TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 202

Two hundred and two

Kieran POV

The steering wheel stuck to my palms as I shifted my grip while Nadia’s voice grated through the phone speaker.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you nonstop since yesterday,” she cried into the phone.

The indicator light on the dashboard blinked green, clicking in rhythm with the windshield wipers.

“What is it, Nadia?”

“It’s Cameron. He threw us out on Evangeline’s command.”

The car engine hummed beneath my feet. I stared at the taillights of the truck ahead and pulled the gear stick back, changing lanes as Nadia talked. Her voice detailed everything that had gone wrong.

“My own brother looked at me like I was insane. That bitch has taken over his mind, and all that’s going to be left of him is a hollow version of himself.”

“He won’t be,” I said. “That’s not fully him right now.”

“So what now? We need to get him away from her and force him out of that house somehow.”

“No, Nadia. That’s not how it works. If you corner Cameron right now, he’ll run directly back to her.”

The line went quiet, save for the rush of wind against my half-open window. A motorcycle zoomed past, its noise drowning out the silence.

“But she’s destroying him. I know you know that. And you’re not doing anything about it.”

“Panic is exactly how people get pulled deeper into this mess. He’s already emotionally unstable. We can’t afford to become unstable too.”

I looked at my reflection in the rearview mirror; the dark circles under my eyes, the dry skin around my lips. I remembered the heaviness in my limbs years ago and the hours spent staring at walls. A sharp intake of breath came through the speaker, followed by the sound of Nadia wiping her nose.

“I’m going to get help. I’m heading toward Ironfang. But right now, we need to work around the periods where he becomes clearer.”

“So we just wait for him to become himself temporarily?”

“No. We prepare for those moments. If we catch him during those clearer periods and keep him emotionally grounded long enough, we may be able to pull him away from her influence.”

“May?”

I reached down and twisted the air-conditioning knob, turning the fan up.

“They’re watching all of us now, Nadia. Sects like Meridian hide inside systems nobody questions until it’s too late.”

“I dare them to try to hurt me! I’ll fight them with everything I have.”

My mouth twitched upward, but my eyes stayed fixed on the road as the car bumped over the concrete ramp and entered the expressway.

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“So are you saying this Dominion thing isn’t complete yet?” she asked.

+15 Bchus

“It’s not always that simple. But if it fully settles, Cameron may stop recognizing what’s wrong with him altogether. That’s why you cannot treat him like an enemy right now or turn your anger on him. Part of him still knows something is wrong, even if he can’t hold onto it properly.”

“But he’s losing. I can feel it. And where are you going anyway?”

“I’m on my way to see someone. Her name is Cassidy. She helped pull me out when I went through this myself.”

“Well, I hope that works,” she grumbled.

“I hope so too.”

The car engine sputtered and cut out as I turned the key. My hand lingered on the ignition, the plastic warm from the three-hour drive. Outside, the scent of barley and dry asphalt drifted through the vents. The countryside replaced the high walls of the city, stretching toward the hills of Ironfang.

At the border checkpoint, a guard in a faded uniform stepped out of a wooden shack. I slid my hand into my jacket pulled out the wallet containing my Alpha ID, and pressed it against the window. The guard glanced at the seal, nodded, and cranked the iron lever that lifted the striped barrier.

I drove past the military barracks, rows of identical concrete blocks lined with gravel pathways, until the road ended near a cabin. The structure had timber beams and a tin roof that reflected the midday sun. To the left, a greenhouse made of glass panels sat beside a patch of wild grass and flowers.

I walked up the wooden porch steps and pressed the doorbell, listening to the metallic chime echo inside. I adjusted the collar of my shirt and shifted my weight as my heart pounded harder.

The deadbolt clicked and the door swung inward.

Cassidy stood in the entryway, wearing a loose floral dress that brushed her shins, her dark hair pinned up with a clip. Her green eyes fixed on my face, the skin around her nostrils flaring.

“You’ve lost your bloody mind, Kieran.”

I managed a small smile.

“Nice to see you too, Cassidy.”

“I don’t want to see you.” She crossed her arms. “George warned you not to come here.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you standing on my porch?”

“Because I need your help. And I ran out of people willing to help me.”

“Too bad I stopped being one of those people years ago.”

“Cassidy, please.”

She held my gaze, her fingers digging harder into her forearms. Then she stepped back into the shadowed hallway, leaving the door wide open. I bent slightly to clear the low wooden frame.

Inside, the floor was scrubbed clean. A bird with green and yellow feathers hopped between wooden perches inside a wire cage near a clay sculpture. The walls were painted bright yellow. I moved to a high-backed wooden chair and sat down, resting my forearms on the armrests. A stack of books filled the lower shelves of a bookcase

2/4

built into the left wall.

+15 Bonus

Cassidy closed the front door with a firm thud. Her bare feet clicked against the floorboards as she walked into the kitchen. A cabinet door slammed, followed by the sound of a faucet turning on and off. When she returned to the living room, her hands were empty.

“You should leave before I decide to stab you.”

I nodded. “That sounds emotionally charged.”

She jerked her chin upward, her brow furrowing.

“Do not stand in my house looking entertained while dragging your disasters back into my life.”

I looked down at the grain of the wood between my boots.

“Look, I know I should be the last person asking for your help, but… I need it. There’s someone who’s like a son to me, and he’s entering Dominion.”

She rolled her eyes. “And?”

“He’s deteriorating fast. Meridian accelerated it.”

“Not my problem,” she said blandly. “You survived Dominion already. Handle it.”

“There’s a child involved now, Cass. The womb carrying the child belongs to my mate’s daughter.”

Her left eyebrow arched, stretching the pale scar that split the hair near the arch.

“They want the pregnancy. We intercepted enough to know that much.”

A humorless laugh escaped her.

“You told me very clearly we were finished, Kieran. You walked out of my life, chose Vanessa, nearly destroyed yourself for her, then shut me out after I dragged you out of Dominion alive. Now suddenly you remember I exist because somebody else is in danger.”

“But this isn’t about me,” I repeated.

“If you didn’t care so much about them, you wouldn’t be here.”

“You’re right,” I said, sitting up. “You told me Dominion progression could still be interrupted before completion and that the Daughters spent decades studying Meridian tactics. I don’t have any other options left.”

Cassidy laughed again, softer this time.

“You’ve got some nerve. Do you understand what you’re asking me to do?” she snapped. “You want me to drag my people into a Dominion case tied to an Alpha household, a mating bond, and a pregnancy Meridian already marked. Do you realize how many people could die if we intervene openly? You’re even more selfish than I remembered.”

“Cassidy, please.”

“No. I’m not helping you. I’m not contacting the Daughters for you, and I’m not risking my people because you failed to protect someone under your care.”

“He’s running out of time.”

“You should leave,” she said. She walked to the front door, gripped the handle, and pulled it wide open, letting

3/4

+15 Bonus

sunlight spill across the floor.

I remained in the chair.

“Kieran, get the hell out of my house.”

I pushed myself to my feet. “I know you, Cassidy. I know you want to do this. You’re just angry over old wounds.”.

She let out a huff.

“That’s exactly why you need to leave, before I make another mistake because of you.”

She extended her arm, pointing through the doorway toward the gravel driveway outside.

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