TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 221

Two hundred and twenty one

Lisa POV

The closer we got to our destination, the worse the decision felt. Nobody spoke much. Unfortunately, the silence gave me too much room to think.

Alpha Kieran, who trusted these people and owed them his life, didn’t look relieved to be taking me there. He looked like a man delivering someone to a place he respected and feared in equal measure.

Every few minutes, my hand drifted to my stomach. I kept asking myself the same question. If these women were truly safe, why did joining them feel so much like walking into danger?

I sat in the back row of the jeep beside Cassidy. Harry had planned to come with us. Unfortunately, his grandmother had apparently spent days demanding answers about where he’d disappeared to and why he kept turning up in the middle of pack disasters.

Alpha Kieran had compensated him generously for everything he’d been dragged into. Harry promised he’d come

back.

The driver and guard occupied the front seats, while Alpha Kieran and my mom sat in the middle row, speaking in low voices. Every now and then, she rested her head against his shoulder. He’d say something, and she’d smile. Watching them should have been comforting. Instead, it left me with too much time to think about the woman sitting beside me.

Cassidy stared out the window for most of the drive. She barely spoke unless Alpha Kieran tried to talk to her. Even then, her answers rarely stretched beyond a sentence.

The stiffness around her seemed permanent, as though she had spent years carrying an anger nobody else could

see.

I caught myself glancing at Cassidy more than once. Each time, I looked away before she noticed. She had made it painfully clear she didn’t like me. Whether that was because of who I was, what I represented, or something else entirely, I couldn’t tell.

My mother and I had spent enough time speculating and trying to figure out who Cassidy was. Alpha Kieran would change the subject, and his refusal only made the mystery worse.

The strange thing was that she had still come. She could have refused Kieran and ignored the entire situation, yet here she was, taking me toward her people.

My mother was just as frightened as I was. Neither of us understood the rules of this world. Alpha Kieran trusting them helped, but it didn’t erase the fear.

When Cassidy arrived that morning, my mother had tried to be friendly. She asked whether she wanted breakfast and even attempted conversation. Cassidy shut down every effort with snarky answers and long silences.

Alpha Kieran told my mother not to take it personally. Cassidy wasn’t being rude. She simply preferred distance.

More than anything, I wanted my life back. A future that didn’t involve looking over my shoulder or wondering who could be trusted.

Every road seemed to lead back to Cameron. Even from miles away, I missed him in ways that didn’t make sense. My body noticed his absence before my mind did. The feeling unsettled me almost as much as everything else.

He was running out of options, and somehow everyone seemed convinced that I was the answer. The idea that an Alpha as powerful as Cameron might be depending on me as his last hope was terrifying enough to make me

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question whether I was driving toward a solution or straight into another disaster.

My thoughts must have shown on my face because a shiver ran through me. I folded my arms and stared out the window. Beside me, Cassidy glanced over.

I managed a small smile.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

The blandness in her voice should have discouraged me. Still, I went on.

“What exactly are the expectations of this… sect?”

My mother had warned me not to call it a cult in front of Cassidy. Apparently, there was a difference. I still wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

Cassidy looked out the windshield.

“The expectations are simple. Follow instructions. Don’t waste people’s time. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

I waited.

“That’s it?”

“That’s the version for people who are actually getting in.”

Heat crept up my neck.

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re assuming acceptance is guaranteed. You’re lucky they’re even willing to meet you.”

My stomach tightened.

The landscape changed as we drove farther from the territory. Towns gave way to stretches of road lined with palm trees.

Disappointment wasn’t the reaction I expected to have. I’d prepared myself for something cultish and unsettling. Instead, I found polished floors, reception desks, framed charity awards, and women discussing fundraising budgets over coffee.

Women in tailored dresses and expensive jewelry moved through the halls. Large photographs lined the walls, showcasing refugee housing projects, medical outreach programs, scholarship recipients, and community centers funded through charitable grants.

The entire place felt painfully normal. I adjusted the antique gold dress Cassidy had insisted I wear and resisted the urge to tug at the fabric stretched over my growing stomach.

My mother stayed close as we followed Alpha Kieran and Cassidy through the building.

I waited to spot a sign that this entire operation was a front for something else. My mother looked just as confused as I felt. We exchanged a glance as two gaily dressed women walked past, laughing.

I had spent most of the drive preparing myself for something strange. Instead, everything looked normal. And that somehow made me more nervous.

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Alpha Kieran stopped near a set of double doors.

“This is where your mom and I stay.”

I blinked.

“What?”

A faint smile touched his face.

“Men aren’t allowed beyond this point.”

My mother looked just as surprised as I felt.

A deep crease formed between Cassidy’s brows.

“Come on.”

There was no warmth or good luck in her voice. She simply turned and started walking. I followed, completely on my own.

She led me through a series of hallways before stopping outside an office.

A woman sat behind the desk, reading through a file. Silver threaded through her dark hair, and a pair of reading glasses rested low on her nose. She looked up as we entered, removed the glasses, and offered a polite smile that never quite reached her eyes.

“Please sit.”

Cassidy took a chair against the wall, far enough away to feel uninvolved.

The woman opened a file.

“So. Tell me why you’re here.”

I started with the surrogate agreement and pregnancy, then the escalating danger from Meridian.

The woman took notes while I spoke. Occasionally, she circled something or underlined a line in the file. Once, she stopped me to ask how long I’d known Cameron. Another time, she asked whether I had witnessed the incident myself or heard about it afterward. The questions were calm and precise.

Nothing in her face suggested sympathy or concern. By the time I reached the end of the story, I felt less like someone asking for help and more like someone defending a thesis. She set her pen down and folded her hands.

“You want us to protect your child.”

The wording caught my attention.

Your child.

The truth was complicated. I had signed papers. There had been agreements and a clear understanding that the baby growing inside me belonged to someone else. I knew all of that.

Yet somewhere between hearing the heartbeat and feeling the first movement, the boundaries everyone had drawn around the arrangement had started to blur.

“Yes,” I said.

“Why should a surrogate child concern you?”

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The question caught me off guard. I stared at her, and my hand settled over my stomach.

He was a child. And whether the world agreed with me or not, I already loved him.

“Because he’s innocent.”

“Many innocent children exist.”

“He… he’s being targeted.”

“The child doesn’t belong to you, Lisa.”

The words hit hard. She held my gaze.

“He is my child.”

“Biologically, he is, but if the child’s mother decides the child should live or die, where does that leave you?”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

“If your situation is truly as dangerous as you claim, why are you fighting for the child before securing your own survival?”

The room suddenly felt smaller.

Until that moment, I hadn’t realized what this was.

The woman leaned back in her chair.

“We are not a service, my dear. We are a commitment.”

I stared at her.

Until that moment, I’d been thinking about protection.

She was talking about commitment.

“Admission takes time. There is a probationary period. There is training. There is sponsorship. There are obligations that continue long after whatever danger brought you here has passed.”

My mind snagged on a single detail.

Three months.

Cameron didn’t have three months.

The baby might not have three months.

My head hurt..

“I don’t understand,” I admitted. “If people need help, why make it so difficult?”

A faint smile appeared.

“Because desperation is temporary. Membership is not.”

I left the office with more questions than answers. I was still trying to process everything she’d told me about sponsors, probation, and obligations when voices drifted through the narrow gap of the door that hadn’t fully closed.

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“Why are you sponsoring someone connected to Kieran?”

My hand froze on the strap of my bag.

Silence.

Then the woman’s voice again.

“I thought you wanted nothing further to do with him after the loss of your child.”

I stopped beside the wall.

A dozen questions crashed into each other before I could make sense of any of them.

“This isn’t for him,” Cassidy said.

The door clicked shut. I stared at it. My heart pounded. Questions crashed into each other before I could sort through them.

The door opened, and Cassidy stepped out. Her face gave nothing away as I followed her through the corridor.

“So what happens now?”

“They decide.”

“Based on what?”

“Whether you’re worth the trouble.”

The bluntness stung. I looked away.

“What about the sponsor?”

Her expression remained flat.

“The sponsor becomes responsible for you.”

“And?”

“And your mistakes.”

My stomach sank.

“You don’t want to sponsor me.”

“No.”

I rubbed my forehead.

“You’re making it sound impossible.”

Cassidy glanced at me.

“Not impossible. Just unlikely.”

Something inside me snapped.

“Why?”

She stopped walking.

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For the first time all night, her full attention settled on me.

“Because you’re not his mate.”

I stared at her.

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

“It isn’t.”

“Can you scent him?”

I said nothing.

“Can he scent you?”

Silence.

Cassidy scoffed.

“That’s what I thought.”

My chest tightened.

Harry believed Evangeline had stolen the bond. But standing there, I realized I had no proof. For all I knew, Cameron’s mate could be out there.

I had no evidence.

We resumed walking.

“Why are you so angry?” I blurted.

Cassidy kept walking.

I followed.

“What did Alpha Kieran do to you?”

Her pace faltered.

I waited.

Cassidy glanced at me, looked away, and continued toward the exit as though she hadn’t heard the question.

The moment we stepped back into the lobby, my mother took one look at my face and wrapped her arms around

“What happened?” Kieran asked, his gaze shifting from me to Cassidy and back again.

“The only thing I know for sure is that being in danger isn’t enough. Apparently, I have to prove I’m worth saving.

“It’ll be okay,” Mom whispered.

I wanted to believe her, Instead, I rested my forehead against her shoulder and let out a shaky breath.

“They don’t care that I’m pregnant.”

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My mother pulled back.

“They want something else from me. Something useful.”

Alpha Kieran’s face tightened.

“What exactly did they say?”

I glanced toward Cassidy.

“They said if I could prove I was Cameron’s real mate, things would be easier.”

“We’ll figure that out,” Kieran said.

I huffed.

“We find a way to test it.”

I shook my head.

“I’m not doing that. He almost killed me.”

My hand moved to my stomach.

“He wasn’t himself. I know that. It doesn’t change what happened.”

The memory still sat inside me like a bruise.

“I don’t want to stand in front of him waiting for some magical confirmation while wondering whether he’s going to recognize me or lose control again.”

Kieran looked away, completely out of answers.

“Cassidy doesn’t seem interested in sponsoring me.”

“Guilt-tripping doesn’t work on me. Try something else,” she said. “Did you think I was babysitting you?”

My mother frowned.

“That’s not fair.”

Cassidy ignored her.

“I agreed to bring you. I never agreed to hold your hand through the process.”

“Cassidy.”

Kieran’s voice carried a warning.

She ignored it.

“I’ve done more than enough already.”

Something about the way she said it made my frustration boil over.

“Why are you like this? You don’t even know me.”

She looked me over from head to toe and back again.

“You’re right. I don’t. And I don’t plan to.”

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The words slipped out before I could reconsider them.

“Did you and Alpha Kieran lose a child together?”

No one answered.

My mother looked confused. Alpha Kieran looked uncomfortable. Cassidy simply stared at me.

That was when it hit me. She didn’t know I’d overheard the conversation.

Cassidy held my gaze.

She didn’t deny it. She didn’t ask what I meant.

That told me more than an answer would have.

Her irritation turned guarded. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet.

“Some questions aren’t yours to ask.”

Then she walked past us and headed for the exit.

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