My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 196

Chapter 196

My Cheating Mate

Connor pov

The restaurant was nice–upscale pack–owned establishment in neutral territory, the kind of place you took someone when you wanted to impress them. Courtney had suggested it, and I’d agreed because that’s what you did when you were trying to maintain normalcy while your entire world was imploding.

She looked beautiful. She always looked beautiful. Tonight she was wearing that blue dress I’d complimented last month, her blonde hair perfectly styled, her makeup flawless.

She was saying something about her day. About pack politics or her mother’s charity work or something. I should have been listening. Would have been listening, usually.

But my wolf was losing his absolute mind.

*MATE. Wrong she–wolf. WRONG. Grace. Need Grace. Go to Grace. NOW.*

The internal howling had been constant since this morning. Since I’d watched Grace’s face crumble when she’d seen me with Courtney. Since I’d felt the mate bond snap into place and chosen to stay with the wrong she–wolf anyway.

Eighteen hours. I had eighteen hours left of Grace’s twenty–four hour deadline.

“-don’t you think?” Courtney was looking at me expectantly.

“Sorry, what?”

“Connor, you haven’t heard a word I’ve said.” Her tone was patient but with an edge. “What’s going on with you today? You’ve been distracted since this morning.”

“Just–thinking about things.”

“What things?” She reached across the table, taking my hand. “Connor, talk to me. We’ve been together six months. You can tell me anything.”

Could I? Could I tell her that Grace Trent was my fated mate? That the Moon Goddess had decided the quiet artist I’d barely paid attention to for eighteen years was the she–wolf I was meant for?

Could I tell her that every second I spent sitting across from her instead of finding Grace felt like betraying something fundamental?

“It’s nothing,” I said. The lie tasted like ash. “Just pack stuff.”

“Pack stuff.” She didn’t believe me. “Connor, if this is about Grace Trent-”

My wolf snarled. *Don’t. Don’t let her talk about our mate.*

I saw how you looked at her this morning. I’m not stupid.” Courtney’s grip on my hand tightened. “She’s your mate, isn’t she?”

The direct question caught me off–guard. “Courtney-”

“She is. Oh goddess, she actually is.” Courtney pulled her hand back. “That’s what this is about. Why you’ve been weird all day.”

“I don’t–it’s complicated-‘

+15 Bonus

“It’s not complicated.” Her voice was sharp now. “The mate bond either exists or it doesn’t. So which is it, Connor? Is Grace Trent your fated mate?”

The restaurant felt too small suddenly. Too public. Everyone could probably hear this conversation–supernatural hearing meant privacy in public was basically impossible.

“Yes,” I said finally. “She’s my mate.”

Courtney sat back, processing. Her face went through several expressions–shock, hurt, anger, and then something calculating.

“Okay,” she said after a moment. “Okay. The Moon Goddess chose Grace Trent for you.”

“Courtney”

“No, let me think.” She was quiet for a moment, her fingers tapping against the table. “Connor, you know mate bonds can be rejected, right? You don’t have to accept it just because the Moon Goddess says so.”

“I know that.”

“And you know Grace is-” She paused, choosing words carefully. “Grace is not exactly pack material. She’s spent her whole life in that weird vampire–obsessed family. She barely interacts with wolves her own age. She’s- different.”

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