Chapter 2

My Cheating Mate

Emma pov

My hands shook as I pulled out my phone, but my resolve didn't waver. If Jeremy thought he could use me and discard me on his timeline, he had another thing coming.

I crept back down the hallway, my wolf lending me the stealth I needed. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to hide, to protect myself from more pain. But I forced myself forward. I needed proof. Needed insurance.

The door was still cracked open, their sounds of pleasure echoing obscenely through the quiet hallway. My stomach churned, but I steadied my phone and pressed record.

The video quality was perfect. Crystal clear footage of Jeremy's face contorted in ecstasy as he thrust into Vanessa. Her voice, breathy and triumphant: "God, you feel so much better than you do with her, don't you?"

"So much better, baby. You know exactly what I need."

I kept recording. Thirty seconds. A minute. Long enough that there could be no doubt, no excuses, no gaslighting about what I'd seen.

"When are you going to mark me instead?" Vanessa asked, trailing her fingers down his chest. "Your real mate?"

"Soon as I can figure out how to break her father's influence with the pack. Beta Marcus thinks the sun rises and sets on his precious daughter."

My father. God, my father was going to be devastated. But he'd also be the first one to demand justice once he saw this.

I stopped recording and sent the video to three places: my personal email, Aria's phone with a message to not open it unless something happened to me, and a hidden folder in my cloud storage. Then I deleted it from my phone's camera roll. If Jeremy got suspicious and checked my phone, he wouldn't find anything.

Only then did I run.

I made it to the pack house entrance before the tears started again, blurring my vision as I stumbled toward the parking lot. My little sedan looked like salvation. I practically threw myself inside, locking the doors before the sobs took over completely.

Five minutes. I gave myself five minutes to fall apart.

Then I started the engine and drove home to the small house Jeremy and I shared on the edge of pack territory. A "starter home," he'd called it, though now I wondered if he'd always planned for it to be temporary. Maybe he'd already picked out the mansion where he'd live with Vanessa after I was discarded.

The house was empty when I arrived, thank God. Jeremy wouldn't be home for hours—probably not until after he'd thoroughly satisfied himself with his "best friend."

I moved through the rooms like a ghost, trying to figure out what to take, what mattered. Everything here felt contaminated now, tainted by his lies. But I forced myself to be practical.

Clothes. I pulled out a large duffel bag and started stuffing it with essentials. Jeans, shirts, underwear, my favorite sweater that had belonged to my grandmother. I left behind anything Jeremy had bought me. I didn't want his gifts, his claims on me.

Documents. My birth certificate, passport, the title to my car that was solely in my name—thank the Moon Goddess I'd insisted on that. My college transcripts. The small amount of jewelry my mother had left me when she died.

Money. I'd been saving for years in a separate account Jeremy didn't know about, money from the part-time job I'd kept despite his protests that "his mate didn't need to work." I'd always told myself it was for emergencies.

This definitely qualified.

I grabbed my laptop, my phone charger, and the framed photo of my parents from my nightstand. Everything else could burn for all I cared.

The hardest part was my wolf. She was howling in my head, a constant keen of pain that made my hands shake and my chest ache. The mate bond was screaming at us to stay, to wait for him, to try to fix this somehow.

But beneath the bond's pull was something stronger—her rage. She'd never liked Vanessa, had always sensed the threat. And she was done being ignored.

*We leave,* she snarled in my mind. *We run. We survive.*

I was throwing the last of my things in the car when my phone rang. My father's name flashed across the screen.

My heart seized. Did he know already? Had someone told him?

"Hey, Dad," I answered, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Emma, sweetheart. I just wanted to check in. Your mother's anniversary is coming up next week, and I thought we could visit her grave together. Maybe have dinner after?"

My mother. God, I'd almost forgotten. It would be fifteen years since the rogue attack that took her life.

"I'd like that," I whispered, tears streaming down my face. "Dad, I—"

I almost told him everything. Almost broke down and confessed what I'd discovered, what Jeremy had done. But something stopped me. If I told him now, he'd come over. He'd confront Jeremy. And I needed to be gone first. Needed to be somewhere safe before everything exploded.

"I love you," I said instead. "I need you to know that. No matter what happens."

Silence on the other end. Then, carefully: "Emma? Is something wrong?"

"I just miss Mom today. That's all."

He didn't believe me—I could hear it in his pause. But he respected my privacy enough not to push. "I love you too, sweetheart. Always. And I'm here if you need me. For anything."

"I know, Dad. I'll call you soon, okay?"

After we hung up, I sat in my car and let myself cry one more time. For my mother, who'd never get to see me truly mated and happy. For my father, who was about to watch his daughter's marriage implode. For the future I'd believed in that morning.

Then I wiped my face, started the engine, and began to drive.

I didn't have a destination yet. Just away. Away from Jeremy, away from Vanessa, away from the Crescent Moon pack and all its politics and expectations.

My phone buzzed with a text from Jeremy: "Running late at the office. Don't wait up for dinner."

I almost laughed. The audacity. The shamelessness.

I typed back: "No problem. Take your time."

Let him think everything was fine. Let him believe I was home, waiting like a good little mate, completely oblivious to his betrayal.

By the time he realized I was gone, I'd be long past pack borders.

And then, when the moment was right, I'd destroy him.