My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 220

Chapter 220

My Cheating Mate

Grace pov

I was in my studio working on the integration painting–trying to process the past forty–eight hours through color and composition when I heard raised voices downstairs.

Daddy. Uncle Cas. And someone else I didn’t recognize.

The tone made my wolf sit up. Alert. Something was wrong.

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I set down my brush and moved to the stairs quietly. Not sneaking, exactly, Just–listening before entering a conversation that sounded like it needed privacy.

“-found at the eastern border.” The unfamiliar voice–male, older, one of the border patrol wolves probably. “Alpha, the body is—it’s brutal. Silver wounds. Torture before death. And the note—”

“Let me see it.” Daddy‘

1. t. Controlled in the way that meant he was containing significant rage.

Silence. Then: “Addressed to Grace specifically. Jeremy, whoever did this wanted her to know—”

“I can read, Marcus.” Daddy’s…was shaking now. “Get out. Tell the border patrol to secure the scene. No one touches

anything until Cas and I get there.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Footsteps. The front

“Jeremy.” Uncle

door closing. Then quiet–the terrible kind that preceded explosions.

Cvoice was very carefully neutral. “We need to approach this rationally-”

“Rationally? Cas, there’s a dead body at my border with a note threatening my daughter. Rationality isn’t my primary concern right now.”

“Which is why you need me to be rational for both of us.” A pause. “The note mentions Courtney. Says she ‘provided information about Grace’s routines and vulnerabilities.‘ Jeremy, this isn’t just random violence. This is coordinated. Planned.”

My blood went cold. Courtney. Courtney had given someone information about me. About my routines. My vulnerabilities.

Seemed genuinely broken about losing Connor. Who’d texted hoping I found peacE.

Courtney who’d apologized. Was

Had been lying. Had been planning–this. Whatever this was.

C

“I’m going to kill her.” Daddy’s voice was flat. Absolute. “Cas, I’m going to shift and track Courtney Vex down and I’m going to

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“You’re going to do exactly nothing until we understand the full situation.” Uncle Cas was using his vampire lord voice now. The one that commanded attention even from Alphas. “Jeremy, whoever left this body and this note wants you to react emotionally. Wants you to go after Courtney and escalate this into open conflict. Don’t give them what they want.”

“My daughter is being threatened-

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“Your daughter is upstairs listening to this conversation right now,” Uncle Cas said calmly.

Damn. Vampire hearing was too good.

I came down the stairs, trying to project confidence I didn’t feel. “What’s happened?”

Daddy turned to me, and the expression on his face–protective fury mixed with fear–made my stomach drop. “Grace, you should go back upstairs-

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“Na.” I moved into the room. “Uncle Cas is right. I’m listening anyway. Tell me what’s happening.”

He and Uncle Cas exchanged glances. Then Daddy sighed, defeated. “There’s a body at our eastern border. Dead wolf. Silver torture, execution style. And He held out a piece of paper “A note. Addressed to you.”

I took it with trembling hands. The handwriting was neat. Almost professional. The words were anything but.

*“Grace Trent – Your family’s integration model is an abomination. A corruption of pack tradition and supernatural order. We have tried political means. We have tried Council intervention. We have tried patience None of it has worked. So now we try direct action. The body at your border is a message. A demonstration of commitment. More will follow unless your family ends the vampire alliance and returns to proper pack values. Courtney Vex provided valuable information about your routines and vulnerabilities. She wants you dead as much as we do. You have one week to convince your father to dissolve the alliance with Lord Castellan. If not, the next body will be closer to home. Possibly yours. – The Preservation Front**

I read it twice. Three times. The words didn’t change.

“The Preservation Front?” I looked up. “Who-”

“Traditionalist extremists,” Uncle Cas said. “More radical than the Council. They believe integration should be opposed by any means necessary, including violence. We’ve been monitoring them for years but they’ve stayed–mostly–in the realm of political pressure rather than actual attacks.”

“Until now.” I looked at the note again. “They killed someone. Left them at our border as a message.”

“To intimidate us. To scare you specifically.” Daddy’s voice was rough. “Grace, this isn’t–you’re not going anywhere alone. Not to school, not to the studio, nowhere. You have guards now. Constant guards.”

“And Courtney?” I couldn’t keep the hurt out of my voice. “She apologized. Texted me hoping I found peace. And she was—she was giving them information about me?”

“We don’t know the full story yet,”

before-‘

Uncle Cas said carefully. “The note claims Courtney was involved. We need to verify that

“Before I do something I might regret,” Daddy finished. “Cas/I need you to track down Courtney. Find out if this is true. If she really betrayed Grace to extremists after everything-”

“I’ll handle it.” Uncle Cas was already moving toward the door. “Jeremy, keep Grace inside. Protected. I’ll have Victoria bring additional vampire guards. This–this is serious.”

After he left, Daddy and I stood in the quiet living room. The note was still my hands. Physical evidence that someone wanted me dead. That Courtney–sweet, broken, apologetic Courtney–might have given them the tools to make that happen.

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