My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 26

Part of me hoped she was dead. Hoped some rogue pack had turned on her, angry about being used or unpaid or simply violent for the sake of violence.

The larger part of me didn’t care either way. Vanessa felt like a lifetime ago, a different person’s mistake. What I’d felt for her- lust, familiarity, misguided loyalty seemed pathetic now.

Compared to what I’d lost with Emma, Vanessa was nothing.

“You need to move forward, Jeremy,” my father said gently. “I’m not saying forget Emma or stop regretting your mistakes. But you can’t lead effectively while you’re drowning in guilt and grief.”

“I don’t know how to move forward.” The admission came out raw. “Every time I try to focus on pack business, I remember that this is the office where Emma found me. Every time I go home, I smell her scent fading from the rooms. Every time someone mentions the future Luna, I remember that Emma was supposed to be—should have been—”

My voice broke. I cleared my throat roughly.

“Maybe you need to see the pack counselor,” my father suggested. “Talk to someone professionally. This level of depression isn’t healthy, son.”

“I don’t need a counselor. I need to accept the consequences of my actions and do better.”

“You can do both.” He stood, gathering the patrol schedules. “I’ll fix these myself this time. But Jeremy? Get your head together. The pack needs their future Alpha focused, and you need to take care of yourself. For everyone’s sake.”

After he left, I slumped back in my chair and closed my eyes.

Through the window, I could hear training happening in the yard below. Young wolves sparring, someone calling out corrections and encouragement.

Emma’s voice.

I moved to the window before I could stop myself. There she was, in training gear, demonstrating a defensive maneuver to a group of teenage wolves. Her movements were fluid, confident the product of those self–defense classes she’d taken without telling me.

She’d been preparing. Even before she found out about the affair, some part of her had known she needed to be able to protect

herself.

From me. From Vanessa. From the life I’d trapped her in.

As I watched, she laughed at something one of the teenagers said. The sound carried up to my window–light, genuine, unguarded.

When was the last time I’d heard her laugh like that?

When was the last time I’d made her laugh like that?

Never. The answer was never. I’d taken my sweet, gentle mate and made her feel anxious, uncertain, like she wasn’t enough. And now she was flourishing without me.

My wolf whined miserably. *We lost her. We lost everything.*

“I know,” I whispered to the empty office. “I know.”

Emma finished the demonstration and the teenagers dispersed. She grabbed a water bottle, and for just a second–barely a heartbeat–she glanced up at my office window.

Our eyes met.

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I saw recognition flash across her face. Then her expression went carefully neutral, and she turned away, heading toward the pack house entrance.

Dismissed. Ignored. Exactly what I deserved.

I returned to my desk and the mountain of paperwork that needed my attention. Somewhere in this stack was probably something important, something that required actual thought and decision–making.

But all I could think about was Emma’s laugh, the way she’d looked right through me, the empty space in my chest where our bond used to live.

My father was right. I needed to move forward.

I just had no idea how.

My phone buzzed again. This time it was Marcus: “Need to discuss Emma’s security detail. My office, 4 PM.”

Emma’s security detail. Because Vanessa was still out there somewhere, potentially still a threat. Because iny ex–mistress had tried to kill my ex–mate and might try again.

One more thing to feel guilty about.

I typed back: “I’ll be there.”

At least focusing on Emma’s safety was productive. Even if she wouldn’t let me be the one protecting her, I could make sure someone else was.

It wasn’t much. But it was something.

And right now, something was all I had.