’m not asking you to hide.” I took her hands. “I’m asking you to protect Grace. That’s not hiding–that’s the most important thing anyone could do in this war. Keep Grace safe. Keep her secure. Keep her away from the people who want to take her.“I squeezed her hands. “Emma, you’re the only person I trust completely with her. Not Cas, not my father, not Marcus. You. Her mother.”

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