My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163

“I know.” The words came ourquiet. “Cas, I’ve known for a long time.”

“And Emma.” He looked away briefly. “I love Emma too. Not me when she had no reason to. Offered me a place in your family when I was still a political creature who dealt in debts and

not romantically. Nothing inappropriate. But she’s she trusted leverage. She made me Uncle Cas instead of Lord Castellan.” His jaw worked. “I love her the way you love family you didn’t expect to have. The kind that finds you rather than the kind you’re born to.”

“I know that too.” I touched his shoulder- my friend, my ally, the ancient vampire who’d become something I hadn’t expected. “Cas, I’ve watched you with Grace for five years. Watched you sit on the floor to be at her level. Watched you learn what sparkly markers smell like and why horses should always be included in block buildings. You’re not hidring what you feel.”

“I’m not very good at hiding things from people I actually care about.” A ghost of his usual wry expression. “Which is inconvenient for a vampire lord whose power base partly depends on inscrutability.”

“Your power base is fine.” I looked toward the northern perimeter, toward the sounds of repositioning frat suggested the Council’s reserve forces were preparing. “Cas, when this is over. When we’ve beaten the Council–Emma and Grace. They need you to survive this.”

“That’s a significant motivation.”

“Good. Use it.” I tightened my grip on his shoulder. “Because I need you to survive this too. Five years ago you were the dangerous vampire lord I made a desperate deal with. Now you’re-” I searched for the right word.

“Family?” he offered quietly.

“Family.” I confirmed. “Which means you don’t get to die fighting the Council. Grace would be devastated. Emma would be furious. And I’d “I paused. “I’d miss you. Genuinely. Which I didn’t expect when I called you at 2 AM years ago begging for military assistance.”

Something in his expression shifted. The ancient, careful mask dropping entirely for just a moment–showing what was underneath. Grief and hope and the particular look of someone who’d been alone for centuries and had finally, unexpectedly, stopped being alone.

“I didn’t expect it either,” he said quietly.

The mind–link crackled with Marcus’s voice: *“Jeremy. Northern reserve is moving. They’re committing to forward assault. It’s starting.“*

Both of us straightened simultaneously. The moment of honesty closing as the reality of the fight reasserted itself.

“Victoria’s ready?” I asked.

Cas checked his phone. “She’s in position. Waiting on my signal.” He looked at me. “Ready?”

“No.” I shifted my grip on my weapons. “But let’s go anyway.”

He almost smiled. “The Trent family approach to everything.”

“It’s gotten us this far.”

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We moved back into position–me at the center of the defensive line, Cas coordinating from a vantage point that let him see both our defenses and the approaching reserves. Around us, wolves and vampires fell into the integrated formations we’d drilled. Covering each other’s weaknesses. Moving with the easy cooperation of forces that actually trusted each other.

The Council’s reserves came hard. Faster than the previous waves. More coordinated. This was their decisive push — the force they’d been holding back for the moment our defenses were most exhausted.

They hit our northern perimeter like a tsunami.

+15 Bonus

For several brutal minutes, it looked like they’d break through. I fought with everything I had years of leadership and loss and fighting to protect what mattered channeled into pure determined resistance. Beside me, wolves and vampires held the line through sheer willpower and the kind of trist that only came from actually building something together.

*“Victoria, NOW!“* Cas’s voice through the tactical channel, cutting through the chaos

Forty vampires hit the Council’s reserve force from behind at full speed.

The effect was immediate and devastating. The CouncH’s carefully organized assault fractured–forces turning to face the unexpected rear attack, coordination breaking down, communication collapsing under the pressure of fighting on two fronts simultaneously.

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