My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 198

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Chapter 198

My Cheating Mate

Grace pov

The porch had always been my thinking spot. The place I came when my mind was too loud and my studio felt too small. Tonight it felt appropriate–sitting in the dark, watching nothing, waiting for something that probably wasn’t coming.

Nineteen hours since I’d given Connor his deadline. Nineteen hours of silence.

No text. No call. No tentative knock on the door from a conflicted mate trying to figure out what he wanted.

Just silence. And my wolf pacing relentlessly inside me, whining and howling and demanding I go find him, claim him, make this right somehow.

But I wasn’t going to chase someone who’d already made his choice clear. Who’d stayed with Courtney even after recognizing our bond. Who’d let me run away hurt without following.

Five hours left. Then I’d reject the bond and move forward. Simple.

Except nothing about this felt simple.

“Grace?” Mama’s voice from the doorway. “You’ve been out here for three hours. It’s cold.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re waiting to see if your mate chooses you.” She came out anyway, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders. “Baby, maybe you should go talk to him. Not wait for him to come to you.”

“No.” The word came out harder than intended. “Mama, I’m not chasing someone who’s already shown me where I rank. Connor recognized the mate bond and stayed with Courtney. That’s his choice. I’m just–waiting to see if it changes.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then I reject the bond and move on.” I pulled the blanket tighter. “Mama, you rebuilt your mate bond with Daddy after he betrayed you. I’ve watched that my whole life. Watched the work it took, the pain, the constant rebuilding of trust. And I just-“My voice cracked. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to start my mate bond already broken.”

She sat beside me, quiet for a moment. “Grace, I won’t tell you what to do. This is your choice, your life, your mate bond. But I will say this: your father made terrible choices. And then he made better ones. Spent years proving he was worthy of the second chance I gave him.”

“Connor hasn’t even asked for a first chance.”

“No. He hasn’t.” She put her arm around me. “Which tells you something important about who he is right now. Whether he becomes someone different someone worthy–that’s up to him.”

“Five hours,” I said. “He has five hours.”

“And then?”

“And then I’m done waiting.”

She kissed the top of my head and went back inside, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my pacing wolf

I was watching the stars–trying to find patterns, trying to not think about Connor with Courtney—when I heard

It.

The front gate slamming open. Hard. Violent.

I turned to see Courtney Vex standing in our driveway, chest heaving like she’d run here. Her perfect hair was disheveled. Her makeup was smudged. She looked furious,

“Grace!” Her voice carried across the lawn. “Grace Trent, get out here!”

I stood slowly. My wolf surged forward, protective and aggressive. This she–wolf- this she–wolf who’d made my life difficult for years was on my property. Uninvited, Yelling

“Courtney.” I kept my voice level. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” She laughed–sharp, bitter. “I’m here because you’re trying to steal my boyfriend with your convenient mate bond!”

“I’m not trying to steal anyone

“You are!” She moved closer. I noticed she was barefoot, like she’d shifted and run here, then shifted back without bothering with shoes. “Connor was mine. We were building something real. And then you–you come along with your mate bond and your sad face and your ridiculous ultimatum

“I gave him a choice. That’s not an ultimatum.”

11

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