TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 293

w hundrest and hienty three

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I reached for my shirt, pulling it back on over the necklace.

Joanna watched me for another moment.

“We need you to find your mate.”

I almost rolled my eyes.

“I know you’re with someone now, but we’ll keep looking until we find her.”

She picked up her box and walked away.

The courtyard gradually emptied as the Daughters packed away their candles, bowls, and herbs. Mom walked them toward the driveway, thanking each of them the way she always did after every cleansing. I stayed where I was, enjoying the quiet that followed once the chanting finally stopped.

Grandma Cassidy fell into step beside me as we started toward the house. The gravel crunched beneath our feet, and for a while neither of us spoke. It was one of the things I liked about her. She never rushed into conversations. She waited until people had lowered their guard.

“So,” she said eventually, “about Barbara.”

I sighed.

“What about her?”

“You heard Joanna. Are you sure about marrying Barbara?”

I was getting tired of that question. Mom had asked it, Anita had hinted at it, and now Grandma Cassidy.

We stopped beside the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. Water spilled gently over the stone, filling

the silence between us.

“Barbara is a good person,” I said. “She’s a doctor. She understands my condition better than most people ever could. Our families have known each other for years. She’s respected in the pack.”

Grandma Cassidy listened without interrupting.

“I don’t want to end up in one of those political marriages where two Alpha families throw their children together because it benefits everyone else.”

“And love?”

I looked down at the water.

There had been a time when I’d believed love would eventually sort itself out. That if I found the right person, everything else would follow. Then Beatrice died, and somewhere after that, love had quietly stopped feeling like something that belonged in my future.

I looked back at Grandma Cassidy. She was watching me with those sharp eyes of hers, as though she’d already noticed the crack in my answer and was waiting to see if I’d widen it myself.

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Cve hundred and nienty two

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I couldn’t keep lying to her.

“Fine,” I said with a tired sigh. “I’ll tell you something, but it stays between us. I haven’t even told Mom.”

She folded her arms. “For something you’ve hidden from your mother…” she said thoughtfully, “…have you told Anita or Charlie?”

I shook my head.

“Then this must either be very serious or very foolish.”

A reluctant smile escaped me.

“Maybe both.”

She waited.

“The truth is…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Barbara and I aren’t actually together. It’s an arrangement.”

I watched the surprise settle across her face before continuing.

“We’re pretending.”

“For what reason?”

“The council. I needed them to believe I was settled and ready to become Alpha. A serious relationship

helped.”

Grandma Cassidy stared at me, and then she burst into laughter. She laughed so hard she had to wipe tears from the corners of her eyes.

I couldn’t help laughing too.

“You ridiculous boy,” she said, smacking my arm lightly. “You young people really believe you’re clever enough to outwit nature.”

“I had to try.”

“Oh, Wesley. What makes you think your father won’t eventually discover the truth?”

“I plan to end it before he does.”

She gradually calmed, though amusement lingered in her eyes.

“What about Barbara?” she asked. “Are you certain she doesn’t have feelings for you?”

“I’m certain. She’s helping me. Nothing more.”

“Arrangements have a strange habit of turning into something real if people leave them alone long enough.”

“It won’t happen. She’s my friend.”

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hungria and nenty three

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“And she’s a young woman who’s standing beside the future Alpha every time people see the two of you together. She’s hearing everyone call her the future Luna. You may be pretending, but that doesn’t mean everyone else’s feelings will stay pretend too.”

“It won’t happen.”

“You sound very confident.”

“I know Barbara.”

Grandma Cassidy shook her head.

“And what happens if the council expects an engagement or some other public step to prove the relationship is genuine?”

“We’ll fake that too.”

She stared at me.

“I’m not comfortable with any of this.”

“I know. Don’t tell Dad. I mean it. If he finds out now, everything we’ve done falls apart.”

“I won’t tell him,” she mumbled. “But,” she added, “that promise comes with one condition.”

I knew there would be one.

“While this arrangement continues, you’re not going to see anyone else. No sleeping around.”

I groaned.

“Grandma. You know that’s an uncomfortable question.”

“You just have to, otherwise you’d be seen as unfaithful, and that’s a bad look on you.”

She had a point.

“Is there a woman you’ve been eyeing?”

Isabella’s face crossed my mind before I could stop it, along with her stubborn habit of looking away whenever I caught her staring.

I pushed the thought aside.

“Maybe,” I admitted. “But it’s nothing beyond physical attraction. Can we end this conversation before it becomes even more invasive?”

I began working faster, knowing she was going to ask more questions I wasn’t comfortable answering.

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