TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 177

One hundred and seventy seven

Cameron POV

Franklin didn’t follow her right away. He lingered, shifting his weight and looking from me to Evangeline like he was weighing which fire to put out first.

“Go after her,” I said.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“Go!” I barked.

He gave a stiff nod and hurried out the door. The heavy silence that followed wasn’t peaceful. It pressed against my eardrums from all sides. I hated it.

I rubbed my palms over my face and turned away from the entrance. Evangeline stood a few feet away. I didn’t need to look to know she was there; the air felt thick around her.

When I finally turned, she was staring at me. Her cheeks were wet, stained with streaks of mascara.

“You’re just going to let your sister assault me like that?” she asked. She hugged her arms across her chest. “You heard everything she said. As if the lies weren’t enough, she actually hit me.”

“You provoked her.”

Her jaw dropped. She looked back at me with a mix of shock and growing heat. “You think I deserved that?”

“I think you pushed too hard. Both of you did.”

Her eyes turned cold and hard. “So now you’re blaming both sides?”

I let out a long yawn. This talk already felt like a marathon, and I couldn’t shake the heavy fog drifting through my brain.

“Don’t blame me for this, Eva. You called me a cheater.”

“Because you are!” she snapped. She took a sharp step toward me. “You vanish for hours and come back smelling like her.”

That sent a jolt of irritation through me.

“So what if I did? It’s not my fault she makes me feel like I can actually think straight.”

The tears started again, doubling in pace. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. Her voice dropped to a pained whisper. “A surrogate is coming between us, and you’re just rubbing it in my face?”

“You’re making this whole thing worse,” I said.

“No,” she said. She reached out, her fingers trembling. “I’m trying to understand why my mate is slipping away.”

I looked into her eyes, and for a split second, a red flag went up. The words sounded perfect. The emotion behind them felt hollow.

I blinked hard. The feeling vanished, replaced by the same lag I’d felt earlier. I pushed it deep down.

“You’re not losing anything,” I said. “You’re building a mountain out of a molehill.”

She let out a soft laugh that stayed in her throat. She searched my face, and I felt that strange pull again. It was a

1/5

One hundred and seventy seven

+15 Bonus

gentle tug on my thoughts, not a shove, but enough to make me go still.

I drew my brows together.

“Kiss me then,” she said.

“What?”

“I dare you to kiss me. If you aren’t spooked by Nadia’s little show, prove it.”

I hesitated. She gave a dry chuckle and stepped into my space, closing the gap until I could smell her perfume. Who knows? Maybe this is a plan you and your sister made to ruin me and kick me out.”

Her eyes pinned me in place. I was too tired to fight, and a small part of me wanted to prove I was still the one in charge of my own mind.

I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers.

It was slow at first. That feeling of “wrongness” coiled around my neck like a snake, but I forced it away. She was my mate. This was how it was supposed to be.

A sharp gasp left my throat when she pulled me closer, her tongue meeting mine. I broke the contact as smoothly as I could, stepping back to catch my breath. Her shoulders dropped, and the tension in her face smoothed out.

I looked at the floor.

“I’m tired,” I said. “This ends here.”

She watched me like she had a thousand more words, but she kept her mouth shut.

Alpha Kieran stood in the middle of the room with his hands gripped behind his back. Franklin stood beside him. Nadia leaned against the wall, her eyes tracking me like I might vanish if she blinked.

Nobody said a word. That was my first clue that I was walking into an ambush.

“Don’t you people ever sleep?” I asked, walking toward the center of the group. “Or is following me around a full- time job now?”

Kieran’s heavy gaze landed on me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

I let out a short, dry laugh. “We’re starting with that? How are your own lapses doing, Kieran?”

“Lapses? I’m just dealing with people who won’t mind their own business.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is? Because I’m starting to think none of you actually have one.”

The silence returned.

I walked past the group and tipped some bourbon into a glass. My brain felt like it was moving through mud. I had to focus just to keep my hands steady. The effort made my voice come out like a growl.

“Cameron, please listen,” Nadia said. Her voice sounded thin and broken. “Something is happening to you.”

2/5

+15 Benus

I took a slow sip of the drink. “Nothing is happening.”

“You’re losing time, Cameron,” Kieran said. His voice was like a hammer. “Your body is slowing down for no reason.”

I stared at him. He took a step toward me.

“You’re not just tired. Something is working on you.”

The fog in my head thickened. I slammed the glass down on the table.

“I’m not doing this. Not with you, not with her, not with anyone.”

Kieran didn’t move an inch. “You think this is just stress? The exhaustion? The way you’re disconnecting from everything?” He shook his head. “You think that’s normal?”

“I think I’m under a lot of pressure.”

He kept his eyes locked on mine. “You’re being weakened.”

I laughed, but it sounded hollow. “By what?”

He didn’t blink. “By someone close to you.”

There it was. The accusation I knew was coming.

I took a slow, deep breath. “Say her name. I dare you.”

Kieran took his time. “If this is what I think it is, Evangeline needs to be questioned. She needs to face the Children of the Moon.”

“No.”

“This is bigger than your pride, Cameron.”

“I said no.”

“You’re saying no before you even hear the facts,” Kieran said. I could see the anger building in his jaw.

“I’ve heard enough. You’re all singing the same song. Something is wrong with me. Someone I love is the villain. And look at that, it’s my mate. It’s a joke.”

The word hung in the air.

Kieran sighed. “Your sister has proof.”

“That’s just Nadia’s imagination running wild.”

Nadia looked at me with eyes that could have burned a hole through stone.

“I’m not dragging Evangeline into some ritual interrogation just because you all decided to lose your minds tonight.”

“You’re protecting the wrong person,” Kieran said. “She is breaking you down piece by piece.”

“I said no!”

The room went dead quiet. Kieran studied me for a long time. His expression changed, turning into something heavy and dark.

3/5

cane hundred and seventy severs

+15 Bcnus

“You don’t know what happens if this keeps going,” he said quietly. “It starts small. Then your choices aren’t yours anymore. You don’t even notice. You think you’re the one in the driver’s seat.”

The slow drag returned to my head. It made me more angry than scared.

“I’m still in control,” I said.

“You won’t be for long.” He looked away. “I failed once. I won’t fail again.”

I laughed without any humor. “You’re talking in circles.”

Kieran moved into my personal space. “Then listen to this. You need to leave. Get out of here. Get away from everything tied to this house.”

I stared at him, my heart thumping against my ribs. “You want me to run?”

“I want you alive.”

“I’m not dying.”

“Not in the way you think. You’re not safe here.”

“I built this place!”

“That doesn’t mean it won’t trap you.”

“I’m not leaving my home because of a theory.”

“It’s a fact.”

“It’s a story.”

Kieran’s face hardened. “Take Lisa and go.”

That stopped me. The name sent a jolt through my system.

“You’re dragging her into this now?”

“She’s already in it.”

“No, she isn’t. And you better stay away from her with this madness.”

“She keeps you steady,” Kieran argued. “You’re clearer when she’s around. Your wolf knows it.”

I looked away from him. “That doesn’t mean anything. I’m staying put,” I said. “Not for her, not for you, not for anyone.”

Kieran held my gaze. “You’re making a mistake.”

“I’ll live with it.”

“You might not get the chance. We’re trying to save you.”

“I don’t need saving!”

“You do.”

“No,” I said, my voice dropping to a low hiss. “I need everyone to stop acting like I’ve lost my grip.”

Kieran’s voice went even lower. “You already have.”

4/5

hundred and seventy seven

Something inside me snapped.

“I’m done,” I said. I turned my back on all of them. “Conversation over.”

COIN BUNDLE: get more free bonus

Comments

Support

Share