My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 227

Chapter 227

I heard footsteps on the stairs Connor’s scent reached me before he did familiar, comforting, mine.

He appeared in the doorway, took one look at my face, and crossed the room immediately.

“Grace

**

“A wolf is dead because of me.” The words came out before I could stop them. “Because Courtney gave extremists my schedule. Because the Preservation Front wants me dead and they’re willing to kill other wolves to make that point.”

“That’s not –Grace, that’s not because of you-

“It is though. If I wasn’t if our family wasn’t–if I didn’t exist as this symbol of integration that extremists hate-“I couldn’t finish. The tears were coming now, unstoppable.

Connor pulled me into his arms. Held me tight. Let me cry against his chest without trying to fix it or argue with my guilt.

“I want to punish Courtney,” I said into his shirt. “Want her to hurt. Want her to feel as guilty as I do. But I know that won’t actually help. Won’t bring back the dead wolf. Won’t stop the Preservation Front. It’ll just–make me feel worse. More guilty for wanting revenge on top of everything else.”

“Grace, wanting Courtney to face consequences isn’t revenge. It’s justice.” His voice was steady. Certain. “She helped terrorists. She deserves punishment for that. Your father and Uncle Cas will make sure she faces appropriate consequences. That’s not on you to carry,”

“But the guilt

“Is natural. And not entirely rational. But Grace” He pulled back to look at my face. “You didn’t kill that wolf. You didn’t give Courtney your schedule knowing she’d give it to extremists. You didn’t choose any of this. The Preservation Front chose violence. Courtney chose to help them. Those are their choices. Their guilt to carry.”

“Mama said the same thing.”

“Because it’s true. Grace, you can feel guilty. You can be angry and scared and want revenge. All of that is normal. But you also need to know—really know that this isn’t your fault.”

“I’m trying to know that. It’s just hard when there’s a dead body with my name on the note.”

“I know.” He kissed my forehead gently. “Grace, what do you need? Right now. What would help?”

I thought about it. About what would actually make this overwhelming guilt and fear more manageable.

Γ

“I need- I stopped. “I need you to hold me. I need one night where we don’t talk about dead wolves or Courtney or the Preservation Front or one–week deadlines. I need to just forget. For a few hours. Pretend we’re normal eighteen–year–olds with normal problems instead of targets of extremist terrorism.”

“Done.” He adjusted his hold, lifting me easily. “Grace, we’re going to your room. We’re going to put on something mindless on ‘TV. We’re going to order terrible food that your mother would disapprove of. And we’re going to forget about all of this for tonight.” 4

“Connor, we can’t just ignore –‘

**

“We’re not ignoring it. We’re taking a break from carrying it for a few hours.” He was already moving toward the door. “Grace, you’ve been processing trauma and guilt and fear for hours. You’re allowed to stop. Allowed to let me hold you and watch stupid TV and eat junk food.“.

“What about Uncle Cas questioning Courtney? And Daddy’s protection protocols? And the one week deadline

“Uncle Cas will handle Courtney. Your father will handle protocols. The deadline is still seven days away. Tonight down on my bed gently “Tonight you get to be eighteen Get to be Grace who likes painting and terrible reality TV and her mate

“He set me

Chapter 227

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