TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 291

Two hundred and ninety one

Isabella POV

My skin crawled where Gwen had touched me.

Anyone watching us would have thought she’d come to check on Maverick out of kindness or whatever story she’d cooked up. No one would have guessed she’d walked away after quietly reminding me how easily everything I’d built could disappear.

I’d stood my ground and reminded her she wasn’t the only one with something to lose. But the more I replayed the conversation, the less comfort I found in my own words.

Yes, I had leverage. If Gwen exposed me, questions would be asked about why their family had spent years pretending I didn’t exist.

Even so, what did they really have to lose?

At worst, Wesley would question Barbara. People would gossip for a while. The embarrassment would pass. Barbara was beautiful, accomplished, and loved by everyone around her. They could explain things away, mend the cracks, and move on with their lives.

I, on the other hand, had nothing waiting for me outside these gates.

Gwen’s voice echoed inside my head.

Secrets have a way of introducing themselves eventually.

I hated that she was right.

Although she had helped create the life I was living now and had helped my father turn his back on me, her cruelty didn’t make her warning any less true.

Barbara was now in Wesley’s life. Everyone talked about them, and even the pack’s social media pages were full of comments about the future Alpha and his beautiful bride. People were already calling them the pack’s future power couple, whose wedding would be remembered for years.

Luna Lisa would come to see Barbara as family.

Since moving into the Alpha House, I had come to admit something I hadn’t wanted to face This place no longer felt secure. It felt like I was standing inside a house with cracks spreading beneath my feet, pretending not to hear the walls shifting.

Iris had casually mentioned the empty room beside hers at the staff lodge. Maybe that was where Maverick and I belonged. Farther away from Barbara and Gwen.

Barbara had no reason to visit the office regularly. She was a doctor. Even if our paths crossed occasionally, it wouldn’t be anything like living under the same roof as the family she was about to marry

into.

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I’d have to explain it carefully to Luna Lisa in a way that was enough of a lie to make sense. I’d tell her I wanted to be closer to my colleagues and that I appreciated everything she’d done for Maverick and me, but didn’t want to impose on her generosity forever.

Life would become harder. I’d have food and daycare to think about once I started receiving my salary, since Grandma Cassidy wouldn’t be right next door to watch Maverick whenever work ran late. But those worries felt manageable. They weren’t Barbara and Gwen, or a secret waiting to destroy the safest place my son had ever known.

Maverick came first, and whatever curiosity I had about Wesley and the bond couldn’t outweigh that. Whether he truly didn’t feel it or simply refused to acknowledge it no longer mattered as much as keeping my son safe.

I’d have to find out if the administration office might even have childcare arrangements for employees. If not, this would be very difficult, because without a family card, Maverick and I would never qualify for public benefits.

Moving out immediately felt wrong. Luna Lisa barely knew me. Outside of rescuing us from the hospital and the greetings we exchanged at work, we’d never even sat down for a proper conversation. If I rushed to leave now, it would seem as though I was rejecting her kindness. I’d give it a month, long enough to

settle into work.

“Isabella?”

Grandma Cassidy’s voice pulled me back.

She smiled at me. “I’ve been calling your name for a while now. Where did you disappear to?”

“I’m sorry.”

She pointed toward an insulated food flask resting on one of the tables. “Would you mind taking that out to Silas? He’s on night duty.”

“Of course.”

The flask was much too large for one person. It could easily feed four or five guards. I carried it outside and found him near the front gate.

His face lit up.

“Tell Grandma she’s trying to spoil us.”

“I’ll let her know.”

He took the flask with an exaggerated bow before whistling toward the others posted farther down the perimeter. I turned back toward the house. Laughter drifted across the driveway before I saw who it belonged to.

Barbara.

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I stopped.

Standing with her were Anita and another young woman I’d never met. They were talking easily, the kind of relaxed conversation people had when the evening was winding down and nobody wanted to be the

first to leave.

I glanced toward another path, but it was too far. This was the quickest way back inside. I lowered my head and started walking.

“Isabella!”

I closed my eyes for the briefest second. There was no pretending I hadn’t heard that voice. When I looked up, Anita was waving enthusiastically.

“There you are! Come here.”

Goddess, help me.

I forced my feet to cooperate and walked over. Anita’s smile widened the closer I got. Barbara watched me in silence. The unfamiliar woman looked me over as though she were finally meeting someone she’d heard about but hadn’t expected to live up to the stories.

“So this is Isabella,” she said.

Anita leaned over and whispered something into her ear.

The woman wore an amused smile.

She and Anita shared enough features that I guessed they were related, but that was where the similarities ended. Anita dressed boldly. The woman beside her was softer and more elegant. Everything from her clothes to the way she smiled showed it.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Anita said. “I was just telling my friends about you.”

“This is the designer I told you about, Emma,” Anita continued, turning toward her. “She’s very talented. Next time you need something designed, you should let her do it.”

Emma chuckled.

“I already have a designer.”

“I know, but give Isabella a chance. I promise you won’t regret it.” Anita looked toward Barbara. “You too.”

Barbara said nothing, and that unsettled me more than open hostility would have. Barbara had never been a quiet person when she wanted to hurt me.

“Thank you,” I said, looking at Anita.

The warmth in her smile didn’t change. Emma nudged her with her shoulder, clearly amused by how

enthusiastic she sounded.

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“I should get back inside,” I said. “Grandma Cassidy sent me on an errand.”

“Don’t let us keep you, then,” Anita replied. “We’ll see you around.”

“Goodnight, Isabella,” Emma said.

“Goodnight.”

Barbara remained silent. I turned before I could overthink another second of it and kept a steady pace all the way back to the house, refusing to look over my shoulder even once.

By the time I reached my room, the knot between my shoulders had settled into a dull ache. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it before looking toward the bed.

Maverick was fast asleep. One arm was stretched above his head, his mouth slightly open, completely unaware that the world outside our room had become even more complicated. I crossed the room and

sat beside him, brushing my fingers through his hair.

He shifted in his sleep, letting out a sigh before settling again.

A smile tugged at my lips despite everything.

I slipped under the blanket beside him, pulling him closer until his body rested against mine. He stirred only long enough to curl closer before drifting back.

None of what was happening mattered more than this little boy sleeping beside me.

My eyes had begun to grow heavy when faint voices floated through the open window.

At first, I ignored them. The Alpha House was never completely quiet. Guards changed shifts through the night, staff finished cleaning, and family members often lingered outside long after dinner had ended.

But the voices didn’t fade. If anything, they became more rhythmic.

I sat up. Careful not to wake Maverick, I eased out of bed and crossed to the window. I pulled the curtain

back to look outside.

The gardens below were softly lit. Luna Lisa stood near the center of a small gathering. Grandma Cassidy was beside her, along with several older women I didn’t recognize. Their heads were slightly bowed as one of them spoke.

Wesley stood in the middle of them, and I wondered if I’d stumbled onto some kind of family meeting.

Then one of the women stepped forward, holding something in both hands. Even from this distance, my werewolf eyesight caught the glimmer of what she was holding. She lifted what looked like a necklace and carefully fastened it around Wesley’s neck.

The others clapped. Another woman raised both hands as though offering a blessing.

I couldn’t make out their words, as the distance swallowed every sentence before it reached me. Maybe it was some Alpha tradition or some ceremony before officially taking over the pack. It would explain

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why everyone seemed so reverent.

I rested my hand against the window frame, watching them for another minute. If that was what this was, then everything was moving exactly as everyone expected.

Wesley would become Alpha. Barbara would become Luna. The entire pack already spoke as though it

were only a matter of time.

A heaviness settled in my chest. This wasn’t some imaginary future I’d invented to torture myself. It was

already unfolding.

Every dinner, visit, and conversation about wedding plans. The life everyone expected Wesley to have was slowly taking shape right in front of me, and somewhere in the middle of it all was a bond he refused to acknowledge.

The bond simply wasn’t important enough to him.

If acknowledging me threatened his family, his future, and the position he’d spent his whole life preparing for, then perhaps ignoring it wasn’t cruel.

The conclusion gave me permission to stop expecting an answer.

Outside, the women smiled at Wesley as the gathering slowly broke apart, and I let the curtain fall back into place.

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