TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 240

Two hundred and forty

Cameron POV

My fists stayed clenched as Nadia blocked the shortest path to the door without making it obvious, while Franklin seized the overnight bag I’d packed to leave.

“Cameron, nobody’s asking you to stay with her forever,” Nadia said. “We’re asking you not to make a permanent decision while you’re furious.”

I threw the stack of reports onto the desk.

“I’ve never been more certain of anything.” My voice shook with anger. “She was filing reports and progress updates on me while I was carrying her to doctors because I thought she was dying.”

Every panic Evangeline had caused us was a lie. They had taken something as sacred as trust and reduced it to measurable progress inside an operation.

“There’s nothing left to fix. She made it clear that I’m just livestock. Stop standing in my way.”

“We’re trying to keep you alive,” Franklin said. “If dissolving the bond were as simple as doing the rejection ritual, I’d drive you there myself. But we don’t know enough. Every person we’ve spoken to says the same thing. The Meridian doesn’t build ordinary bonds. We don’t know what happens if you tear one apart the wrong way.”

“So I wait? While she keeps reporting on me like I’m some breeding program?”

He stayed quiet.

Everyone around me sounded afraid and talked about the Meridian as though it had already won, as though the only choice left was how much damage we could survive. I was an Alpha. I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life accepting that an unseen group had more authority over me than I had over myself.

“They took my life,” I said, calmer now.

“And that’s exactly why we can’t afford another mistake,” Nadia replied. “You’ve spent years inside their trap. Give us a little longer to find the door instead of breaking through the wall. You’ve survived them.”

I wanted to look at Evangeline without wondering which smile had been real and which one had been written into another report.

I looked from Nadia to Franklin.

“I’m filing for dissolution, and nobody’s going to stop me.”

“No,” Franklin said. “But we’re asking you to let us find out what that decision will cost before you make the Meridian collect the price.”

I picked up my keys and walked away. I needed a long drive to clear my head. My shoulders remained rigid against the seatback as the road leaving the private district widened into public traffic and storefronts, and the tires slapped over patched sections of asphalt.

Every red light trapped me with nothing to do.

Lisa.

I needed her more than ever.

My ringtone felt louder every time I called her, followed by the same recorded message that her phone was

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unavailable. My call history was a repeating list of unanswered attempts to her, her mother, and Alpha Kieran. Kieran had said she would call back, but I was tired of waiting.

The turn signals clicked in empty stretches because I changed lanes. My phone vibrated, and I let out a groan.

Franklin.

The notification disappeared unariswered, then returned a moment later.

I pulled into a fuel station simply because the tank needed filling. My status meant strangers occasionally recognized me at intersections, threatening the solitude I’d come looking for.

When I crossed into a part of the city I hadn’t visited in years, the streets brought back my first date with Evangeline, back when I thought I’d found the one. That memory rode beside me now whether I wanted it or not.

I kept driving with no destination in mind until fatigue crept in, then headed home. I had barely stepped out of the car when I saw Evangeline waiting beneath the porch.

“I’m filing for dissolution,” I said, climbing the stairs as she followed me. “This ends now.”

“You don’t understand what you’re saying.”

I stopped moving and turned to face her sharply. She didn’t flinch. I laughed without humor.

“More threats?”

I took a step toward her.

“You turned our bond into a weapon. You watched me trust you while you actively monitored me for an experiment. So don’t stand there acting like you’re innocent.”

Her voice grew quieter.

“If you dissolve this bond without the proper counter-rite, you won’t be the only one paying for it.”

“I’d rather pay it than spend another day chained to you.”

Silence stretched between us.

“You’ve spent all this time believing I was your prison,” she said. “I’m not. I expect you to survive long enough to find out.”

My anger didn’t disappear, but something shifted. She was looking past me, as though the real danger wasn’t standing in front of her but somewhere I couldn’t see.

“If your people are as powerful as you all claim,” I said, “why hide? Why creep into people’s lives? If they truly deserve to rule, let them stand in the open and ask people to follow.”

A tired smile crossed her face.

“That’s not how the world works.”

“No. That’s how cowards work.”

Her eyes met mine.

“You think I chose to be born into this?”

“You chose to stay.”

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“What was I supposed to compare it to?” she asked quietly. “Everything I was taught. Everyone I knew. Every person I trusted believed this was the right path.”

Her words silenced me. She’d betrayed me, but she had been raised inside the exact system she used to trap me. It didn’t excuse a single thing she’d done or lessen my hatred. But it told me something important. People weren’t always recruited. Sometimes they were manufactured.

“I’m still leaving,” I said. “I’m exposing every one of you.”

“You’ll try.”

“I’ll succeed.”

“I hope you do,” she said.

That answer stopped me.

“But when you walk away, don’t look back. Because they will already be behind you.”

Hours later, I hunched over my desk in the office as I received info from one of the guards that I had a visitor.

“I don’t remember scheduling anyone,” I said.

“She said it won’t take long,” the guard said.

I mumbled under my breath, then told him to let the person in since he confirmed she was a woman.

A woman in a thick woollen coat and long skirt walked in without hesitating. Her clothes ignored current fashion, showing layers of mismatched textures and accessories that shouldn’t work together. There was something about her smile and uninterrupted eye contact that made looking at her uneasy.

“Thank you,” she told the guard, who remained outside.

“Alpha Cameron.”

I searched my memory for who she was. Nothing.

“I’m afraid we’ve never met.”

“No. But we’ve been aware of each other for a very long time.”

The chair suddenly felt less comfortable, and my shoulders refused to relax.

“My name is Ellen,” she said, looking around my office before her gaze returned to me. “Evangeline tells me of your current dissatisfaction.”

A sudden feeling of cold expanded in my core and muffled the sounds in my ears, as though I were wearing earplugs.

She was Meridian.

“How dare you,” I said, my fists clenching. She never looked away, never fidgeted. “You have guts to walk in here.”

“I only came to warn you that impulsive decisions tend to create unnecessary losses. I mean well for you.”

The way she said it sent a chill through me. Not because of the words, but because she spoke as though the Meridian and everyone else were the same thing.

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“You should leave before I do something rash,” I said. “You and your cult have no right to run my life for me. And best believe you’re going down.”

She stared at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum and sighed.

“Nobody wants your death. Dominion preserves valuable leaders. You’re being offered the influence most Alphas spend lifetimes chasing.”

The more she spoke, the more my rage grew.

“Strong people don’t steal. They do the right thing by asking permission from. Anything other than that is downright cowardice. So go to whoever sent you here and tell them you are wasting your time.”

“I believe you intend to.” She held my gaze. “The difficulty isn’t convincing people you’re telling the truth. It’s finding someone who isn’t already one of us.”

The words sounded harsh. She chuckled and ticked a finger.

“People of influence are part of us. The council you answer to. The judges you trust. The regional Alphas you grew up respecting. You keep looking for someone outside us. That’s the mistake.”

I watched her as she rose.

“So go ahead. File every complaint. They’ll all arrive exactly where they’re supposed to. The only way you can get out is by blood. And we know you have issues with your mate right now, but she doesn’t play the cards. Breaking the bond with her will not solve your problems.”

She turned and walked away, leaving her final warning hanging in the air. This went far beyond a conspiracy hiding in the shadows.

I reached for my phone. If every official road led back to the Meridian, then I’d stop looking for official roads. I’d tear it open another way.

Kieran had survived them.

Now I needed to find out how.

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