TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 149

One hundred and forty nine

Lisa POV

+15 Bchus

I knew the sound of Dr. Harry’s car. The crunch of tires against gravel as he pulled in without rushing made me pull my hair into a bun. I checked the window for confirmation and went downstairs. My mother let him in. They were pleasant as usual, always finding something to talk about. He stepped into the living room with a case in one hand and a smaller bag in the other. His clothes looked sharper than the last time he came.

“Good morning, Lisa,” he said.

“Hi, Doc,” I said casually.

He set the case on the table and opened it. “We are doing a longer session today. I want to track the markers in real time instead of relying on delayed readings.”

I rolled my eyes. “That is what you said yesterday.”

“Trust me on this,” he said without hesitation. “That is why I went to school for years.”

“Fair.”

He pulled out the portable ultrasound machine and set it up on the table in front of the couch. Wires, gel, and the monitor were laid out with precision. I adjusted myself on the couch and pulled my shirt up. He applied the cold gel and began the scan. His focus locked on the screen.

“Anything new?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. He leaned closer to the monitor. “This is where it gets interesting. The fetal structure is stable. No deviation from expected growth patterns exists. But this,” he tapped the side of the screen lightly, “your scan from when you were rushed into the hospital still cannot be medically explained. It does not match any known anomaly in the databases I checked.”

I remained silent. He recorded the reading and then paused to compare it to previous scans on his tablet. He faced me again.

“I do not know what it is. But I will.”

“You sound excited.”

“I am,” he said. “This is not something I have encountered before. It could be nothing. It could be everything. Either way, I intend to understand it.”

“For me or for your research?”

He glanced at me. “Both can exist at the same time. Is that a crime?”

I shrugged. He continued scanning. He adjusted the pressure and angle of the probe, recording every shift. When

he was done, he wiped the gel away and began cleaning the equipment.

“Science is not just theory. It is observation. It is pattern. It is repetition. You are giving me all three.”

“Glad I could be your lab experiment,” I said.

“Come on, Lisa. You are more than that. Just see yourself as a voluntary participant. I read three new journals last night,” he said. “There are cases of unidentified biological growth, but none match your profile exactly. More reasons why I must work until I find out what that was.”

1/4

hubated and forty nine

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Then, as an afterthought, he pulled out a small container and set it on the table. It was a pack of tea.

“I know you are still shaken from what happened earlier, but why would I poison you when I am very easy to suspect? This is part of the diet plan I mentioned. Specific herbs for digestion.”

I took the container and looked inside. “It smells good.”

He handed me a folded sheet of paper. “This is your updated schedule. Hydration intervals, movement requirements, rest cycles. I want you pacing at specific hours.”

“I have been doing that already. It keeps me more awake than during the day. It is annoying.”

“It is effective,” he countered.

He asked how I was generally. I told him how I avoid mirrors because I do not recognize the person looking back at

“Change is not always comfortable,” he said. “For what it is worth, you look healthy. You are handling this better than most people would, including myself.”

I raised a brow. “You would not handle this well?”

“I would analyze it,” he said. “But I would not live through it with the same level of control.”

“That sounds like a compliment.”

“It is.” He hesitated, then spoke again. “Surrogates deserve more than just the contract. They deserve a full life beyond it.” He took a small breath. “What I am saying is that nothing is stopping you from having more after this.”

He looked at me as if he wanted to say more. I decided to turn on the television to divert the conversation. I did not want things to get weird between us. Static flickered and then settled into a news channel. I increased the volume when the headline caught my attention.

Breaking Update: Nadia Official & Alpha Desmond – The End of an Era.

The ticker ran beneath it, repeating the line. A live feed showed journalists gathered outside a gated estate. Cameras flashed as Desmond stepped out, flanked by security. Questions were thrown at him from every direction.

“Alpha Desmond, is the engagement officially over?”

“Were the betrayal rumors true?”

He walked past them without answering. I watched the screen. The camera cut to Nadia’s image. Nothing in her face suggested the chaos I knew had been building.

“Sources close to the family suggest that the split follows weeks of tension and allegations of betrayal,” the commentator said.

I reached for my phone and checked Franklin’s status. No activity. I locked the phone and set it down.

“She is free now,” my mother said.

She was right, but the scrutiny on Desmond felt real to me. I wondered what would happen if Evangeline ever found out that Cameron and I had sex several nights ago. My reputation would be ruined.

“Up next: A celebration at the pack estate despite recent tensions,” the news anchor continued.

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one hutang and forty nine

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