TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 370

Three hundred and seventy

Isabella POV

Sleep had finally found me at the chapter house, and when I woke, my mind felt clearer than it had in days. The few hours of rest had given my thoughts enough space to settle, even if they had not made any of them disappear. I got out of bed and walked toward the railing overlooking the lower floor, resting my hands against the wood as I watched the Daughters move through the

house.

There was something strange about seeing them like this. Some had cases connected to Meridian, some had been brought here because of things they had survived, and others simply lived within the community. Their stories were not written across their faces, yet sometimes a person carried enough grief in the way they moved that you found yourself wondering what had happened to them. Near one of the pillars, a woman sat with her head bowed, crying quietly into her hands. No one approached her or asked questions. Perhaps the Daughters had learned that sometimes people needed company without conversation, and sometimes they needed to be left alone.

I wondered what had brought her here, then caught myself drifting back to Wesley. The seer had spoken with such certainty when she told me we would be all right. There was a storm ahead, she had said, but there would be something beyond it. I had clung to those words because I had needed something to hold on to. Hope was not much of a strategy, but at that point I was willing to work with what I had.

“Isabella?”

I turned and found one of the Daughters standing behind me.

“You have a visitor.”

My heart gave a hard kick. “Who?”

“He’s waiting in the room where you met the others.”

I thanked her and started down the corridor, trying not to let myself imagine who it could be. I had barely reached the door when something familiar reached me first. Wesley’s presence hit me before I saw him, and every thought in my head scattered.

My heart raced as I hurried the rest of the way and pushed the door open.

Wesley was here.

For a second, I could only stare. He looked like himself. His clothes were neat, his hair was slightly disheveled, and there was none of the anger I had been afraid to see in his face. He looked tired, though, and there was something guarded in his expression that reminded me this was not magically fixed simply because he had walked through the door.

I searched his face anyway, looking for some indication of why he had come. Had he changed his mind? Had he come to apologize? Had he come to say goodbye?

Then he opened his arms.

That was all I needed.

I crossed the room and went straight into him, burying my face against his chest as the tears I had been holding back finally broke free. His arms closed around me, and the familiar warmth of his body loosened something inside my chest that I had not realized I was holding so tightly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I clutched his shirt. “I’m sorry too.”

“I shouldn’t have said those things.”

“I should have told you.”

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He held me tighter. “I was angry.”

“I know.”

“I was scared.”

That made my tears fall harder because I understood exactly what he meant.

“So was 1.”

He pulled back enough to look at me, his hands coming up to my face as he wiped away the tears beneath my eyes.

“I love you,” he said.

My breath caught. Even after everything, hearing those words still had the power to make the rest of the room disappear.

“I love you too.”

He kissed me, and for once there was no desperation behind it. The kiss was slow and tender, nothing like the frantic fear that had filled the past few days. I held onto him, letting myself feel the relief instead of questioning how long it would last.

For the first time since everything had fallen apart, I allowed myself to believe that perhaps the seer had been right. Maybe the worst of the storm was behind us.

We eventually sat beside each other, our hands joined between us. Neither of us seemed to know what to say at first, and surprisingly, the silence did not feel uncomfortable. Wesley ran his thumb slowly over my knuckles as though he needed the contact as much as I did.

“I was furious,” he admitted eventually. “It felt like everyone had decided you should become part of my problem.”

I turned toward him but said nothing, giving him room to finish.

“I’ve spent years trying to keep people away from this. My wolf, the episodes, everything that happens when I lose control. Then I find out you’re my mate, and suddenly the person I love is tied to all of it.” He looked down at our hands. “Why should you have to suffer because something is wrong with me?”

“You don’t know that I’ll suffer.”

“I know what I’ve lived through. That’s what scared me.” He swallowed. “If being with me means you eventually get hurt, how am I supposed to live with that?”

“You don’t have to figure everything out tonight.” I squeezed his hand. “We can take it one step at a time. If something becomes too much, we stop. We talk about it, and we try again when we’re ready.”

He looked at me for a long moment. “And you’re sure you want this?”

I nodded.

“You don’t know what you’re agreeing to.”

“I know enough.”

His expression tightened. “What if you change your mind?”

There was so much fear in the question that my chest ached.

“I don’t know what I’d do if you left me,” he admitted. “That’s the part that made me want to reject the bond. It we never started, I could survive losing you. If I let myself have you and you eventually decide you can’t live with all of this, I don’t know what would be left of me.”

I moved closer and rested my hand against his cheek. “I love you, Wesley. I didn’t fall in love with you because of the bond.”

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His expression softened.

“I already loved you before I knew you were my mate. Knowing about the bond doesn’t change that. It just makes everything more complicated.”

A faint smile touched his mouth. “That sounds like a very polite way of saying, we’re in trouble”

I laughed quietly. “We might be.”

He leaned into my hand. “I could have spent the rest of my life without knowing about the bond and still never found anyone else who made me feel the way you do.”

I rested my head against his shoulder, and his arm came around me. The hug felt different from the first one. There was still uncertainty between us, but it no longer felt like something waiting to tear us apart.

The door opened, and Joanna stepped inside. She stopped when she saw us and raised an eyebrow.

“Finally. The stubborn little boy has decided to return to civilization.”

I laughed, and Wesley shook his head.

“Never have I seen a meaner old lady.”

Joanna gave him a flat look. “And yet you keep coming back.”

He smiled, and I looked between them. Whatever history they shared, it was obvious she cared about him.

“So now that he’s back, what happens?”

Joanna folded her arms. “Now we need to get you two properly connected.”

I waited for an explanation.

“We need you to spend some time together. Alone.” She paused, seemingly deciding how much detail I actually needed. “The bond responds to intimacy, so you’ll need to let that happen naturally.”

I blinked.

Joanna sighed. “You two need to have sex.”

Heat rushed into my face.

“Oh.”

Wesley started laughing beside me, which did absolutely nothing to improve the situation.

Joanna looked almost pleased with herself. “I thought that might be easier.”

“It was very clear,” Wesley said.

“Good. I was worried I’d have to draw a diagram.”

I covered my face with one hand while Wesley laughed harder.

Joanna continued explaining what they needed from us and what would happen afterward. I listened carefully despite the warmth still burning in my cheeks, focusing on the practical details because that was considerably easier than looking at Wesley.

When she finally finished, she gave us both a pointed look. “Take your time. The bond cannot be forced.”

Then she left us alone.

Wesley waited until the door closed before looking at me. “We should go somewhere without distractions”

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I smiled. “I agree.

My phone pinged somewhere beside me, but Ignored it. Joanna had only just lett, and for the first time in days, I wanted to hold on to the quiet we had found, Whatever message had arrived could wait a few minutes.

It pinged again.

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