My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 238

Chapter 238

My Cheating Mate

Grace pov

I sat across from Courtney in the interrogation room–a small, sterile space in the pack house basement that I’d never seen before today. The kind of room you didn’t know existed until you needed it.

Uncle cas stood behind me. Not sitting. Just–present. A silent reminder that I wasn’t alone in this. That if this conversation went badly, I had protection.

Courtney looked terrible. Eyes red from crying, hair disheveled, wearing clothes that were two days old. She’d been in protective custody since giving Uncle Cas the intelligence about the Preservation Front. Had been here, safe, while her father led an assault on my family.

While her father died trying to kidnap me.

“Courtney,” I started, my voice steadier than I felt. “I need to tell you something. About the attack this morning.”

She looked up. Her eyes were–empty. Like she’d already processed everything and had nothing left.

“Your father led the assault,” I continued. “Thomas Vex was commanding the Preservation Front forces that attacked our territory.”

No reaction. She just stared at me.

“He was trying to reach the main house. Trying to get to me. To kidnap me and use me as leverage against my family.” I paused. “My father stopped him. Courtney, your father—he’s dead. Thomas Vex died in the attack.‘

Still nothing. No tears. No shock. Just–emptiness.

Uncle Cas shifted behind me. I could feel his concern, his readiness to intervene if this went

wrong.

We sat in silence. One minute. Two. Five. Ten minutes of quiet while Courtney processed what

I’d told her.

Finally, she spoke. “It’s not over.”

Her voice was flat. Emotionless. Not the manipulative crying from before or the broken apologies. Just–statement of fact.

“What?” I leaned forward. “Courtney, the Preservation Front assault failed. Your father is

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dead. Twelve of their wolves are captured. The organization is broken-”

“My father wasn’t the only leader.” She finally met my eyes. “Grace, the Preservation Front has–had–three primary leaders. My father was one. But there are two others. And they’re— they’re worse than he was.”

Uncle Cas moved. Came around to sit beside me, his focus completely on Courtney. “Names. Courtney, I need names.”

“Marcus Dane. Elena Frost.” She said them mechanically. “They’re the other two. Marcus handles operations. Elena handles recruitment and ideology. My father was the public face, the Council connection. But the real power–the real extremism–that’s Marcus and Elena.”

“Where are they?” Uncle Cas’s voice was careful. Controlled.

“I don’t know. They move constantly. Never stay in one location more than a few days.” Courtney looked down at her hands. “My father gave me names and some intelligence to feed you. Enough to seem helpful. But he he held back the important stuff. Marcus and Elena. The real leadership structure. The backup plans.”

“Backup plans?” I felt cold. “Courtney, what backup plans?”

“If the assault on Grace failed, they’d escalate. Target Nate instead. Or go after Lord Castellan directly. Or-” She stopped. “Or target allied packs. Make examples. Show the supernatural world that integration has consequences beyond just the Trent family.”

“This was never about just kidnapping Grace.” Uncle Cas’s voice was very quiet. Very dangerous. “This was about terrorizing the entire integration movement.

“Yes.” Courtney finally showed emotion–bitter resignation. “Grace, I gave you real intelligence about the assault. About my father’s plans. I wanted—I wanted to stop him. To make up for giving them your schedule. But I didn’t know about Marcus and Elena until yesterday. Until I overhead my father on a call after you’d already extracted everything I supposedly knew.”

“You heard him talking about the backup leadership?” I asked.

“I heard him laughing. Telling Marcus that the intelligence he’d let me give you would draw attention to the assault while the ‘real work‘ continued.” She looked up, and her eyes were devastated. “My father used me. Let me think I was helping stop extremism while actually feeding you incomplete information to protect the real Preservation Front leaders.”

Uncle Cas was very still. “Courtney, when did you learn this?”

“Yesterday afternoon. After you questioned me. After I’d given you everything I thought I knew.” She pulled her knees to her chest. “I tried to send a message. Tried to warn someone. But I was in protective custody with no communication access. By the time I could have told

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anyone–the assault had already started.”

“That’s why you weren’t part of it.” I was understanding now. “Your father didn’t trust you after you gave us intelligence. He left you here in custody while he attacked.”

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