My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

My Cheating Mate

Emma pov

The laptop screen glowed in the darkened hotel room, casting harsh blue light across my face as I scrolled through rental listings in various cities. Denver. Portland. Asheville. Places far enough from Crescent Moon territory that Jeremy wouldn’t think to look.

I’d been in this dingy motel for six days, and I knew I couldn’t stay much longer. The front desk clerk was already giving me suspicious looks, probably wondering what a young woman was doing alone in a cash–only dump like this.

My phone sat face–down on the nightstand, silent for the moment. I’d turned off location services, disabled all the tracking features I could find, even removed the SIM card for a few hours before paranoia made me put it back in. I needed to stay connected to my dad, to Aria, even if I couldn’t tell them where I was.

Jeremy had called forty–three times in the past week. I’d counted. Each call made the mate bond flare with painful intensity, my wolf whining and scratching at my mental barriers, begging me to answer, to hear his voice, to let him explain.

But there was nothing to explain. I’d seen everything I needed to see. Heard everything I needed to hear.

* “I never said I loved her.” 11.水

The words still cut like glass, even after all this time.

I slammed the laptop shut and stood, pacing the small room like a caged animal. My wolf paced with me, restless and hurting

and so, so angry.

Where could I go? What was I supposed to do?

Pack law was clear–ummated wolves could travel freely betweery territories, but mated wolves needed their mate’s permission to leave pack lands for extended periods. I’d technically broken that law by running. Jeremy could use it against me, could claim I’d abandoned my duties, could reject me on those grounds alone.

Part of me wanted him to. Wanted the bond severed, the connection broken, so I could finally breathe without feeling him pulling at me like an anchor. 1

But another part—the part that had spent six months trying to be the perfect mate, the perfect future Luna—that part was terrified of rejection. Of the pain it would cause, of the shame of being a rejected mate, of the whispers and pitying locks that would follow me for the rest of my life.

My phone buzzed. Another text from Aria: “I know you said you need space, but I’m worried about you, you’re eating? Sleeping? Not doing anything stupid?”

I smiled despite everything. Aria knew me too well.

“Eating. Sleeping when I can. Define stupid?” I typed back.

En. At least tell me

Her response was immediate: “Stupid = going back to that asshole before you’re ready. Or doing something that will get you arrested. Both would be bad.”

“No plans for either. Promise.”

“Good. Because when you DO come back, I’m going to need you alive and free so we can plot his downfall together. I’m thinking public humiliation. Maybe involving spray paint and his precious truck.” 1

This time I actually laughed, a sound that felt foreign after days of crying and rage. “Noted. Will plan accordingly.”

“Love you, babe. Stay safe.”

+25 BONUS

“Love you fou.”

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