TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 121

One hundred and twenty one

Lisa

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My phone shrilled while I studied lipstick shades for my mother. If she was seeing Alpha Kieran now, she had to look her best. Cameron’s name flashed across the screen and I sat up, staring at it while the ringing dragged on. My thumb hovered over the screen before I finally answered and pressed the phone to my ear.

His voice filled the line. That tone alone tightened my chest. I had heard it in my head all week.

“How are you? How was the priestess’s visit?”

Straight to business. I should have expected that.

“Nothing much. Just a reminder the baby belongs to the pack now.”

He sighed and gave someone an order in the background. He was in his office. The line went quiet before he spoke again.

“Did she say anything worrying?”

“No.”

Silence settled between us.

“You feel alright? How’s the baby?”

The conversation stayed careful and polite, both of us circling the things we weren’t saying. I stood and stretched my leg when a cramp pulled at the muscle.

“I heard you’re traveling north,” I said.

“We haven’t left yet.”

His tone tightened.

“Evangeline refuses to go.”

That caught me off guard. Her parents had come over and were trying to push her into the surgery. I pictured Evangeline in a room full of worried faces, everyone telling her what she had to do to get her life back.

“That surgery is risky,” I said. “She could die. Of course she’s scared.”

“What if she says no?”

“Then we’ll keep trying.”

He sounded worn out. Silence kept settling between us, the kind where neither person hangs up but neither says the thing sitting in their throat.

“If you need anything, call Franklin,” he said. “Take care of yourself.”

“You too,” I said quietly.

I stared at the dark screen before noticing my mom standing beside me.

“Was that Cameron?”

I shrugged. She studied my face, then let it go.

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The days after that were quiet. No calls. No messages.

Instead, my mom kept receiving calls, flowers, and gifts from Alpha Kieran, and I ended up dragged into the whole thing.

“We should go shopping, Mom. And you should shave your legs.”

She shot me a horrified look and pointed at me.

“You’re enjoying this.”

I laughed. “Yes. Very much.”

“So shopping it is.”

“I don’t need shopping. I don’t want to look desperate.”

“Mom, it’s not desperation. The man crossed half the territory just to ask you to dinner. Attraction isn’t the problem.”

She sighed and sat back. “I’m not trying to impress him.”

“You will,” I said. “We’re getting dresses, perfume, lipstick. The full treatment.”

She let me drag her into a clothing store while I pulled dress after dress from the racks and shoved her toward the fitting room.

She stood in front of the mirror wearing a short red dress that almost turned her into someone else. “I’m not moving too fast, am I?”

“Depends. Do you like him?”

“You know I do.”

I smiled at her reflection and she rolled her eyes.

“Lisa, I’m not a teenager. I just don’t want to make a fool of myself.”

I rested a hand on her shoulder. “Mom. The man loves you. You share a bond. Relax.”

“Fine.” 1

I headed back toward the first rack to grab a dress I had noticed earlier, but stopped when I saw Nadia standing at the end of the aisle.

I hadn’t seen her since the day I left the Alpha house.

She looked the same as always, at least when she wasn’t drunk. Still, something about her face felt off. More tired.

Our eyes met and surprise hung between us.

日

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