My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 25

My Cheating Mate

Jeremy pov

I signed off on another stack of patrol reports without really reading them, my mind wandering for the hundredth time today. The words blurred together–perimeter secure, no rogue activity, all clear,

Three months. It had been three months since the pack meeting, three months since Emma had shown mercy I didn’t deserve, three months since our mate bond had been formally dissolved.

And three months since Vanessa had vanished without a trace.

My father knocked on my office door–the same office where I’d destroyed my life–and entered without waiting for permission.

“Jeremy, we need to talk about the patrol schedules. You approved overlapping shifts again.” He set the papers on my desk, his expression a mix of concern and frustration. “That’s the third time this week.”

“Sorry. I’ll fix it.” I reached for the documents, but he pulled them back.

“Son, I know you’re going through a difficult time, but the pack needs you present. Actually present, not just physically here while your mind is somewhere else.”

Somewhere else. He meant with Emma, and we both knew it.

“I’m doing my best,” I said, hearing how hollow the words sounded.

“Are you?” My father sat down across from me, his Alpha authority softening into something more paternal. “Because from where I’m sitting, you’re going through the motions. Making careless mistakes. Missing important details. That’s not the leader this pack needs.”

He was right. I knew he was right. But I couldn’t seem to focus on anything anymore. My wolf was constantly restless, pacing and whining, never settling. The empty space where Emma’s presence used to be in my mind felt like a wound that wouldn’t heal.

Dissolving the mate bond was supposed to help. Supposed to make it easier for both of us to move on. Instead, it just made everything feel… hollow. 1

“I saw Emma in town yesterday,” my father said carefully, watching my reaction. “She looked good. Happy, even. She’s been helping Marcus with Beta duties, training some of the younger wolves.”

My chest tightened. Of course she looked happy. She was free of me, free of the mate who’d betrayed her. Why wouldn’t she be happy?

“That’s good,” I managed. “She deserves to be happy.”

“She barely looked at you during the council meeting last week.”

I remembered. The monthly council meeting where Emma had attended as her father’s assistant. She’d sat three chairs away, her eyes focused on her notes, contributing intelligent observations about pack security without once glancing in my direction.

It was what I’d agreed to. What I deserved. But it still felt like dying slowly.

“She doesn’t have to acknowledge me,” I said. “I’m just grateful she stayed in the pack.”

That had been my biggest fear–that Emma would leave Crescent Moon entirely, request a transfer to another pack where she wouldn’t have to see me every day. But she’d stayed. For her father, for the pack she’d grown up in.

Just not for me.

1/2

Chapter 2

+25 BONUS

“Have you tried talking to her?” my father asked.

“No. She asked me to give her space, and I’m respecting that.”

“It’s been three months, Jeremy

“I don’t care if it’s been three years. “I met his eyes. “I hurt her badly enough. I’m not going to push myself on her just because I’m lonely. She owes me nothing.”

My father was quiet for a moment. “I’m proud of you for that, at least. For respecting her boundaries.”

“It’s literally the bare minimum of decent behavior.”

“True. But given your track record…” He let the sentence hang.

I couldn’t even be offended. My track record spoke for itself.

My phone buzzed. Another report from our enforcers–still no sign of Vanessa. She’d disappeared completely after fleeing pack lands. No credit card usage, no phone activity, no sightings despite the fact that we’d contacted every pack within five hundred miles.

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