TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 262

Thundred and two

+15 Bonus

She flinched.

The apology that rose to my lips never made it out.

“I didn’t kill your son,” I said quietly. “If I’d wanted to obey Meridian completely, I would’ve finished what they started.”

She looked at me as though I’d said nothing worth hearing.

“I’ll have this baby,” she said. “I’ll raise him myself because you don’t deserve to be anywhere near him. Cameron will get his life back. He’ll be happy without you.”

Her eyes held mine.

“And you’ll spend the rest of your life living with what you’ve done.”

She turned and walked away without looking back.

D

Comments

៦

Support

Share

4/4

+15 8thus

Two hundred and sixty three

Evangeline POV

Lisa walked away without looking back, and I stayed where I was, watching her reflection disappear through the glass until the door closed behind her.

Two guards stepped in behind me. Cassidy came in from outside and motioned for me to follow. Neither of us spoke as she led me into another room. The guards removed my restraints but remained close enough to intervene if I tried anything.

Several middle-aged women sat around a mahogany table, speaking quietly among themselves. They acknowledged my presence with nothing more than a glance before returning to their discussion.

They let me stand there.

I bit the inside of my lip and swallowed against the knot in my throat.

One of them turned to Cassidy.

“How did Lisa respond?”

Cassidy shrugged.

“She doesn’t believe her. She thinks she’s acting out of desperation. She said if Meridian had never turned against her, she’d still be trying to destroy her.”

Quiet murmurs moved around the table.

“She doesn’t want blood on her hands,” another woman said. “She wants distance and safety. That’s reasonable.”

Her pale grey eyes settled on me. I held her gaze because looking away felt worse..

“You know, Lisa is one of those people who can’t stand seeing her enemies suffer. I’m fairly certain you’d do the opposite if you were in her place.”

I said nothing.

She was right. If Meridian hadn’t thrown me away, I never would’ve come here. I’d still be standing beside them.

I shut my eyes.

“Is she wrong?”

The silence stretched until it became impossible to hide behind it.

“No.”

My voice sounded hoarse.

“If Meridian hadn’t turned on me… I don’t know who I’d still be.”

“I’m glad you’re honest. If you weren’t, that would’ve been the first reason to get rid of you.”

My eyes drifted toward Cassidy. She had folded her arms and deliberately kept her attention elsewhere. I’d saved her life, but it hadn’t bought me trust.

“We didn’t pull you out because Cassidy asked,” the other woman continued. “And we certainly didn’t do it because we thought you deserved saving.”

1/5

Two nurted and ity three

+15 Benus

She leaned forward, resting both hands on the desk.

“Meridian made you valuable. You spent almost your entire life inside Meridian. You carried Dominion, witnessed their rituals, and know things no outsider does.”

A hollow laugh escaped me. Several women frowned.

If only they understood how Meridian worked. We weren’t trusted. We carried out assignments and nothing more. They gave us only what we needed to complete them, used us until we stopped being useful, then discarded us without a second thought.

“Alpha Cameron is still carrying Dominion,” the woman said. “The bond tying him to you wasn’t natural.” There was no point denying it. The bond barely mattered anymore. Cameron already knew.

“Your mother is dead. Which means the bond can be dismantled.”

They spoke as though it were simple. They had no idea how deeply those rituals reached.

“I don’t know how,” I said. “The person who performed them is dead.”

“You don’t have to know how. You only have to remember.”

She slid a notebook closer.

“What was used, who performed each ritual, and who witnessed it. Meridian hasn’t abandoned the child. If anything, Catherine’s death has made them more desperate. They’re coming, and we have to prepare.”

“You’ll have to find someone else.”

Cassidy let out a dry laugh.

“That’s rich coming from someone we’re trying to help.”

“I don’t want any responsibilities. I don’t want to face them again. Let them come for me and finish what they started.”

“If you want to die like a dog, that’s your choice,” she said evenly. “But Lisa doesn’t get that choice. Her child doesn’t get that choice.”

She pushed a file and a pen toward me.

“So now it’s tit for tat. Write down every ritual you remember. Every name. Every location. Every witness. Every lie Meridian taught you. You’ll help us save the people you nearly destroyed.”

“And what do I get?”

She gave a small shrug.

“We’ll decide what kind of life is left for you.”

Whatever fight I’d walked in with disappeared.

Cassidy told me they’d deliberate before deciding what to do with me.

I hadn’t expected acceptance or kindness.

I just wanted somewhere I could breathe.

2/5