My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 18

“I did it for us!” Vanessa’s composure finally cracked completely. “She was standing in our way! She was keeping you from claiming what’s rightfully yours what’s rightfully ours! I love you, Jeremy. I’ve loved you for years. And I’m not going to let some nobody Beta’s daughter take you from me!”

“She didn’t take me from you. I was never yours to begin with.” The truth of it settled in my chest like a stone. “I used you as an excuse not to honor my mate bond. I blamed the Moon Goddess for choosing wrong instead of accepting what I’d been given. And I was wrong. About all of it.”

“You’re choosing her?” Vanessa’s voice was ice now. “After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve planned, you’re actually choosing that weak little–”

“Stop calling her that!” My wolf surged forward, making my voice come out as a growl. “Erama is not weak. She fought off two rogues tonight while I barely handled one. She’s been surviving on her own for a week in unfamiliar territory while blocking me out of the mate bond. She packed up her entire life and disappeared without a trace. That’s not weakness–that’s strength I was too blind to see.”

Vanessa was quiet for a long moment. When she spoke again, her voice was deadly calm. “Fine. If that’s how you want to play this. But Jeremy? If you think I’m going to just walk away and let her win, you’re even more deiuded than I thought.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I’ve given you years of my life. Years of waiting, of being patient, of being the other woman while you played house with her. I’m not going to just accept losing. Not to her. Not to anyone.”

“Vanessa, don’t—”

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone, my wolf snarling with alarm. That hadn’t been the response of someone backing down. That had been a

threat.

I immediately dialed my father’s number. He answered on the second ring, his voice groggy with sleep.

“Jeremy? It’s four in the morning. What-

11. 11.

“Dad, I need you to send guards to the house. Emma’s house. Our house. Vanessa’s there, and I think she might try something.”

“Vanessa?” My father sounded more awake now. “Son, what’s going on?”

“I don’t have time to explain everything, but those rogues that attacked Emma tonight? I’m pretty sure Vanessa hired them. And she’s not taking our breakup well.”

“You broke up with Vanessa?” I could hear the surprise in his voice. “Jeremy-

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“Please, Dad. Just send guards. I need to know Emma’s house is secure.”

“Emma’s house?” He paused. “Jeremy, where is Emma? Where are you?”

“Three states away. In a motel. Emma’s been hiding here since she left.”

“And you found her.”

“Yes. And we were attacked by rogues. Dad, please. I know I’ve screwed everything up, but I need to know our property is protected. That Vanessa can’t do anything else to hurt Emma or her belongings.”

My father was silent for a moment. Then: “Guards are on their way. Now tell me everything.”

So I did. Sitting outside Emma’s motel room, bleeding and exhausted, I confessed everything to my father. The affair. The plan to use Emma. How she’d found out. The rogues. Vanessa’s threats.

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Chopter 18

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All of it.

When I finished, my father’s voice was cold with disappointment. “You realize what you’ve done? The position you’ve put this pack in?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you understand that if Enima goes public with evidence of your affair, the political fallout will be devastating?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” He paused. “Now tell me what are you going to do to fix this?”

I looked at Emma’s closed door, thinking about the way she’d looked at me with such cold fury, such justified anger.

“I don’t know if I can fix it,” I admitted. “But I’m going to try. Even if she never forgives me, even if she rejects me, l’in going to make sure she’s safe. That she’s protected. That Vanessa never gets near her again.”

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