TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 246

Two hundred and forty six

Kade POV

These days, dinner at my parents’ house felt like everyone was waiting for someone else to say the wrong thing. Whoever did became the target.

Not that I minded showing up. The food alone made it worth it.

I watched Dad carve the roast. He set the biggest slice on Mom’s plate before serving himself.

“The vegetables are overcooked,” she muttered. “I don’t know why the staff suddenly can’t follow simple instructions.”

“They taste fine,” I said. I took another bite. They were good.

“They’re not.”

Dad nodded and cut into his meat without another word.

I reached for my drink and watched Mom over the rim of the glass.

It wasn’t about the vegetables.

Lately, nothing seemed to please her. The staff. The guards. The weather. Somebody always disappointed her.

Dad took every complaint without argument.

Sometimes I wondered what had happened to him.

He’d led the pack for years. People still called him Alpha. They still stood when he walked into a room. But when it came time to make a decision, every pair of eyes shifted to Mom first.

Dad never objected.

Not even when she decided I wasn’t ready to succeed him until I grew up and found a wife.

“What’s going on between you and Evangeline?” I asked. “You’ve both been at each other’s throats.”

Mom didn’t even look up from her plate.

“Nothing.”

Dad nodded.

“Your mother’s just tired.”

I looked at him.

“Isn’t she capable of answering for herself?”

“Don’t speak to your father like that,” Mom said.

I let out a breath.

“Fine. Sorry.”

Neither of them said anything.

“So something is going on.”

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“Ask your sister,” Mom said.

“I did. She says everything’s under control.”

“It is.”

“Is this about the illness she pretended to have? The one Simon found out about?”

Mom shrugged and reached for her glass.

“Kade,” Dad said. “Let your mother eat.”

“Dad, I’m asking a question. Don’t you care that your wife and daughter can’t stand being in the same room?”

“They’re fine.”

I stared at him.

Mom held out the plate of potatoes.

“Have some more.”

I took the plate.

“You don’t discuss family matters at the dinner table,” she said, folding her napkin beside her plate. “Whatever is happening between your sister and me is none of your concern.”

“Right.”

I scooped some potatoes onto my plate, then pushed the chair back after I finished eating.

“Thank the cook,” I called toward the kitchen out of habit.

“So soon?” Dad asked as I headed for the door.

“I’ve got an early morning.”

I opened the door, then looked back.

“Maybe when you stop treating me like a bum, you’ll remember I actually have a life.”

Neither of them answered.

“Drive safely,” Mom said from the dining room.

I shut the door behind me.

Instead of going home, I drove to my usual lounge.

The place was quiet. There wasn’t a game tonight, but the regulars were scattered around their usual tables.

I ordered a bottle of beer and took a seat by the window, hoping the quiet would clear my head.

“Long day?”

A woman’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

I looked up.

She was middle-aged, wearing a short black dress that looked like it belonged on someone much younger, with

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bright red lipstick.

“I’m not interested,” I muttered.

The corner of her mouth lifted.

She slid onto the stool beside mine anyway and ordered a whiskey.

The bartender set the glass down. She thanked him, took a sip, then turned to me.

Her eyelashes were so long they barely looked real.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

I’d never slept with an older woman.

“You seem worried about something.”

I laughed.

“Now you’re a therapist?”

She tugged the neckline of her dress lower.

I’d give her points for persistence.

“I’d be worried too if my mother and sister suddenly stopped getting along.

My smile disappeared.

I looked at her.

“Excuse me?”

She lifted her glass.

“She used to be happier, didn’t she? When was the last time you really spoke to her? Maybe everything that’s happened has driven you apart.”

“Who are you?”

She smiled into her drink.

“Who I am isn’t what matters. Your sister does.”

My grip tightened around my bottle.

“You know, she’s so lost these days. She cries more than she used to.”

I studied her face.

I’d never seen her before.

She looked like a prostitute, but she didn’t sound like someone trying to pick me up.

“Do I know you?”

She shook her head.

“How do you know my sister? Did she send you?”

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“No.”

“Then what is this? Some psychic routine? I’ve met fortune tellers with better openings.”

“I don’t tell fortunes.”

“Then what exactly are you doing?”

She traced a finger around the rim of her glass.

“I’m trying to stop you from ignoring what’s already in front of you. Your sister is in deeper trouble than she realizes.”

I let out a dry laugh.

“If you’re selling religion or prophecies, you’ve picked the wrong customer.”

“I’m not asking you to believe me,” she said. “I’m asking you to pay attention before it’s too late.”

She stood and walked away.

“Wait.”

She glanced back.

“At least tell me what kind of trouble she’s in.”

“She’s your sister.”

Then she walked out.

I threw some cash onto the counter and went after her.

Outside, the street stretched in both directions.

No sign of her.

I looked up and down the sidewalk.

Nothing.

A chill crawled across the back of my neck.

I rubbed at it and shook my head.

Ridiculous.

She probably knew Evangeline somehow.

Maybe she’d overheard gossip. Maybe she’d seen Mom and Evangeline arguing somewhere and decided to prey on my curiosity.

That had to be it.

I went back inside, finished my beer, and drove home. But even as I tried to sleep, I kept replaying the evening.

That woman.

What she said wasn’t some vague prediction.

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It was true.

Evangeline had stopped reaching out, and her closeness with Mom had become so strained that even I noticed without anyone telling me.

If it was about Cameron, I knew Evangeline could be desperate. She’d done desperate things to get close to him before.

That wasn’t new.

Neither were the problems between them.

But what did any of that have to do with Mom? With her relationship with our mother?

I had just returned from the morning patrol when my phone rang.

An unsaved number.

I almost ignored it but answered anyway.

“Hello?”

Silence lingered before a familiar voice spoke.

“Kade, it’s me. Lisa.”

I frowned.

“Lisa? Where have you been? It’s been a while.”

“It has,” she said, sounding unusually light.

The last I’d heard, she’d run away from the Alpha House after claiming Evangeline was dangerous to the baby.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Did something happen?”

“I’m fine.”

That eased my mind a little.

“So what do I owe this surprise?”

She hesitated.

“I need to ask you something. It’s about Evangeline.”

I straightened.

“Have you noticed anything different?”

“What kind of different? Did something happen?”

Another silence.

“I think someone is using her. I don’t know how to explain it, but I don’t think your sister is making all of these decisions by herself.”

“What are you talking about? I know you and my sister have had issues, but…”

“It’s not about that,” she cut in. “If I thought she was simply cruel, I wouldn’t have called you. I don’t want to die,

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Kade.”

I gripped the phone tighter.

“And I don’t want your sister to die either.”

“Lisa, what are you talking about?”

I could hear her breathing.

“The surrogacy hasn’t been what anyone thinks it is. Your sister is caught in something bigger than both of us.

My mind went back to the woman at the lounge.

Your sister is in deeper trouble than she understands.

“If this is about Evangeline’s problems with Cameron…”

“It’s more than problems,” she interrupted. “I don’t know much, but I need you to answer something honestly.”

“Go ahead.”

“Would Evangeline knowingly kill Cameron?”

I stared at the wall.

“What? Of course not. My sister isn’t a murderer.”

“I don’t believe she would either,” Lisa said. “But if your mother convinced her she had to choose, if she believed Cameron had to die to save her, would she?”

I didn’t answer right away.

Would Evangeline go along with Mom?

She always had.

Mom spoke, Evangeline listened, even when she hated it.

“I guess so,” I admitted. “But what is this really about?”

“I wish I could tell you.”

I scoffed.

“You’re asking me questions I can’t answer, then refusing to answer mine.”

“Kade, please don’t get worked up. If you love your sister, you need to help her. You’ve seen things nobody else has. I’m asking you to think. Has anything changed recently?”

“Changed how?”

“Your mother’s routine. Evangeline’s routine. Anything that used to seem ordinary but doesn’t anymore.”

I thought about it.

Nothing came to mind.

“I don’t live with them, Lisa.”

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“I know. But could you at least check? If you notice anything, call me. That’s enough.” She hesitated. “And can this stay between us? It’s your sister’s life that’s at stake.”

“Lisa, I can’t trust you. You still haven’t told me why you’re asking any of this.”

“You’ll know at the right time,” she said.

Between Lisa’s questions and that strange woman at the lounge, I found myself thinking about odd habits, unusual things. I replayed them one by one, wondering if there was anything I’d dismissed as normal.

I tried calling Evangeline.

She didn’t answer.

A message came through later.

Busy. I’ll call you later.

I frowned at the screen.

That wasn’t like her.

Even when she couldn’t talk, she’d usually ask if everything was okay first.

Without thinking much about it, I grabbed my keys, got into my car, and pulled into my parents’ driveway fifteen minutes later.

Dad was home.

Mom wasn’t.

I considered asking him, now that she wasn’t around, but decided against it.!

His answer would always be the same.

Your mother always knows what’s best.

He’d been saying it for as long as I could remember, whenever anyone questioned her.

As a child, I’d thought it was love.

Respect.

Standing there now, it sounded rehearsed, like an answer he’d stopped thinking about years ago.

I went upstairs to Mom’s bedroom.

The curtains were still drawn, even in the middle of the day.

Growing up, Dad and I never entered her room without permission.

Back then, I’d accepted it because she was Luna.

I stepped inside.

My eyes went straight to the narrow door tucked into the corner.

It had always been locked.

I remembered reaching for the handle as a boy.

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Mom caught me before I touched it.

She slapped me so hard I never went near it again.

Only Evangeline was allowed.

Back then, I’d resented her for it.

Mom trusted her more than me.

Now I wasn’t sure that explanation even made sense.

Lisa had told me to pay attention.

The problem was, what exactly was I supposed to be paying attention to?

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