LOGINCourtney's eyes went wide. "Not—not prison? Not exile?" "The Council recognizes your age, your cooperation, your genuine remorse, and the manipulative environment you were raised in," Madeline continued. "We also recognize the testimony of your victim, Grace Trent, advocating for rehabilitative co
The Council members conferred quietly. Then Madeline spoke again. "Grace Trent. Please approach to provide testimony." I stood on shaking legs. Connor squeezed my hand once before releasing it. I walked to the center position—standing a few feet from where Courtney sat. "Miss Trent," Madeline
"Did you know about the planned assault?" Christopher asked. "No. Not until after." She shook her head. "The Preservation Front contacted me three days before the attack. My father—" Her voice broke. "Thomas Vex was my father. I didn't know he was high-level Preservation Front leadership until Lor
My Cheating Mate Grace pov The Council chamber was imposing—ancient stone walls, high ceilings, formal seating arranged in a semicircle that put the accused directly in the center under scrutiny from every angle. Courtney sat in that center seat. Small. Broken. Nothing like the confident, crue
I wanted to believe that. Wanted to separate my father's choices from my intelligence. But the guilt was crushing—heavy and inescapable and deserved. "I miss him," I whispered. "I know I shouldn't. I know he was wrong. But Alpha Jeremy, he was my dad. He raised me and taught me and loved me even i
He was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry for your loss. Even though Thomas tried to kidnap my daughter. Even though he led extremists against my pack. He was still your father. I'm sorry you lost him." The apology broke something in me. Tears came—hot and unexpected and impossible to stop. "You're
My Cheating Mate Emma pov I'd heard every word of Jeremy's phone conversation. The motel walls were paper-thin, and my wolf hearing picked up everything—Vanessa's shrill voice through the speaker, Jeremy's angry responses, the threats she'd made. She'd tried to have me killed. Actually hired r
I was slowing down. Losing too much blood. These rogues were fresh, trained, organized. And I was alone. The large rogue lunged again. I tried to dodge but my injured leg gave out. His jaws closed around my shoulder, shaking violently. Through the pain, through the blood and chaos, I saw Vanes
He looked away from me then, addressing the pack as a whole. "But I want everyone to understand something. This wasn't Emma's fault. None of it. She was a perfect mate—kind, supportive, patient. Everything I did wrong, I did of my own free will. And she deserves better than what I gave her." The r
Was he right? Was I only sorry because I'd been caught, because Emma had left, because I was facing the loss of everything? No. The realization settled in my chest with surprising clarity. I was sorry because I'd hurt her. Because I'd seen the devastation in her eyes, heard the pain in her voice,







