TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 264

Two hundred and sixty four

Cameron POV

Nadia screamed and clapped, unable to contain herself. Franklin sat opposite me with a grin that refused to leave his face, as though we’d finally stumbled onto the answer after groping around in the dark.

“I can’t believe this,” Nadia said. “The answers were right there in our hands, and we didn’t even have to break into a sweat. Well, except Cameron who had to suffer through all of this.”

Franklin laughed. “I thought we’d have to survive an apocalypse just to get you out of this mess.”

Their excitement never reached me.

They kept talking, throwing jokes back and forth while I rolled my pen between my fingers.

Nadia stopped smiling. She exchanged a glance with Franklin. I’d seen that look before. Ever since Dominion came into our lives, silence always made people wonder whether it had found another way in.

“What’s eating you?” Franklin asked. “If this is about Lisa…”

He stopped when I looked up.

“Oh,” Nadia murmured. “It is about her.”

“You all owe me an explanation,” I said.

“But we already told you she’s safe,” Nadia said. “The women are protecting her. Thanks to them, we’re finally getting somewhere. She’s not being held prisoner. She’s with her mother, and they’re the reason Kieran is alive.” Franklin had repeated that ever since I found out, but neither of them had explained why I was the only one left in the dark. I wasn’t angry anymore. Mostly, I couldn’t shake the sting of it.

I got up and walked to the window. The estate stretched out below me, peaceful enough that no one looking from the outside would guess how much had changed in only a few months.

“Everyone knew except me.” I turned back to them. “Do you hear how that sounds?”

“Cameron, you’re going in circles,” Nadia said. “How were we supposed to tell you when Meridian was after both of you? You were still under Dominion.”

“So let me get this straight. Lisa disappears. Her phone goes dead. I spend weeks thinking the worst while everyone keeps telling me she’s fine. Meanwhile, all of you know exactly where she is. I went to Kieran’s house looking for her. You watched me tear myself apart, and nobody thought I deserved the truth.”

“You deserved it,” Franklin said. “But Dominion didn’t. We couldn’t risk leading Meridian straight to Lisa.”

The frustration f’d been holding back climbed into my throat,

“I want to see her,” I snapped. “She needs me.”

Nadia crossed the room and stopped beside me. She rested a hand on my shoulder.

“She needs you free. That’s what matters right now. Evangeline is willing to help undo Dominion. That’s a good

thing. Lisa is carrying a baby. She’s vulnerable, and those women, whatever you want to call them, are the best chance she has. We deal with one problem before we deal with the next.”

I stepped away from her hand.

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“And how am I supposed to trust them? What if we’re walking into another cult dressed up as the solution?”

Nadia looked at Franklin.

“They’re against Meridian,” he said. “From everything I’ve learned, they’ve been fighting them for years.” “With what?” I asked. “Where does their power come from? And what do they get out of it?”

“They’ve lost people too,” Franklin said. “Husbands. Sons. Brothers. Meridian made them what they are.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Neither of them spoke.

“I don’t think this is the time to question them,” Nadia said. “Let’s use the chance we’ve been given to get you dut

of this.”

They kept talking as though I was supposed to accept a decision someone else had already made for me. But what if they were wrong? What if this made everything worse? What if Lisa still wasn’t safe?

“I need to see things for myself before I decide whether I trust them.”

Nadia rubbed a hand over her face.

“Cameron, they can’t let you anywhere near Lisa. Not yet. They’re still uncovering every layer of Dominion tied to you so they can remove it. Please let them finish that first.”

I needed to see Lisa with my own eyes. I needed proof this wasn’t another trap.

I couldn’t trust anyone anymore.

Maybe that was what Evangeline had left behind.

I’d trusted her. I’d spent years beside her. If things had gone the way everyone expected, she would’ve become my Luna. We would’ve had children together.

So how was I supposed to trust these women when they spoke with the same certainty, the same conviction Meridian always had? People like this never gave without expecting something in return.

I couldn’t let Lisa get caught in another web.

“And what about Evangeline?” I asked. “What happens to her now?”

Franklin leaned back in his chair.

“With Kade standing firmly behind her, despite everything that’s happened, the Daughters have agreed to help remove Dominion from Alpha Marcus too, if he consents. That’s another victory against Meridian.”

I rubbed a hand over my face.

“I’m such a fool.”

Neither of them interrupted.

“The signs were right in front of me. I saw her family. I saw the way they behaved, and I never questioned any of it.

“Weren’t we all blindsided?” Nadia said. “Nobody meets a family and immediately assumes they’re part of a cult.”

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I let out a humorless laugh.

“Good. Then you understand why it’s so hard for me to believe Lisa is safe.”

“We can arrange for you to speak with her,” Nadia said. “If they approve it.”

“If they approve it.”

The words escaped before I could stop them.

My jaw tightened.

I hated that someone else got to decide whether I could speak to the woman carrying my child, but I knew my frustration wasn’t really aimed at Nadia.

She walked over to the coffee machine and poured herself a cup while Franklin remained where he was, watching

me in silence.

My anger changed nothing.

They believed keeping Lisa away from me was the safest option, and neither of them looked ready to reconsider.

Later that afternoon, Franklin told me we were leaving for my first meeting with the women.

My pulse picked up.

Maybe Lisa would be there. Maybe, after weeks of keeping us apart, they’d finally let me see her.

The possibility alone got me out of my chair.

Part of me wanted to believe these women were exactly who everyone claimed they were. The rest of me kept waiting for the catch.

We drove for a little over an hour before turning into a quiet commercial district.

I stared through the windshield.

An ordinary building.

No symbols carved into stone.

Just glass, concrete, and people walking in and out as though it were any ordinary business.

A young woman greeted us in the lobby and led us into a waiting room.

I recognized another face immediately.

Cassidy.

“It’s good to see you again,” she said with a small smile.

I didn’t return it.

Nadia nudged my arm. Cassidy didn’t seem offended. She simply let the silence settle.

“So what’s next?” I asked.

“You’ll meet with Evangeline,” Cassidy said. “Together, we’ll begin undoing Dominion and dissolving the false bond.”

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My chest tightened.

Fourteen days.

That was how long it had been since I’d last seen Evangeline.

She had started all of this.

Yet every time I tried to settle on what I felf toward her, the emotion slipped through my fingers.

The anger had burned itself out.

All that remained was exhaustion.

“What about Lisa?” I asked. “Is she here?”

Cassidy shook her head.

“No. She can’t be.”

The hope I’d carried throughout the drive faded.

“Let’s focus on removing Dominion first,” Cassidy said. “After that, you’ll be free to see Lisa. What we’re about to do won’t be easy on your body. We’re undoing years of conditioning.”

The door opened.

Evangeline stepped inside wearing a plain blouse and matching trousers. Her hair was tied back, and for the first time since I’d known her, she wasn’t wearing makeup.

She looked… lighter.

Not happier.

Just stripped of everything she’d once hidden behind.

She stopped when she saw us.

Nadia stood.

“Hey.”

Evangeline kept her eyes lowered.

Nadia held out her hand.

After a small hesitation, Evangeline reached out and shook it.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

She gave a faint nod.

My gaze never left her.

She looked toward Cassidy, who answered with a small nod of encouragement.

Then she faced me.

Her eyes filled with tears.

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“I’m sorry.”

She swallowed before continuing.

“I did what I did because I didn’t know anything else. I know how wrong it was to tamper with your mind without your knowledge… without giving you any choice.”

She drew a shaky breath.

“I was given an assignment, and all I cared about was completing it.”

I let her speak.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me.” She glanced at Cassidy before looking back at me. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure Dominion is broken… and the false bond dies with it.”

False bond.

The words settled somewhere deep inside me.

There was nothing left to argue against.

I’d spent years chasing something that had never existed.

Every time I’d wondered why something felt wrong..

Why her scent never settled.

Why there was always distance between us.

Why guilt followed every feeling I developed for Lisa.

Why I kept believing I was failing Evangeline.

None of it belonged to me.

None of it had been real.

I searched for the anger I’d expected to find. It wasn’t there. I was simply tired.

“Well then,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.”

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