TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 115

One hundred and fifteen

Lisa POV

I squealed when the front door opened and my mother walked in. My body moved before my brain caught up. I rushed to her and wrapped my arms around her. She laughed while trying to keep hold of her bag.

“You’re going to knock my glasses off,” she said.

“Oh Mom, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

I hugged her tighter. She pulled back and cupped my face.

“Let me look at you. You look thinner.”

Morning sickness had been doing a number on me, but this was not about me.

James ran past us toward the living room.

“Holy fuck! This house is insane!” he shouted.

My mom looked over my shoulder. “Language.”

He ignored her and disappeared toward the television area where the console Franklin brought earlier sat under the screen. I did not even know the house had video games. I smiled as my brother’s childlike excitement returned.

Mom stepped further inside and I followed her. The living room lights were already on, and the evening breeze drifting through the balcony door carried that quiet feeling houses get when dinner approaches.

Franklin stood outside near the gate speaking with two guards. He pointed toward one of the security cameras while the guard nodded.

“Sit, Mom,” I said. “Tell me everything. The court hearing. The divorce. All of it.”

“You’re not letting me breathe first?” she said as she sat on the couch.

“No.”

She crossed her legs and leaned back.

“You know how it is. Your father played the victim again. His family treated me like I was the one who cheated. The judge kept asking why I wasn’t fighting for the house or the accounts to be shared.” She exhaled slowly. “I just wanted to leave and never come back.”

She told me how my father tried to twist the arguments and ended up making himself look ridiculous. I could believe it. That man spent years acting like the smartest person in every room.

The thought of him standing there regretting every decision he made felt satisfying in a way I did not expect. It hurt too.

“Karma did play him a number,” Mom said. “I heard his lover left him.”

I burst out laughing.

From the other room James shouted, “I just beat the level!”

“Okay,” I said. “Now tell me the real tea.”

I leaned closer.

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The found and lifteen

+15 8cnus

“What’s going on with Alpha Kieran? Why did you tell him to give you time?”

She looked down at her hands.

“He’s a good man.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No,” she said. “The problem is that he’s a man, and I’m still learning how to trust men again.”

“Mom, the man left his pack and drove all the way to Creek Keepers just to check if you were safe. He has a whole territory to run and he still made time for you. You’re going to cancel something that could be beautiful because you’re scared.”

She gave me a long look.

“You’re very pushy.”

“I know.”

“And nosy.”

“That too.”

She laughed despite herself.

“Let me take things slowly. I need to be sure that being with me is truly what he wants. Not every desire needs to be acted upon.”

I opened my mouth to argue, ready to ask if she truly believed that or if fear was disguising itself as wisdom.

Franklin’s presence cut the conversation short as he stepped inside.

“Franklin, you should stay for dinner,” Mom said.

“Oh no. I don’t want to interrupt.”

“You’re not interrupting anything,” she replied. “You’re more than a guardian to Lisa. The least we can do is feed you. Please stay.”

He finally smiled.

“I won’t say no to your cooking.”

James ran into the room holding the controller.

“Franklin, you have to try this level!”

“Later,” my mom snapped.

James groaned and ran back to the living room.

Franklin took a seat across from me.

“So how is everything at the Alpha house?” I asked.

He shrugged. “The usual. The latest is that Nadia is getting married to that punk Alpha Desmond.”

“That was fast,” I said.

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+15 Bcnus

“Very fast,” Franklin replied.

His voice stayed neutral, but something in the way he said it felt wrong. He looked like someone who had swallowed sand.

He turned his gaze toward the balcony.

“I’m fine,” he said.

I did not push.

“So what else is happening there?”

He hesitated.

“Evangeline has been trying things she shouldn’t be using.

My mother frowned.

“Medicine?”

Franklin shook his head.

“Not exactly.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Strange remedies. That’s the polite way to put it.”

Silence settled across the room as my mother and I exchanged glances.

“They’re planning to take her north,” Franklin continued. “Cameron wants her admitted to a hospital there.”

My heart lurched. I hated that reaction.

Иooked down at my hands so no one would see the flicker of emotion crossing my face.

“North,” I said. “That’s far.”

“It’s one of the best facilities,” Franklin said. “Cameron has been trying. He’s endured a lot. The problem now is getting her to cooperate. She’s become very stubborn.”

My mom and I exchanged another look.

“The poor girl has probably given up on getting well,” Mom said quietly. “When I lost my sight, I was ready to accept darkness as my life. Look at me now. People can come back from terrible places.”

She looked at me carefully.

“It’s sad we cannot have everything we want at the same time.”

Her words felt like they were meant for me.

The man my heart was falling for belonged to another woman. If Evangeline recovered, if I gave them the child they wanted, I would become insignificant in the larger picture.

The thought hurt.

But it was a truth I kept forcing myself to accept.

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