TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 269

Two hundred and sixty nine

Lisa POV

The last month felt like a strange, quiet dream.

Everything just… worked.

We were finally through the worst of it. I was in the last stage of my pregnancy, which meant I had the grace of a refrigerator on legs. Everything ached, my feet hated me, and I treated every chair like a lifelong friend. I was tired after doing almost anything, but for the first time in months, hope didn’t feel like a mistake.

Mom did everything she could to keep me calm. Dr. Harry checked on me almost every day, and whenever fear crept back in, they always found a way to chase it away.

“I trust the daughters,” Mom said. “If they could help Cameron after everything he went through, they can help you too.”

I sighed.

“I hope you’re right.”

Tomorrow, Cameron and I would finally see each other again. His purification was over. Weeks of rituals, isolation, and endless rules had kept us apart. I missed the little things more than I’d expected; the way everything felt steadier when he was close.

The waiting had been miserable. Tomorrow, I’d finally have him back.

I was walking past my mother’s bedroom that morning when a harsh retching sound came from the bathroom.

My heart lurched.

“Mom?”

No answer.

I hurried inside. She was bent over the sink, one hand gripping the counter while she caught her breath.

“Mom!” I rushed to her side. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

She rinsed her mouth, then looked at me with a weak smile.

“I think I’ve come down with the flu.”

My mouth slacked open.

“Is it Meridian? Did they…”

She laughed before I could finish. “You have to stop blaming Meridian for every little thing.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” She wiped her mouth with a towel. “People are allowed to get sick without it becoming an international conspiracy.”

Then she headed to the bedroom, and I followed her, waiting to be proven right.

“Everything bad that has happened to us somehow leads back to them, Mom.”

1/4

handed and vndy nine

+15 Bchus

“I knew it! I won!”

She threw a pillow at me, and I rushed to hug her.

“I can’t stand you.”

“I love you too.”

She wiped tears from her eyes, laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

That evening, when Kieran came back, Mom handed him the pregnancy test without saying a word.

He frowned. “What am I looking at?”

“I’m pregnant.”

He stared at her, then at the test, then back at her.

His eyes filled.

He crossed the room and wrapped both of us in a hug.

“I never thought…” His voice cracked before he finished.

Mom rested her forehead against his shoulder. Watching them together made my chest ache in the best way.

Later that night, I lay beside Mom, still smiling.

“Do you realize how ridiculous this is?”

She laughed.

“What now?”

“My son is going to be older than his uncle or aunt.”

She covered her face.

“When you say it like that, it sounds completely absurd.”

We both dissolved into laughter again.

Sleep barely visited me that night. Part of it was excitement over Mom’s pregnancy. The rest belonged to Cameron.

I kept wondering what tomorrow would feel like. Would it be awkward? Would it feel different now that Dominion was gone?

I woke before anyone else. After showering, I brushed my hair until it behaved, chose one of the dresses that fit, and checked my reflection more times than I wanted to admit.

Before we even sat down for breakfast, the sound of a Jeep rolled into the driveway.

Mom looked through the window. A smile spread across her face.

“He’s here.”

My heart forgot how to beat. I hurried to the front door. The moment I stepped outside, I saw him.

Cameron was already crossing the yard toward me, smiling so widely it transformed his entire face. I smiled too and opened my arms.

3/4

Two hundred and andy nine

+15 8chus

Then he stopped.

His body went still. I froze where I was. Something was wrong.

Did the rituals fail?

Before I could ask, something drifted toward me on the breeze.

His scent.

It wrapped around me like warm sunlight after weeks of rain. Every instinct inside me surged awake. My wolf exploded.

One word echoed through every part of me.

Mate.

My breath caught as I looked at Cameron. His eyes were fixed on me with the same stunned disbelief.

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