TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 120

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One hundred and twenty

Lisa POV

I was trying to zip up a dress that had fit two weeks ago. It stopped halfway. That couldn’t be possible. There was no way I had gained weight. My stomach was still flat, just a small pouch showing. I wanted to wear that dress because it was light. I yanked the zipper, annoyed with my changing body, and groaned.

Mom was downstairs watering the flowers Alpha Kieran had brought her. I stood at the staircase, smiling and

forgetting my own worries. When my phone buzzed upstairs, I went back with my zip still halfway and answered

It was Franklin. He said he was on his way with the pack priestess. That caught me off guard. When I told my mom, she guessed it might be something about the baby, some cleansing or blessing.

She looked at my stomach. “This child is very important to them. Routine prayers and blessings are normal?”

I sat on the couch. I hadn’t expected anyone from pack leadership to come.

“That means Cameron will be coming,” she said.

My heart skipped, and I hated that every time Cameron’s name came up, I reacted the same way.

The priestess was younger than I had expected, about my mother’s age. She wore an all-white ensemble, and the trinkets on her wrists clinked as she moved. Franklin stepped in ahead of her and signaled that it was fine to enter.

“Is she the mother of the heir?” she asked Franklin, without greeting or introduction.

I looked from one of them to the other.

Franklin confirmed it. She carried a basket filled with cleansing items, blessed water and scented oils.

“Rise,” she said after studying me.

“How far along is she?”

Franklin answered, “Seven weeks.’

Franklin noticed how uncomfortable I was.

“Lisa, the priestess only needs to do a few routine things. It won’t take long.”

“How often are you eating?” the priestess asked while pressing a hand against my stomach.

“Regularly,” I mumbled.

Her sharp eyes, lined in black, lifted to me.

“What does regularly mean?”

I shrugged. “It means I eat when I’m hungry.”

That startled her. Even my mom looked uneasy. But unlike my mom, who usually softened awkward moments, the priestess didn’t react.

The priestess sighed. “You should be consuming protein every few hours. The Alpha’s bloodline requires strength.”

I almost rolled my eyes. It was clear I was just a container. No one asked the woman carrying the Alpha’s heir how

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she felt. My feelings didn’t matter here.

She continued the routine and asked questions that made it sound like I was negligent.

“You think I’d hurt my own baby?” I asked.

She gave me a sharp look. “The baby is not yours.”

Silence settled in the room, but the priestess didn’t back down.

“This is the future of the pack. It’s your responsibility to make sure you eat properly and do everything necessary so the outcome is healthy.”

My mom gave me a look that warned me not to respond.

I was monitored medically, and now culturally and politically. To them I wasn’t a person. I was a vessel.

What irritated me even more was that Cameron hadn’t come himself. If this mattered so much, he should have come as the father of the child. Instead he sent Franklin.

That told me enough.

Thankfully the priestess didn’t stay long. She said she would pray for me. I nodded politely and watched her leave.

I turned to Franklin once he confirmed she had been escorted out.

“Was this stated in the contract?”

Franklin looked ready to leave as well.

“It’s just the requirements,” he said, glancing at my mother for support. “Every pregnant woman goes through this.”

He pulled an envelope from his coat. Even before opening it, it looked expensive and decorative.

“What is this?”

“Nadia’s wedding,” he said, and I heard the resentment in his voice. My own irritation faded for a moment.

“That was fast.”

I opened it.

“Five weeks.”

I looked up at Franklin, who kept his face blank. I already knew he had feelings for Nadia. He had even fake-dated someone to make her jealous. It hadn’t worked.

“And you’re just going to let her go?” I asked.

“That’s how life works,” he said. “You can’t force people to do what they don’t want. You should understand that.”

He was right.

I glanced at the invitation and back at him.

“So Cameron couldn’t come for the so-called blessing?”

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Franklin’s blank expression shifted into a faint smile. I frowned.

“He’s been busy with pack matters,” Franklin said. “He asked how you were doing.”

The answer irritated me, but I had no right to demand Cameron’s attention.

“Interesting strategy,” I said. “He asks about me but can’t ask me himself.”

“That wasn’t the intention,” Franklin replied. “Also, he’ll be traveling north for two, maybe three weeks. He’s preparing for Evangeline’s surgery.”

I said nothing. Maybe distance would work this time.

Franklin said goodbye, and my mom made rice and seafood for lunch. I couldn’t stomach it, even though I had asked for it all morning.

“Seriously, I’ve been sweating in the kitchen and now you’re not eating?” She sat beside me. “What’s bothering you?”

“I’m fine. I’m not hungry. I’ll eat later,” I said.

My mom shook her head.

“Lisa, you’re in love with him.”

She said it so casually it sounded like a comment about the weather.

“That’s a wild accusation, Mom. And you’re very wrong.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t ask if I was right. Look at you. Moody, waiting for Cameron, acting like someone stole your oxygen.”

I turned away. “Maybe I’m just pregnant. Did that possibility cross your mind?”

“Of course,” she said. “I’ve had two children. I remember what pregnancy looks like. It makes you tired, moody, hungry. It doesn’t make you stare at the door every time there’s a chance Cameron might walk in, and then sulk when he doesn’t.”

“You’re exaggerating,” I said.

She tried to take my hand, but I pulled away.

“You want him here, don’t you?” she said.

I shook my head. “He’s busy. And he’s not mine. He runs an entire pack and has a sick mate. I don’t expect him to drop by every afternoon.”

She smiled. “You’re terrible at lying. And you’re doing it badly. I saw your face when Franklin said Cameron was leaving for the North.”

“That’s none of my business, Mom. And stop pushing.”

“I push when my daughter looks miserable and insists she’s fine. Look me in the eye and say Cameron doesn’t matter to you.”

I stayed silent, and she held my hand this time.

“There it is.”

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“Can we talk about something else?” I said, my voice thick with tears I didn’t want to spill.

“No. You’re hurting, Lisa. You’re my daughter. I notice things.”

I blinked back tears and tried to stand. “I’m going to bed.”

She pushed me back down gently. “We both know you don’t take afternoon naps unless you have a headache.”

I wiped a stubborn tear with the back of my palm.

“It was supposed to be simple.”

My voice broke.

“The contract. I carry the baby. Cameron gets his heir. When it’s over, I leave. But now I don’t even know what I think anymore. The stupid part is that none of it belongs to me. Not me. Not the baby. Not him. They all belong to Evangeline. Someone else.”

She sighed. “Oh dear.” Then she pulled me into her arms.

“It’s probably right for him to stay away,” I said. “I don’t even know what I am in his life. I’m just a stupid girl who fell in love with the wrong man.

Then I broke into tears, and she rubbed my back, trying to soothe me.

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