My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 202

Chapter 202

I searched for Words “That’s really brave. Being okay with being different ”

“It’s just honest. Pretending to be something I’m not would be exhausting” She looked at me. “Is that what you’re doing with Courtney? Pretending to be something you’re not?”

The question landed hard.

“Maybe,” I admitted. “Courtney likes a version of me that’s simple. Uncomplicated. Someone who agrees with her opinions and doesn’t challenge her worldview. And I’ve been trying to be that person. Because it’s easier than being myself ” “Who are you? When you’re not trying to be simple?”

I didn’t know. Didn’t have an answer to that question because I’d spent so long being what other people wanted that I’d lost track of what I actually was.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Connor Reed, son of an enforcer. Decent at combat training. Good enough at pack politics. Dating Courtney Vex. That’s–that’s all I’ve got.”

“That’s tragic,” Grace said. Not mean, just sad. “Connor, you’re eighteen years old. You should have more than that.”

“What do you have?”

“Grace Trent. Artist. Daughter to an Alpha who rebuilt from betrayal and a Luna who chose to stay. Sister to a twelve–year–old who thinks dinosaurs had parliamentary discussions. Niece to a vampire who taught me that family is choice, not blood.” She smiled. “I have a whole identity that’s mine. You deserve that too.”

We sat in silence for a while. I was processing–everything she’d said, everything I was feeling, the growing realization that Courtney had been wrong about Grace in every possible way.

Grace wasn’t weird. She was authentic. Brave. Honest in ways that made Courtney’s careful manipulation look hollow.

And I’d spent nineteen hours choosing hollow over authentic because hollow was easier.

“I’m sorry,” I said finally. “Grace, I’m so sorry. For this morning. For staying with Courtney after recognizing the bond. For making you wait nineteen hours while I figured out something I should have known immediately.”

“What should you have known?”

“That you’re-“I looked at her. “That you’re worth choosing. Worth the complicated. Worth being brave for.”

“Am I?” She watched me carefully. “Connor, you still haven’t actually made a choice. You’ve told me I’mworth it. But are you choosing me? Or are you still deciding between me and Courtney?”

The question was fair. And I owed her an honest answer.

“I’m-“I stopped. Tried again. “Grace, I want to choose you. I want to be brave enough to honor the mate bond and get to know you and build something real. But I’m also–I’m scared. Scared I’ll fail. Scared I won’t be strong enough to stand beside you when wolves like Courtney’s father say your family is wrong. Scared I’m not–enough.”

“For me? Or for yourself?”

“Both.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “Connor, I can’t make you brave. I can’t make you strong enough to stand up for what you believe in. That’s work you have to do yourself.”

“I know.”

“So here’s what I’m offering: You have two hours left. We can spend them talking, getting to know each other, seeing if there’s

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actual compatibility underneath the fate bond. And at the end of those two hours, you make your choice. Me or Courtney. Mate bond or relationship you’ve built. Complicated or simple.” She looked at me. “But Connor, understand this: if you choose me, I’m not settling for half measures. I’m not being your secret mate while you figure out how to break up with Courtney, I’m not waiting for you to grow a spine. You choose me, you choose all the way.”

“And if I choose Courtney?”

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