TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 231

Two hundred and thirty one

Lisa POV

The van rolled through the gates, and Alpha Kieran stood outside, waiting with a frown plastered on his face.

“I smell trouble,” Franklin said. “I better drive off before I bear the brunt of it.”

“I’ll handle it,” my mom said as Franklin parked.

“Are you all out of your minds?” he bellowed as my mother opened her door.

“You went to Cassidy without telling me? Whose idea was this?”

His gaze bounced between me and my mother.

“Seriously?”

I climbed out of the van with my mother’s help. Kieran stopped talking long enough to make sure I was steady,

then he resumed.

“You couldn’t have mentioned it first, Susan? Is that the reason for the silent treatment?”

“We mentioned it now,” my mother said blandly.

Kieran groaned with frustration.

“She wants real proof of my bond with Cameron.”

He went quiet. I could almost see him working through the possibilities.

“She… she said that?”

His phone rang on our way inside.

“It’s Cassidy,” he announced, dread in his tone.

“Put it on speaker,” my mother said.

He did and answered.

“Hello?”

“I don’t have all day. Give the phone to Susan.”

Cassidy sounded annoyed already.

“I’m delighted to hear your voice too,” Kieran said as my mother took the phone.

“I’m here.”

“Good.”

She sounded the same as always, as though helping anyone caused her physical discomfort.

“I’m sending something. An injector.”

My pulse quickened.

“Use it on Cameron before he sees Lisa. It’ll keep him stable long enough.”

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That was all the explanation Cassidy offered. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Can you collect it?” Kieran said to Franklin, who nodded, and Cassidy agreed.

The line went dead.

We all stood there, trying to process what had happened.

My thoughts snagged on a single detail.

“If it works and it keeps Cameron normal, why can’t we just use more of it?”

Kieran answered immediately.

“Because too much of it will destroy him faster than the Meridian. It’s not a treatment. It’s an opportunity.”

One shot. One chance.

Franklin checked his watch.

“I’ll go get it.”

After he left, Kieran turned to my mother.

“What exactly did you say to her?”

My mother yawned.

“The sort of thing one woman says to another when she’s out of options.”

Kieran tried to argue, but she waved him off and headed upstairs, leaving both of us standing there. He and I headed to the sitting room while I explained what had happened at the cottage and the honest things my mother had told Cassidy.

“I’m glad things are finally moving forward,” he said, running a hand over his forehead. “I can’t wait for this to finally be over.”

“Me too,” I said, letting out a tired smile.

Harry called when I was drifting in and out of sleep. I smiled before answering. Somewhere along the way, Harry had stopped being a stranger and become someone I expected to be there.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Still pregnant.”

“Excellent. We were hoping you’d continue with that.”

I laughed.

The sound surprised me because it felt like I’d forgotten how.

“How’s your grandmother?”

Harry groaned.

“She’s convinced I’ve joined a criminal organization. She’s refusing to let me leave today.”

The smile remained on my face.

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“Well, I guess you should listen to her. Family first.”

“I need to take care of you as well,” he said, and my heart warmed.

Then he asked me to fill in the details of everything that had been happening, and I told him about Cassidy, the injector, and the plan to see Cameron.

Halfway through the explanation, a strange thought crossed my mind.

What if Harry was Meridian?

The thought appeared so suddenly it almost derailed me. I paused so long that the silence stretched.

“Are you there, Lisa?”

I blinked.

Harry waited.

If he was Meridian, then he deserved an award.

The man had volunteered information nobody asked for, complained constantly, nearly gotten himself killed helping us, and spent most of his time looking confused.

If he was secretly working for the enemy, then all of us deserved whatever happened next.

I shook the thought away.

“What were you saying?”

By the time the call ended, I felt lighter.

I changed into comfortable clothes, climbed into bed, and closed my eyes.

Sleep came quickly, and the dream felt real.

I stood on a narrow strip of sand tucked between cliffs. Waves rolled against the rocks. The air smelled of salt.

Across the cove, Cameron appeared. Even from a distance, I knew it was him.

I started walking faster. He did the same. The space between us should have closed. It didn’t.

No matter how fast we moved, the distance remained.

I broke into a run, and so did he.

Still nothing.

The gap refused to shrink.

Then Cameron disappeared.

I woke with a sharp breath. Morning light spilled across the room, and the dream lingered.

Was that a warning or my own anxiety finding a way into my sleep?

The next thing I knew, pain shot through my left leg.

I sat upright.

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“Ow.”

The cramp seized my calf hard enough to make me curse. I grabbed my leg and tried stretching it. The muscle refused to cooperate.

“Mom!”

A few seconds later, my mother rushed inside.

She sat on the edge of the bed and started massaging the muscle.

“Your body has had enough excitement for one week.”

“I agree.”

After breakfast, Alpha Kieran seemed excited to share something with us.

“We have a plan. Cameron can’t leave the estate.”

My stomach tightened as he looked at me.

“Which means you’ll have to go to him.”

“Hell no,” my mother exclaimed. “That’s dangerous. He almost killed her.”

“I know.” Kieran rubbed his forehead. “This is our best chance.”

They both looked at me, and I understood what they were asking. It wasn’t whether I wanted to do it, but whether I could.

The image from my dream returned, and now everyone was waiting to see whether I was willing to walk back into the place where I had nearly died.

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