TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 272

hope two hundred and seventy two

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Chapter two hundred and seventy two

My body was overwhelmed by pain and confusion, even as I held myself together.

My wolf shrank into herself with a whine. Our mate was looking right through us. He didn’t even react, as though he hadn’t seen or felt anything.

The mate bond was supposed to be the one thing nobody questioned. The Moon chose. Both wolves knew. It was simple. Then why was mine standing in front of me as though I were invisible?

I remained frozen as my sister’s arm settled on my mate’s shoulder. None of them paid any attention to me. Was he ignoring me on purpose?

I couldn’t walk over and tell a complete stranger he was my mate when he hadn’t even looked at me twice. Especially not in Barbara’s presence.

Every time I thought I’d found something good, it slipped away before I could hold on to it. The only person I had ever been able to call mine was Maverick, and even with him, nothing came easily. Every day was another fight to keep him safe, fed, and accepted in a world that could dismiss him over the basic security he didn’t have.

Or maybe the Moon had made a mistake. My wolf recoiled at the thought. The bond pulled her toward him, demanding what he wasn’t giving, and every second he ignored us only deepened her misery.

Barbara slipped her arm through his as they headed into the dining room. Before disappearing inside, she looked back at me and silently mouthed, “Leave.”

I met her gaze without moving. I hadn’t asked for this bond. I already had more problems than I could carry, and now my mate was the son of the woman who had saved my life… yet he hadn’t even recognized me.

I went back to the kitchen before anyone noticed me standing there. If I stayed any longer, I would lose whatever composure I had left.

Tears rolled down my face. I wiped them away and turned toward the dishwasher so the others wouldn’t notice. It was already unusual enough that Luna Lisa had brought me into the Alpha House. If anyone caught me crying, I wouldn’t even know how to explain it.

“There you are.”

I looked up to see Barbara walking toward me. The rest of the kitchen staff were busy on the other side of the

room.

She stopped in front of me.

“I can’t believe you had the nerve to drag your filth into the Alpha House.”

I said nothing.

“Tell me, how did you get in? Who did you fuck that felt sorry enough to let you in?”

“You should get back to dinner. I doubt Luna Lisa would appreciate a guest lurking around her kitchen.”

She grabbed my wrist and tried to twist it. I pulled free.

“Go home,” she hissed. “If Dad and my mother find you here, they’ll skin you alive.”

“Unfortunately, that’s too late. I live here now.”

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hapter two hundred and seventy two

Her eyes widened.

It would’ve been a picture-perfect moment if I’d had a camera.

“What?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

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“Of course. A maid. Cleaning up after other people is the closest you’ll ever come to belonging in this house.” She gave me a slow once-over. “Maybe I should put a stop to this now. Sluts like you have a habit of stealing what belongs to other people. I’ll tell Luna Lisa exactly who you are.”

I looked at her in disbelief. Sometimes I wondered if she was a demon. Did Wesley even know the woman he was courting spoke to people like this? Or did she save it for when no one else was watching?

“Please do. She was very interested in where I came from when we met at the hospital. She only found out our father refused to help me because I didn’t have a Family ID. I’m sure she’d also be interested to hear why you threatened to tear out my tongue if I ever admitted I was your sister.”

Barbara glanced around to make sure no one was listening.

I shrugged.

“The choice is yours.”

She stared at me in silence, then looked me over, searching for something that would scare me. For once, she had nothing.

“You’ve made a mistake coming here,” she said, lowering her voice. “This house will become your prison. By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll beg to leave.”

“I’ve survived worse.”

She stormed out.

Using her own threat against her felt satisfying, but I knew better than to underestimate Barbara. She never let anything go.

My mind drifted back to my childhood. Before I was sent to live with my mother’s family, Barbara treated me like her favorite toy. She once dumped live cockroaches on me while I slept. She knew I was allergic to milk, yet she kept finding ways to sneak it into my food just to watch my lips swell and my face break out in angry red patches.

At school, she made sure I had no friends. If her mother wanted me treated like a servant, Barbara was always the first to make it happen. Her twin sister, Beatrice, who died five years ago, wasn’t kind to me either, but she never joined in. She watched from the sidelines and never once tried to stop it.

When I was sent back to my father’s house after I got pregnant, I met the adult version of Barbara.

She was even crueler.

Now all I could do was wait and see if she would tell Luna Lisa the truth. I’d only just found my first taste of freedom, and Barbara was now close enough to poison the two people whose acceptance mattered most. One had welcomed me into her home. The other was the mate who had already rejected our bond without even knowing it.

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Two hundred and soventy three

Two hundred and seventy three

Family guide

Parents: Lisa & Cameron

– Wesley (24)

– Anita (21)

Parents: Franklin & Nadia

– Emma (21)