TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 60

Sixty

Lisa

Cameron agreed to let me go, though not without conditions. Security would drive me, I would check in every day, and I would be back in exactly one week. I nodded through all of it because I was too relieved to argue about the details.

The drive to Creek Keepers took four hours. I spent most of it staring out the window while Silver Creek territory faded into neutral land and finally into the forests I had grown up knowing. Home, except it didn’t really feel like home anymore.

The security detail, two silent Lycans whose names I hadn’t bothered to learn, dropped me at the address my mother had given me weeks ago. The new house was a modest rental on the edge of pack territory and far nicer than I expected. I told the security team to wait in the car because this was something I needed to do alone. Their vehicle remained parked down the road, far enough away to give privacy but close enough that I could still see it through the trees.

I hadn’t told my mother I was coming. I wanted to surprise her, although part of me suspected the real reason was fear that if I called ahead she would ask me not to come, that seeing me would remind her too much of what I was doing for them.

I knocked on the door and waited. No answer came, so I tried the handle and found it unlocked. “Mom?” I called as I stepped inside.

The house was dark with the curtains drawn and dishes piled in the sink. The air felt stale and neglected, the kind of quiet that made my chest tighten. “Mom?” I called again.

A groan came from the bedroom.

I found her lying in bed in her nightgown with one hand pressed against her temple. Her face looked pale and tight with pain.

“Lisa?” She squinted at me with her right eye while the other stayed closed. “What are you doing here?”

“Apparently surprising you,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Mom, what’s wrong? Why is your eye-” “Migraine.” She tried to sit up and immediately collapsed back with a small whimper. “Bad one. I’ve had it for three days.”

“Three days? Have you taken anything for it?”

“We’re out of the strong painkillers and I couldn’t get to the clinic.”

Anger burned through me. “Come on,” I said, helping her sit up carefully. “We’re going to the clinic.”

“Lisa, I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You’re not a bother. You’re sick. Let’s go.”

The clinic near the pack center looked exactly the way I remembered. I had been there countless times growing up, broken arm at seven, sprained ankle at twelve, and every flu that ran through the school.

Dr. Reeves still worked there. His hair had gone grayer and the lines around his eyes had deepened, but the kindness in his voice hadn’t changed.

“Lisa,” he said with a warm smile. “Haven’t seen you in a while. And Susan, what’s going on?”

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My mother explained the migraine, the pain behind her eye, and the way it refused to ease. Dr. Reeves examined her carefully, asking questions, shining a light into her eyes, and checking her blood pressure.

He leaned back slightly when he finished. “You do have an ocular migraine, and the pain is severe, but I’m concerned about something else. These episodes have been getting more frequent, haven’t they?”

My mother hesitated before nodding.

“I’m going to give you medication to relieve the migraine,” he continued, writing something on the chart. “But Susan, we need to run further tests soon. There may be pressure behind the optic nerve. If that’s the case, you may need surgery to correct it before it causes permanent damage.”

The word surgery landed heavy in the room.

“Is it dangerous?” I asked.

“It’s treatable if we catch it early,” Dr. Reeves said. “But it’s not something you should ignore.”

Relief and fear tangled together in my chest.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

“Take care of your mother, Lisa,” he replied. “She needs rest, hydration, and someone making sure she actually takes the medication.”

I brought my mother home and settled her back into bed with water and the medication Dr. Reeves prescribed. Once she drifted into sleep, I went into the kitchen and started cooking.

It had been weeks since I cooked anything myself. At Silver Creek everything arrived prepared by staff and served on dishes that looked too expensive to touch. Standing in this cramped kitchen felt strange and grounding at the same time.

I made soup using the recipe my mother had taught me, chicken broth, vegetables, and herbs simmering slowly

on the stove.

I was ladling it into bowls when the front door opened.

“Mom? I’m home. Sorry I’m late, I had—”

James stepped into the kitchen and stopped when he saw me.

“Lisa.”

My little brother, except he didn’t look so little anymore.

“Hey,” I said. “Surprise.”

He stared at me while the silence stretched.

“I made soup,” I added. “Mom’s not feeling well. I took her to the clinic earlier.”

“I know she wasn’t feeling well,” he said, his voice tight. “I’ve been taking care of her.” 1

“I’m glad you were here for her.”

James crossed his arms. “Are you pregnant?”

The question landed like a punch.

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“I don’t know yet.”

“But you might be.”

“Yes.”

“With Cameron’s baby.”

“That was the arrangement, James. You know that.”

“Do I?” He let out a bitter laugh. “Do you even understand what that means?”

“James-”

“Do you even know whose baby that will be when it’s born?” he said. “Because it won’t be yours anymore. You’re going to carry it for months and then hand it to someone else.”

The words hit harder than the accusation.

“Are you staying,” he cut in, “or is this just a visit before you go back to your new life?”

“I’m here for a week. Then I have to go back.”

“Of course you do.” He drained a glass of water and set it down hard. “Wouldn’t want to keep your Alpha waiting.”

He walked out before I could respond.

I stood alone in the kitchen, gripping the edge of the counter.

Sasha arrived within the hour. I heard her voice before I saw her as she burst through the front door.

“Lisa! Babes!”

She rounded the corner and pulled me into a hug so tight it hurt.

“Oh my god,” she said into my hair. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” 1

We pulled apart and she studied me carefully.

“You look different.”

“Different how?”

“Rested. Like you’re sleeping well and eating well.” Her eyes widened suddenly. “Wait. The sex is good, isn’t it?”

Heat rushed to my face. “Sasha-”

“It is. I can tell. You have that glow.”

“Can you not-”

“Oh please,” she said with a grin. “I’m not judging you for getting good dick. Honestly I’m glad you’re getting something out of this besides money.”

I didn’t answer because she wasn’t wrong.

“Come on,” I said, linking my arm through hers. “Let’s check on my mom.”

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We sat with my mother while she slept. The medication had finally eased the migraine enough that she could rest.

Sasha filled the quiet with pack gossip about who was dating, who had gotten into fights, and who had been caught cheating. Eventually her tone shifted.

“I saw your dad two nights ago,” she said. “At Miller’s Bar. He was drunk and loud and blaming you for everything.”

My stomach tightened.

“He’s been asking where you are,” she added quietly. “Asking everyone. Saying he’s going to drag you home and end the whole thing.” 1

“What kind of noise exactly?”

“He keeps saying you’re disgracing the family and how he’s going to confront that Alpha himself.”

The front door slammed open.

We both jumped.

“Where is she?” my father shouted. “Where’s that lousy girl?”

I stood as he appeared in the bedroom doorway. He looked terrible, unshaven, disheveled, and reeking of alcohol.

“There you are,” he said. “Come home to visit the family you disgraced?”

“Dad-”

“Don’t you dare call me that.” He pointed at me with a shaking finger. “You’re ending this disgusting arrangement and coming home.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Like hell you can. You think I’m going to let my daughter sell herself to some Lycan bastard?”

Behind me my mother stirred. “Richard, please…”

“Stay out of this, Susan.” He turned back to me. “You’re ending the contract today. I’ll go to Silver Creek myself if I have to and tell that Alpha exactly what I think of him taking advantage of desperate girls.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” I said, my voice shaking. “You’re drunk and you’re yelling in Mom’s bedroom while she’s sick. This entire situation exists because of you.”

“How dare you -”

“No, how dare you,” I snapped. “Your wandering cock destroyed this family and now you want to call me a disgrace?”

His face flushed red. “You’re sleeping with another woman’s mate-”

“To fix this family after your mistakes,” I said, my voice rising. “So don’t stand there and judge me when you’re the reason any of this happened.”

“If that Alpha laid a hand on you–”

“He didn’t do anything I didn’t consent to,” I said coldly. “Everything about that arrangement is legal. You don’t get to play the protective father now. That ended when you cheated on Mom.”

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My mother pushed herself upright in the bed, her hands covering her face. “Stop,” she whispered. “Please stop.”

Dad stared at me as if I had struck him.

Then his face hardened.

“You’re not my daughter anymore.”

The words should have hurt.

They didn’t.

Because looking at the drunk, bitter man in front of me, I realized I didn’t want to be his daughter anymore.

“Get out,” I said quietly. “Before I call pack security.”

He opened his mouth, closed it again, and stormed out. The front door slammed hard enough to rattle the windows.

I walked to the doorway and pushed the door shut, resting my palm against the wood for a moment before turning back.

Sasha stood beside me, her hand resting on my shoulder, while my mother cried softly on the bed.

Through the front window I could see Cameron’s security car still parked down the road, the quiet reminder that in one week I would return to Silver Creek.

And if I was pregnant, this house would never truly be home again.

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