My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79

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“You saved my life last night, I said quietly “You and my father. That leader would have reached me if you hadn’t—”

“I would die before I let them touch you,” Jeremy interrupted. “Emma, I know I don’t have the right to be protective. Know I lost that when I betrayed you. But last night, watching them come for you-” His voice cracked. “I’ve never been that scared in my life.”

“I was scared too. Watching you fight. Watching you get hurt. Knowing I was the reason you were in danger.”

“You’re not the reason. Vanessa is. Black River is. The situation is.” He stood, moving to the window again. Old habits. “But Emma, I need you to understand something. Last night, fighting those mercenaries, thinking I might lose you–it clarified things for me.”

“What things?”

“What matters. What’s real.” He turned to face me. “I love you. Not because I feel guilty. Not because I’m trying to make up for my mistakes. But because you’re brave and strong and kind even when you have every reason not to be. Because you stayed by my bedside when I was in a coma. Because you still care about me even though I destroyed us.”

“Jeremy-”

“Let me finish.” He moved closer. “I know we’re working through things. Know trust takes time. But Emma, if those mercenaries had killed me last night, I needed you to know. That I love you. Really love you. The way I should have from the beginning.”

Tears were streaming down my face now. “I love you too. That’s what makes this so hard. I love you and I’m still so hurt and I don’t know how to reconcile those things.”

“We’ll figure it out.” He pulled me into his arms, and I let him. Let myself be held. Let myself feel safe for the first time since the alarms had woken us. “Together. In this tiny cabin. For however long it takes.”

I laughed wetly against his chest. “We’re going to drive each other crazy. ”

“Probably. But at least we’ll be alive to be crazy.”

We stood there for a long moment, holding each other while the morning sun streamed through the windows and birds sang outside like nothing had changed.

But everything had changed.

Three wolves were dead. We had a spy exposed. Fifty mercenaries were still out there, still hunting.

And Jeremy and I were alone together, forced to actually face each other without escape routes or buffers.

It was terrifying.

But also maybe–exactly what we needed.

“Come on,” I said finally, pulling back. “We should eat something. Then we need to actually talk about how this is going to work. Living together. For weeks.”

“Setting boundaries,” Jeremy agreed. “Communication protocols. Making sure we don’t kill each other.”

“Or worse—make things worse between us.”

We made breakfast together in the tiny kitchen. Eggs and toast. Simple. Normal. A domestic routine that felt both familiar and

strange.

This was my life now. At least for the next few weeks.

Hiding with my ex–mate in a secret cabin while mercenaries hunted me and my pack cleaned up the mess.

Not how I’d imagined my life going.

But at least I was alive.

At least Jeremy was alive.

And maybe just maybe–we’d figure out the rest.

One conversation at a time.

One day at a time.

One tentative step toward healing at a time.

If we survived that long.

If the mercenaries didn’t find us first.

If we didn’t kill each other.

Big ifs.

But for now, there was coffee and eggs and morning sunlight.

And that would have to be enough.

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