TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 16

16

Lisa POV

I didn’t

get the chance to tell anyone my period had started. No sign of Franklin or Nadia

Franklin finally knocked on my door the following afternoon.

“Come in,” I called, pushing off the bed.

He opened the door but stayed in the hallway, one hand resting on the frame as if he had no intention of stepping inside.

“Just letting you know,” he said, “there’s no need to prepare for tonight. Or tomorrow night. Alpha Cameron is dealing with an urgent pack matter. It may be a few days before things resume.”

I stared at him. “Oh.”

“I’ll let

you know when to be ready again.” His gaze moved across my face. “You look relieved.”

Was I?

I didn’t know what I felt anymore.

“I just…” I gestured toward the bathroom. “My period came early.”

Understanding settled over his expression.

“The fertility drugs threw off my cycle.”

Franklin shifted his weight, clearly wishing this conversation belonged to someone else.

“Well. That works out, then. Take the time to recover. I’ll inform them.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and walked away.

I closed the door and stood in the middle of the room, staring at nothing.

Relief. That was what I was supposed to feel. A reprieve. More time before it happened.

Instead I felt like someone had wound me up for a performance that kept getting cancelled. I had memorized the lines, stepped onto the stage, and waited under the lights, only to have the curtain drop before the show even began.

I forced myself to remember the truth.

This wasn’t some boyfriend ghosting me.

This was a contract.

Cameron didn’t want me. He was avoiding this just as much as I was.

The delays didn’t mean anything personal. It just meant the thought of touching me disgusted him as much as the thought of being touched disgusted me.

Somehow that didn’t make me feel better.

My phone rang.

Mom.

I answered immediately.

“Lisa.” Her voice cracked with tears. “Baby, I needed to hear your voice.”

My stomach tightened.

“What happened?”

“Your father came by with his lawyer.” She sniffed. “He wants me to sign the divorce papers. He says if I don’t do it willingly, he’ll make things difficult. His lawyer said they can challenge what I’m owed.”

Her voice broke completely.

“How can he do this? How can he be so cruel?”

Anger burned through me.

“Then sign the damn papers, Mom. He’s not coming back. He doesn’t love you anymore. Whatever you’re holding onto is gone. You’re just torturing yourself.”

“You don’t understand.” She started crying harder. “He’s been manipulated. That woman twisted his mind. If I could just talk to him, remind him what we had—”

“He doesn’t want to be reminded.”

I pressed my fingers against my temple as the headache started.

“Mom, he made his choice. He chose her. He chose to destroy this family. Nothing you say will change that.”

“But I love him.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Be careful there,”

The day passed in a fog.

I stayed in my room and let episodes of some mindless show play on my laptop. Characters argued and laughed on the screen while I stared past them, barely absorbing anything.

Franklin knocked that evening.

When I opened the door he stood there with the same careful politeness he always carried.

“Evangeline is being released tomorrow,” he said. “She’s improved. Still sick, but stable enough for outpatient care.”

My stomach sank.

“That’s why Alpha Cameron has been away.”

“I see.”

Franklin studied me for a moment as if he wanted to say something else. Instead he nodded and left.

The next morning the mansion exploded with activity.

I woke to voices echoing through the hall.

When I opened my door, servants hurried back and forth carrying enormous arrangements of white roses and lilies. Others climbed ladders to hang garlands along the banisters.

“Make sure everything is perfect!” a woman called from somewhere downstairs. “Lady Evangeline is coming home!”

“The caterer just arrived!”

“Where should we set up the welcome table?”

I stepped back into my room and closed the door,

No one had told me about this.

No one had invited me.

And honestly, I didn’t belong there anyway.

I moved to the window and watched the preparations from a distance while the mansion transformed into something bright and celebratory.

For them, the Luna was coming home.

For me, the countdown was starting again.