TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 210

Two hundred and ten

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58chus

Two hundred and ten

Cassidy POV

“How much does she know?” I asked, pointing at Lisa and ignoring her mother entirely.

Kieran nodded. “Can we all just sit?”

Lisa and Susan moved toward the sofa near the fireplace, keeping as much distance as possible between us.

“We’ve reached the point where partial explanations are no longer useful,” Kieran said, his eyes staying on Lisa until she finally looked back at him. She had handed him her trust already. That much was obvious.

“This is Cassidy,” Kieran told her, his hand reaching toward my side of the room. “The woman I told you about. The one connected to the people who helped me survive Meridian conditioning years ago.”

Lisa’s eyes flicked to my face, lingered there, then dropped back to her lap as though she couldn’t stand the sharpness in my expression.

“As we all know, the Meridian used conditioning to control Cameron’s mind,” Kieran continued, his voice dropping into that steady register he used when trying to keep a room from breaking apart. “And they’ve already gone further than I feared they would.”

He looked briefly toward Lisa before turning back to me.

“The only reason Cameron stabilizes around Lisa is still under investigation, but the connection between them is strong enough that we’re convinced they’re fated mates. Beyond that, the pregnancy itself appears to interrupt parts of the conditioning. Meridian has realized that too.”

Lisa looked away.

“They tried to remove the baby because the child is disrupting their control over Cameron,” Kieran finished.

I didn’t need him to explain basic mechanics to me. If the girl was Cameron’s real mate, the wolf inside him would instinctively resist Dominion around her.

“And what exactly do you people want from me?” I asked.

“We need your help convincing the Daughters to consider Lisa,” Kieran said.

A dry laugh slipped out of my throat.

“Consider her?” I repeated. “You say that as though admission is some polite interview process.”

Kieran stayed quiet.

Lisa and Susan exchanged a quick look, both of them finally realizing there was far more ugliness behind this conversation than Kieran had prepared them for.

“We need help disrupting Dominion before Cameron deteriorates further,” Kieran said after the silence stretched.

“Still vague,” I replied. “Try harder.”

“I do not have direct ties to the chapter houses,” I continued. “I cannot walk in there demanding favors because your mate’s daughter got pregnant by the wrong Alpha.”

George rubbed a hand over his mouth.

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“Cass…”

Kieran closed his eyes briefly, fingers pressing into his kneecaps.

“Could you at least ask them to take Lisa under emergency protection?” he asked quietly.

“What?” Lisa sat upright. “Take me where?”

Susan turned sharply toward Kieran. “You never said anything about taking her anywhere.”

“Relax,” Kieran said, raising a calming hand toward them. “Nobody is forcing Lisa into anything. But she is vulnerable right now, and we are running out of safe options.”

Lisa crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “I don’t want to join anything.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Trust me, we aren’t desperate for recruits.”

George nudged my elbow hard enough to warn me.

“Lisa,” Kieran said gently, turning toward her fully now, “the Meridian are targeting both you and the child. My protection has limits. If they manage to infiltrate Cameron this deeply, they will eventually escalate toward you again.”

Lisa shook her head. “I don’t trust secret societies. I don’t trust any of this.”

“She’s frightened,” Susan said, her hand settling over Lisa’s wrist.

“She should be,” I said flatly. Susan’s eyes snapped toward me.

Kieran turned to Lisa. “Lisa, dear, nobody is asking for blind loyalty. I’m asking you to understand the scale of the danger.”

“And what exactly would these women do to me?” Lisa asked, finally looking directly at me.

I held her gaze.

“That depends on whether you survive initiation.”

Her mother sucked in a sharp breath.

“Kieran,” she whispered. “Did you hear what she just said?”

The two women looked genuinely shaken now. Better. Hope got people killed faster than fear ever did.

“I am not becoming somebody else’s weapon,” Lisa snapped, anger finally breaking through the panic. “I don’t want to join another cult just because the first one failed to control Cameron properly.”

The room went quiet.

“Then I’m done here,” I said, sliding the strap of my tote over my shoulder as I stood. “She’s made her choice. The only way I can help is if she decides she actually wants help.”

Kieran rushed forward. His hand closed around my forearm through the wool of my sleeve.

“Please,” he said quietly, leaning closer. “She’s overwhelmed.”

“You don’t need to speak for me,” Lisa shot back from near the fireplace. She pushed herself upright with one

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hand against the armrest. “Why am I the one expected to join them? Why not Cameron?”

I turned sharply, pulling my arm free from Kieran’s grip hard enough for the fabric to hiss.

“Because it’s called the Daughters of the Moon for a reason, brat,” I snapped. “And because Cameron is already halfway inside Dominion.”

Lisa opened her mouth again, but I cut over her.

“We don’t wander around handing out invitations to frightened girls because they signed bad contracts. Kieran came to me. Not the other way around.”

Susan moved closer to Lisa, fingers wrapping around her daughter’s wrist.

“Excuse us,” Kieran said, his voice dropping into the hard command tone he used with guards. “Lisa. Susan. Go upstairs for a few minutes.”

Neither woman moved at first. Then Susan slowly guided Lisa upstairs. Their feet tapped against the marble before fading up the staircase.

“You know she has every right to refuse this,” I said, staring at the gray threaded through Kieran’s beard. “You don’t drag people into the Bower because you’re desperate.”

Kieran sat down heavily, his shoulders curving forward.

“We’re running out of time,” he admitted. “I don’t know how much longer Cameron’s mind can survive this.”

George spoke. “Is there any way to help her without initiation?”

I turned my head and gave my cousin a look that made him look away.

“You all keep speaking as though I decide these things personally. As though my opinion alone matters.”

The room fell silent.

“The Daughters don’t need Lisa,” I continued. “But Meridian will absolutely come for her again. They’ll isolate her, discredit her, terrify her, maybe kill her if they decide the pregnancy is too disruptive.”

Kieran looked down at his clasped hands.

“And if she refuses to help Cameron?” he asked.

“Then Cameron suffers the consequences of letting a Meridian operative into his bed.”

Kieran’s jaw flexed. He knew exactly who I meant.

“You don’t force people into things like this,” I said, leaning back against the leather cushions, “because the second she enters the Bower, she stops belonging entirely to herself.”

I looked toward the staircase where Lisa had disappeared.

“And if she isn’t ready for that, then nobody should bring her through those doors.”

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