TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 103

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One hundred and three

Cameron

I walked out of the alpha meeting seething. The other alphas had leaned over the table and thrown insults at each other. I stayed quiet because none of it touched my territory.

Alpha Gregory, a stubborn old bastard, noticed this when they brought up expanding the trade route through my territory. He shut it down and said it was the same mistake my father made and I was repeating his failure.

His words kept scraping through my head. I stayed calm in the room. Now I wished I had thrown something back at him. He was the one who kept borrowing from everyone, drifting from territory to territory with his hand out like he deserved it.

That’s why I skipped the usual post-meeting drinks. I drove straight home and went into my study. It was almost midnight. I hadn’t slept properly in days.

Nadia pushed the door open, night mask on, wine glass in her hand.

“Cameron, you keep this up and you’re going to crash.”,

I pushed my chair back and pressed my fingers into my temples. Light from the desk lamp stabbed behind my eyes.

“There’s too much happening right now. I don’t have the luxury of rest.”

“You don’t have the luxury of collapsing either. If you break, everything breaks. Is this about Lisa or Evangeline?”

I focused on the papers spread across my desk instead of answering.

“Evangeline’s test results came back today. Nothing physical. No infection. No hormonal imbalance. And her scent makes me nauseous.” I swallowed. “I hate saying that out loud.”

Nadia was startled at first. Then she dragged the chair across from me and sat.

“She was crying earlier. She refused therapy again, and she won’t do the cleansing ritual.”

“I’m going to the oracle tonight,” I said.

“I’m coming with you.”

“I’ve got it.”

The room started to feel too tight around me. I grabbed my keys and drove to the temple.

It sat at the edge of the old district, carved into stone older than the city around it. Torches burned along the entrance walls. Heat wrapped around me as I stepped inside. Incense hung thick in my throat, bitter enough to taste. My footsteps echoed across the chamber as I walked deeper.

The oracle sat near the center on a low platform covered in woven mats. Beads layered across her chest clicked when she moved. A white skirt wrapped her waist and legs, leaving her torso bare except for the strands. One breast rested against her hip, the other side flat where tissue never formed. Nothing about her looked fragile. She looked carved from bone.

“Alpha Cameron. I was wondering when you would visit.” Her smile reached her eyes. “I can smell your conflict from a mile away.”

I stopped in front of the platform and inclined my head. She gestured toward the mat. I lowered myself onto the floor. The beads shifted as she leaned forward.

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“So tell me. Is this about your obstinate cousin Matthias?”

“Far from it. Although I suspect he’s planning something.”

She waved a hand. “Nobody is taking your throne from you. They might try, but this is yours.”

I exhaled.

“It’s about my mate. She’s been ill for over two years. We’ve tried medical treatments, but her recovery is inconsistent. One period she improves, then she crashes again. And because of the pressure for an heir, we arranged a surrogate. Conception happened naturally. The surrogate is now pregnant.”

She watched me, silent, then lifted her head.

“And you began experiencing aversion after intimacy with the surrogate.”

A jolt ran through me. She had already guessed.

“This was before the pregnancy was confirmed. Shortly after the arrangement started.”

“What do you experience?”

“Nausea. Discomfort. Irritation sometimes.”

“And how does she perceive this change?”

“She doesn’t.”

The oracle nodded. “Then it is not a physical illness. This is a disruption in the bond.”

She reached forward and pressed her fingers against the center of my chest. Heat spread through my sternum.

“The bond is unstable.”

I looked up. “Disruption?”

“The mate bond carries scent resonance. When harmony exists, scent produces calm and attraction. When disruption occurs, the same scent produces distress.”

“She used to calm me just by standing near me,” I said. “Now I have to fight the urge to step back.’

She nodded again.

“But I still love her. I take care of her. Sleeping with the surrogate was mutual. Her mother pushed for it.”

“There are many causes for disruption. Emotional fracture. Spiritual interference. External influence. Suppressed truth. Sometimes betrayal. Sometimes fear.”

Pressure built in my chest. I was not betraying Evangeline. Not intentionally. Maybe the physical desire I felt for Lisa crossed a line, but I had tried to stay away from her as much as possible.

The oracle held my gaze.

“You must perform a cleansing ritual. I do not have direct answers yet. You will need to bring her here. Prayer, purification, and bond assessment. Only then will the cause reveal itself.”

“I’ve suggested that many times. She refuses.”

“Why?”

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“Because she believes the problem is temporary. She thinks it’s stress or the surrogate arrangement.”

“And you?”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

She leaned back, beads shifting across her chest.

“If she refuses intervention, the disruption may worsen. And I still do not know the details, but if you completed the necessary rites before sleeping with another woman, that alone should not cause this level of change. It may contribute emotionally, but it cannot be the primary cause. A healthy bond withstands physical circumstances when trust remains intact.”

Neither of us spoke.

“What should I do?”

“Encourage her again. If she refuses, we may need other options.”

I nodded.

The conversation with Evangeline from earlier replayed in my head. Her anger when I suggested the ritual. Her accusation that I was focusing on the wrong problem. Her insistence that nothing was wrong between us and that the real issue was Lisa.

Under all that defense, I knew she was afraid.

I was too.

Lisa’s scent flashed through my mind. Warm. Alive. Easy. I shoved the thought down hard enough to hurt.

What if I was the problem? What if they discovered that part of me was feeling something I should not feel for Lisa?

I rubbed

my

face and forced the thought away, even though part of me still believed it.

Franklin held the door open as I came down the headquarters steps. He was still talking into his earpiece, finishing a call.

“You look like hell.”

“That seems to be the consensus today.”

“Evangeline wants to stay with her mother for a few days. You should take her.”

He gave a short nod.

“That means Lisa will be alone tonight.”

My head turned toward him before I could stop myself.

“I was supposed to stay with her, but with Evangeline’s transport and arrangements today, I can’t split myself in

two.”

I got into the driver’s seat and pulled the belt across my chest.

“She didn’t say it directly, but she’s nervous about being alone. You know how it is.”

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Pregnancy hormones, new place, unfamiliar routine. I knew exactly how it felt, and I still shouldn’t be there. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and forced the thought away. Visiting her would be a mistake. Seeing her in the hospital earlier had already stirred too much.

“I’ll stop by.”

He leaned against the door frame with a grin he wasn’t bothering to hide.

I pulled out and headed toward Lisa’s place, telling myself I wasn’t encouraging anything.

The driveway lights were already on when I pulled in. Guards approached the car, recognizing me before I stepped out. One of them opened the gate wider and bowed.

“Alpha.”

“How’s everything?”

“All secure.”

I headed toward the front door. No movement showed through the windows. Warm light glowed inside. The normalcy of it hit me harder than I expected.

I knocked. Footsteps moved fast inside. The door opened.

Lisa started talking before she fully registered who was there.

“You’re late. You should be penalized for-”

She cut herself off. Her expression changed the moment she recognized me. She stayed in the doorway without moving. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders.

She wore a purple night robe. That alone made this ten times harder than it needed to be.

Her scent reached me first, and my body answered before my brain could catch up. I forced one step past her, and kept my eyes fixed on the wall ahead.

“Franklin is occupied tonight. I hope you don’t mind me staying.”

She stared at me, trying to process it.

Neither of us spoke.

“Can I come in?”

She moved aside to let me pass.

A laptop sat open on the dining table with a notebook beside it and her empty plate of food. I stopped near the dining table instead of moving closer. The distance felt safer.

The air carried her scent through the room, the soft sleep-sweetness that always clung to her.

My shoulders tightened like someone had pulled a wire through them. Being here alone with her was a line I had promised myself I would not cross. But the promise felt paper-thin. My eyes dropped to the way the robe clung slid against the underside of her breast when she breathed, outlining the dip of her waist, the slight part at her thigh. Every shift she made pulled the silk tighter somewhere else.

Heat crawled up my neck. My fingers flexed at my sides, itching to reach, to trace that line where fabric met skin

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and see how easily it would give.

I forced a slow breath through my nose. It didn’t help.

She watched me with those eyes that saw too much.

One step closer and I’d be lost.

“Why isn’t Franklin here?”

“Evangeline needed transport and arrangements today.”

Her shoulders tightened at Evangeline’s name, but she nodded.

“I just want to make sure everything is fine tonight.”

She leaned back against the table.

“Security looks intense enough.”

The conversation dropped. I picked up the notebook on the table, flipped it open, then set it back down without reading anything. Being alone with her here felt different than the hospital. The silence and privacy pressed in on

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Evangeline’s name lit the screen.

I turned away and answered.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Cameron, are you okay? I was thinking about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Did you get home yet?”

My grip tightened around the phone.

“On my way.”

I knew Lisa was watching me behind my back.

“I miss you, honey. This house feels strange without you.”

“I know. Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I ended the call and slid the phone back into my pocket.

When I turned back, Lisa was watching me. Her face held no accusation. There was no jealousy there, only awareness. That made this harder. Her mouth pressed into a thin line before she relaxed it again.

“You didn’t have to come.”

“I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

She turned away.

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