TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 193

One hundred and ninety three

Lisa POV

James’s phone started ringing across the coffee table. He picked it up, frowned, then looked toward me. “It’s Dad.”

I managed a shrug as he picked it up and handed me the phone quietly. My father sounded very pissed off on the phone.

“Lisa. What the hell is happening over there?”

I looked toward the others before standing and walking toward the hallway for privacy.

“That depends,” I replied. “Which version did you hear?”

“Luna Catherine contacted me.”

“What did she want?”

“She said the situation has become unstable publicly. She believes returning you to Wildfang would provide continuity of medical supervision and contractual protection during the pregnancy.”

The wording sounded polished and reasonable, and that would have worked for someone who didn’t know what Luna Catherine was capable of doing.

“She also said your relocation created complications involving prenatal care obligations.”

I laughed bitterly.

“She’s trying to make it sound civilized. They want to hurt me.”

“I told her no decisions would happen without your consent. But she’s pushing carefully. She’s making it sound as if you are problematic and breaking the rules of the contract.”

She was dressing cruelty with legal language.

“I’m with Alpha Kieran, Mom’s mate. I didn’t abscond. Tell that to her.

Voices rose behind me from the sitting room. I turned. Alpha Kieran looked furious now.

“This should never have reached public media,” he snapped. “They exposed the pregnancy publicly to more scrutiny. I am done sitting here while they shape the narrative unchallenged.”

“You still cannot move recklessly,” Franklin warned. “We don’t have enough yet.”

“We have enough to know Lisa became leverage.”

I ended the call with my father afterward and walked upstairs. Nobody stopped me. The house felt quieter away from the voices downstairs. I reached the upper hallway and sat near the staircase overlooking the foyer beneath

I stayed there, staring at nothing.

I wasn’t shocked; I was exhausted by how fast people could become monsters toward somebody they had never

met.

Mom found me eventually. She sat beside me without trying to force conversation this time. Downstairs, I could

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still hear distant voices.

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The baby had become public debate material. My relationship with Cameron had become entertainment.

And somewhere out there, people who had never met me already hated me comfortably.

I stared down toward the foyer below.

“Is this even worth it?”

Mom stayed beside me on the staircase without answering immediately.

“They made me sound unstable. And the worst part is that people believe it.”

Mom folded her hands quietly in her lap.

“People believe what fits the story they already want.”

I laughed bitterly.

“So I’m the evil surrogate now.”

“You’re the invisible person in the story,” she corrected softly. “Evangeline is visible. People know her and believe her side. You were hidden until now.”

That part hurt because it was true. I was just a surrogate.

The outsider.

The pregnant problem.

Пowered my head into my hands.

“I hate this.”

Mom rubbed my back.

“Me too.”

“I didn’t even want Cameron at first.” My voice cracked from frustration. “I wanted money. That was it. I wanted to help us. I wanted to survive.”

“And now?”

I looked toward the foyer downstairs.

Now everything felt tangled together so badly that I could barely separate fear from love anymore.

“I don’t know,” I admitted quietly.

Footsteps approached from downstairs afterward. James appeared first, carrying two bottles of water, while Harry followed behind him.

James handed me one. Harry sat down on the lower stair beneath us and loosened the collar of his shirt.

“You’re allowed to be angry.”

“I’m more embarrassed than angry.”

James scoffed.

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“You should be angry. They basically called you a manipulative homewrecker publicly.”

Harry looked up at me.

“You don’t need this stress. These kinds of scandals affect one’s mind faster than physical attacks.”

Despite myself, I smiled faintly.

“Too late, I guess.”

Mom looked toward him.

“Can they legally release more information?”

“Not officially,” Harry replied. “But unofficial leaks are harder to control. Especially if somebody inside the channels keeps feeding reporters partial truths.”

“I still don’t understand how everybody suddenly forgot Cameron was involved too. Why is Lisa taking all the heat?”

“They didn’t forget,” Harry replied. “They’re reframing him. Public sympathy protects powerful men differently, especially Alphas. Cameron becomes emotionally compromised or manipulated. Evangeline becomes the suffering mate. Lisa becomes the disruption.”

I looked down at the water bottle in my hands.

Alpha Kieran looked up toward the staircase, and his expression hardened when he saw me sitting there.

“You should be resting.”

“There it is again,” I snapped. “Everybody keeps telling me to rest whenever things get worse.”

Kieran exhaled heavily.

“Lisa.”

“No! I’m tired of this. You need to go out there and expose this for what it is.”

Franklin exchanged a glance with him downstairs.

That irritated me more.

“What now?” I demanded. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Kieran stayed quiet too long. Franklin answered instead.

“They’re increasing pressure because something disrupted their timeline.”

“What timeline?” Mom asked.

Kieran walked closer toward the staircase.

“We think the bond between Cameron and the baby is interfering with Dominion progression.”

The words settled heavily around me. Harry stood from the lower stair.

“That theory still isn’t confirmed.”

“It’s close enough,” Franklin replied.

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I looked between all of them.

“You think the baby is protecting Cameron?”

Nobody answered, and that terrified me because silence usually meant yes in this house.

I looked down at my stomach.

Emotion clogged my throat.

Franklin spoke again.

“That may also explain why the media escalation happened now.”

Mom frowned.

“You think this is connected?”

“Yes,” Franklin replied. “Pressure isolates people. Fear destabilizes decision-making. They want Lisa emotionally destroyed.”

“So what happens next?” I asked, already trembling.

Kieran answered quietly this time.

“We stop reacting defensively. We need to get Cameron to safety. We’re running out of time.”

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