TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 229

Two hundred and twenty nine

Lisa POV

“Mom, are you sure this is a good idea?”

My mother didn’t respond.

She sat beside me in the back of the Hilux van with her purse resting on her lap and her gaze fixed on the road ahead. The silence told me she was nervous too. We hadn’t told Alpha Kieran where we were going. Part of me fel guilty about that. The other part understood why. If Kieran knew, he would want to come. If he came, Cassidy might refuse to see us before we even reached her front door.

Franklin drove. He hadn’t asked many questions or even tried to talk us out of it. At some point, he would tell Kieran. That much was inevitable…

He was doing it for Cameron. Everyone seemed to be reaching the same point. Pride or etiquette no longer mattered. The only thing that mattered was stopping whatever was happening to Cameron before it became permanent.

“She lives near the military barracks,” Franklin said as he guided the van around a bend. “Works in the kitchens there.”

I looked out the window.

The city disappeared behind us. Smooth roads gave way to rougher ones. Asphalt broke apart into patches, and patches gave way to gravel. Dust rose behind passing vehicles and drifted across stretches of sun-baked earth. Military fencing appeared in the distance.

Cassidy’s isolation suddenly made more sense.

The woman had lost almost everyone she loved. Yet she hadn’t disappeared. She worked, paid bills, and kept moving.

Somewhere beneath all that resentment was a person who had saved Kieran from Dominion, even after everything that had happened between them. If she truly hated him as much as she claimed, she could have walked away and let the Meridian finish the job.

The urge to ask Franklin about Cameron sat at the back of my throat.

I wanted to know if he was lucid.

I closed my eyes as memories rushed in.

His hands. His mouth against mine. The weight of his body beside mine. How he made me feel like a woman. The warmth of his palm resting against my stomach.

My eyes flew open, and air caught in my lungs.

I stared out the windshield. The landscape rolled past in a blur of dry grass, military vehicles, and heat shimmering above the road.

I pressed a hand against my stomach and watched the road unfold ahead of us.

We found the cottage exactly where Franklin said it would be. He rang the bell and knocked.

No response.

1/6

runted and twenty nee

+15 Bohus

“Maybe she’s not home,” I said.

Franklin checked the time.

“If she doesn’t answer soon, we should probably leave.”

My mother’s mouth tightened.

“We came all this way.”

Franklin glanced toward the cottage.

“I can call Alpha Kieran and get her number.”

My mother shook her head.

“No. Let’s wait a little longer.”

Nobody argued.

After another few minutes, my mother found a stone border near the walkway and brushed some leaves off it.

“Sit.”

I shifted until I found a comfortable position.

“Harry better come back soon,” I said as my hand moved to my stomach. “At this rate, he’ll miss the entire drama.

11

Franklin laughed. I caught him looking at me from the corner of my eye as if he were checking whether I was holding together.

“How are you?” he asked.

The question felt real coming from him.

I shrugged.

“Still alive.”

I looked at him as he folded his arms.

“Do you realize you’re probably the strongest person involved in this disaster?”

I shrugged.

“Think about it. You got kidnapped, hunted, manipulated, nearly killed, dragged into pack politics, cult politics, relationship politics, and whatever Cameron’s life qualifies as these days.”

I laughed despite myself.

He continued.

“Most people would have packed a suitcase and moved to another continent.”

“I considered it.”

Franklin grinned, then the humor faded as his gaze shifted toward the trees.

“You keep getting up every morning. Cameron fights because he doesn’t know how to quit. Kieran fights because

2/6

+15 Benus

guilt won’t let him. Nadia fights because she’s stubborn. What’s your excuse?”

“I have terrible judgment.”

That earned another laugh, even from my mom.

“When this is over, and Cameron is healthy and the baby is here, the only ending that makes any sense is the two. of you figuring your lives out together.”

I looked away toward the empty read, at anything except Franklin. The picture he painted felt dangerously close to

a future with Cameron.

The problem was that lately every plan seemed to begin with if.

If Cameron survived.

If the baby survived.

If I survived.

I rested a hand against my stomach and caught myself wondering what it would feel like if Franklin turned out to be right.

A gate creaked somewhere behind the cottage. We all turned as Cassidy emerged from the backyard carrying a crate of vegetables against her hip.

She stopped. Her gaze swept across Franklin, my mother, me, and the parked van. The frown on her face deepened.

“What in the bloody hell is this?”

She set the crate down. Her gaze moved across us again.

“Is this a meeting place now?”

She looked past us, searching. I knew exactly who she was looking for. When she didn’t find him, her mouth tightened.

“Get out.”

The words landed hard.

Nobody moved. Cassidy pointed toward the road.

“I mean it. Turn around. Leave.”

“Please,” I said.

Her eyes snapped to me.

“No, girl. I’m not your babysitter. I don’t need friends. I don’t need favors. I certainly don’t need anything

connected to Kieran.”

“Please hear us out.”

“No.”

My mother stepped forward and dropped to her knees. The movement shocked all of us, including Cassidy. When she spoke, her voice shook.

3/6

+15 Bchus

“I lost my husband. Lisa was the one who found him cheating with his secretary. She went to bring him lunch.”

Her fingers tightened around a purple scarf.

The memory still hurt.

“A decade earlier, I started losing my eyesight. When Lisa caught him, he sold our home.”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

“I told Lisa not to become a surrogate. I knew it would end badly. But she was trying to save us.”

Cassidy remained silent. My mother continued anyway.

“Months

11

ago, I wasn’t looking for love. I was an aging Omega whose husband of thirty years had thrown her away.

She gestured toward herself with a humorless laugh.

“What exactly was I supposed to offer anyone? I had nothing. Then I watched my daughter poison herself trying to protect other people.”

My chest tightened as she pointed toward my stomach.

“Now I wake up every day wondering whether this child will survive long enough to be born.”

Cassidy’s gaze followed the gesture. For the first time since arriving, her eyes settled on my stomach.

Something moved across her face. It was gone before I could identify it.

My heart pounded.

I thought about her own story.

My mother wiped her face.

“I’m not speaking to you as Kieran’s ex.” 2

Cassidy’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m speaking to you as a woman. A woman who has failed.”

My mother lowered her gaze.

“I don’t have power over you. If you tell us no, we’ll leave.” Her voice broke. “I’ll understand.”

The admission seemed to surprise even Cassidy.

My mother drew a shaky breath.

“But if the Daughters recruited you because every institution around you

failed…’

She stopped.

Gathered herself.

Then continued.

“…then maybe you’ll understand another woman who has been failed too.”

4/6

ted and twenty nine

+15 Bonus

The wind pushed through the trees.

My mother looked directly at her.

“Please help my daughter. Don’t let her become you.”

The words landed.

Cassidy’s gaze drifted back to my stomach.

The silence stretched. I found myself wondering what she saw.

A pregnant woman?

A mistake?

A younger version of herself?

I didn’t know.

Cassidy finally rolled her eyes.

“If not for Kieran, how would any of you even know I exist?”

The question cut through the moment.

My mother nodded.

“Fair.”

Cassidy looked almost annoyed by the agreement.

My mother pushed herself back to her feet.

“Everything is about him.”

“Not this.”

My mother’s voice steadied.

“We didn’t come because of Kieran. We came because we need help.”

Cassidy looked toward the trees, then sighed.

A long-suffering sound that suggested we had all become a personal inconvenience.

“The problem hasn’t changed. She still has no grounds for admission. She’s not his mate. Pregnancy isn’t enough.

“What if she is?” Franklin said and looked directly at Cassidy.

“We think Evangeline tampered with the bond. We have enough evidence to take the possibility seriously. If Lisa and Cameron aren’t mates, none of this makes sense.”

He gestured toward me.

“Cameron shouldn’t respond to her the way he does. He shouldn’t keep choosing her or keep fighting complete Dominion.”

That barely caught her attention.

5/6

“If a bond was altered, blocked, stolen, redirected, whatever term you want to use, then Lisa’s wolf not recognizing Cameron doesn’t prove anything. It actually raises more questions.”

Cassidy shrugged.

“Then find out and leave my house.”

COIN BUNDLE: get more free bonus

Comments

Support

Share

+15 Benus

GET IT

6/6

bud and thety