My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 244

My Cheating Mate

Courtney pov

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I’d been staring at nothing for hours. The wall. The table. My hands. It didn’t matter. Everything looked the same through the fog of grief and guilt that had settled over me since learning my father was dead.

Dead. Thomas Vex was dead. Killed by Alpha Jeremy Trent while trying to kidnap Grace.

And I’d helped. Given intelligence that made it possible. Betrayed my own father to protect the girl I’d attacked with a knife.

The door opened.

I didn’t look up at first. Assumed it was another guard bringing food I wouldn’t eat or asking questions I couldn’t answer. They’d been checking on me constantly since the assault, like they thought I might hurt myself.

I wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Didn’t have the energy for that kind of decisive action.

Footsteps. Closer. Then stopping across from me.

“Courtney.” Alpha Jeremy’s voice. Deep. Commanding. The voice of someone who’d just killed my father.

Fear shot through me. Sudden. Visceral. Cutting through the fog that had surrounded me for days.

I looked up.

Alpha Jeremy stood across the table, studying me with those dark eyes that missed nothing. He looked-tired. Wounded still, bandages visible under his shirt. But also powerful. Absolutely in control.

An Alpha who’d just defended his pack from assault. Who’d killed the threat to his daughter personally. Who had every reason to

hate me.

And I had no idea what he wanted.

“Alpha Jeremy.” My voice came out rough. Unused. I’d barely spoken since Grace and Lord Castellan told me about my father. “I -what–”

“I need to talk to you.” He sat across from me. The same chair Grace had used. Where she’d delivered the news with more compassion than I deserved. “About several things. About your father. Abo what happens next. About-” He paused. “About the fact that you haven’t eaten in three days and my pack doctor is concerned.”

Three days? Had it been three days? Time had stopped meaning anything.

“I’m not hungry,” I said.

“I don’t care if you’re hungry. You need to eat.” He pushed a plate toward me. Sandwich. Fruit. Things that probably tasted like something before grief turned everything to ash. “Courtney, whatever else is happening–whatever consequences you’re facing

-you need to stay alive and functional. Understand?”

“Why?” The question came out before I could stop it. “Alpha Jeremy, why do you care if I eat? I attacked your daughter. Helped extremists target her. Got my father killed trying to “I stopped. Couldn’t finish.

“Because you’re eighteen years old and you’re in my custody and I have a responsibility to keep you alive and reasonably healthy regardless of what you’ve done.” His voice was firm. Matter of fact. “Courtney, eat. We’ll talk while you do.”

I picked up half the sandwich with shaking hands. Took a bite. It tasted like nothing. Like eating paper. But Alpha Jermany was watching with that expression that said he wouldn’t continue until I’d eaten something.

So I ate. Forced down bites that my body didn’t want while tear colled in my stomach.

Chortet

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What did he want? Was this–was this where he told me my punishment? Exile? Execution? Was he here to deliver the sentence for attempted murder and helping terrorists?

“Your father is dead,” Alpha Jeremy said quietly. “I killed him. During the assault. He was trying to reach the main house– trying to get to Grace. I stopped his.”

“I know.” My voice was barely above a whisper “Lord Castellan told me. Grace told me. Everyone’s told me that my father died

fighting your pack.”

“Do you blame me? For killing him?”

The question surprised me. I looked up from the sandwich I was mechanically eating.

“I don’t-“I stopped. “I don’t know. Should I blame you? You were protecting your daughter. My father was trying to kidnap her. You did what any Alpha would do. Any father would do.”

“That’s a very mature answer for someone who just lost their parent.”

“Mature doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” The words came out sharper than intended. “Alpha Jeremy, my father is dead. You killed him. And I—I helped you do it by giving intelligence about the assault. I know all of that is true and I know my father made his own choices but it still-it still hurts.”

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