TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 61

Sixty-One

Cameron

I knew returning to the main house was going to be bad, I just didn’t know it would be this bad.

Franklin had covered for me. They told Evangeline I’d been called away to another regional meeting and gave her. something plausible enough that she wouldn’t question it. I had been gone four days, locked in that house on Central Road with Lisa, trapped in her heat and my rut and fucking like animals who couldn’t stop. Now I had to walk back into my home and face my mate.

I pulled into the driveway just after sunset. The main house looked warm and welcoming from the outside, lights glowing through the windows, the kind of place that promised comfort. Inside waited a reckoning I wasn’t ready for.

Franklin met me at the door. One look at his face told me everything.

“She knows,” he said quietly.

Shit.

“How-”

“I don’t know. But she knows. And she’s been crying.”

I swore under my breath and stepped inside. The moment I crossed the threshold I caught Evangeline’s scent. The rot had grown stronger again, something sour and wrong beneath the usual traces of perfume. 1

She was in the sitting room. Nadia sat beside her on the sofa. When I entered, Evangeline lifted her head. Her eyes were red, mascara streaking down her cheeks.

She looked devastated, all because of me.

“Eva-”

She raised her hand. “Don’t you dare walk in here and lie to me. Not anymore. I know where you were. I know what you were doing. You spent four days in that house with her.”

I glanced at Nadia.

“Don’t look at me. I had no idea you were back.”

“It’s not what you think,” I said.

Evangeline laughed. “Really? Then tell me what I think happened, my dear mate.”

“She went into heat,” I managed to say. “Her first one. She needed-”

“She needed you?” Evangeline cried out. “Cameron, you’re not a heat worker! You specifically ran straight to her because you enjoy fucking her!”

“She was suffering-”

“And I’m not?” She pushed herself to her feet, trembling. “I’ve been suffering for years, Cameron. Dying slowly while you watch. The moment that girl needs you, you drop everything and run to her. You spend four days with her. Stop lying to yourself. This has gone beyond the contract and you know it.”

I didn’t answer.

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“So this is how it is now,” she said, tears spilling again. “Everyone is ganging up on me. All of you working together to keep me in the dark while you fuck that tramp.”

She broke down crying.

Nadia stood and tried to steady her. “Eva, please. It’s not like that. I didn’t even know Cameron was back. I’ve been here with you the whole time.”

“You chose him.” Evangeline pulled away from her. “You’re supposed to be my best friend, and you chose your brother over me.” 1

“That’s not fair,” Nadia said. “I didn’t choose anyone.”

“You knew enough,” Evangeline snapped. “You knew he wants her. You knew he was cheating”

“It wasn’t cheating,” I said, though the words sounded weak even to my own ears. “She’s the surrogate. We have a contract.”

“A contract that doesn’t include spending four days knotted inside her!”

The room went silent.

“How do you know that?”

Evangeline smiled bitterly. “Does it matter? I know. I know you knotted her. Multiple times. I know you bred her like she was your mate instead of me.”

My gaze slid toward Franklin. He shook his head, looking aghast.

“You’ve never done that with me,” Evangeline continued. “Not once in six years. Do you know what that feels like? Knowing you gave her something you never gave

me?”

“Evangeline-”

“Is it because I’m dying? Is that why you never bonded with me like that? Because you know I’m going to leave you? Or is it because you never wanted me in the first place?”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” She wiped at her face with shaking hands. “You barely tolerate being in the same room with me anymore. I see the way you look at me.”

The smell grew stronger. My wolf recoiled from it even as I stepped closer.

“You think I don’t understand what this means?” she said quietly. “If she gives you an heir, I become irrelevant.”

“That’s not how this works.”

“Isn’t it?” Her voice trembled again. “Tell me the truth, Cameron. The bond is breaking. I can sense it. Every time you touch her, every time you think about her, it tears a little more.”

“It was her fertile window,” I said. “I couldn’t waste the opportunity. We need this to work. We need an heir.”

“You went to her yourself because you wanted to.”

I didn’t deny it.

“Where is she now?” Evangeline asked. “Your precious little slut.”

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“She went to visit her mother.”

“Smart girl,” she muttered. “At least one of you has some sense.

Nadia held her. “Eva, stop. This isn’t helping anyone. You should be concerned about your health.”

“My health?” Evangeline snapped. “My mate just spent four days fucking another woman and you want me to calm down for my health?”

“Get out,” she said suddenly, pointing at the door. “All of you.”

“Eva-”

“I said get out!” she screamed. “I can’t look at you, Cameron. Just leave.”

We left.

Franklin waited in the hallway. “I didn’t tell her,” he said immediately.

Nadia rubbed her forehead. “I’ve never seen her like this. She thinks we’re all conspiring against her.”

“How did she find out?”

“I don’t know,” Nadia said. “But someone told her. We need to do something. And Cameron, you need to get your act together. This isn’t funny anymore.”

“What do you suggest?” I snapped. “I can’t undo what happened. I can’t promise to stay away from Lisa because we both know that’s not true. I can’t control myself. The moment she comes back, the moment I see her again-

“Cameron… you hear yourself, right?”

“Everyone please calm down,” Franklin said. “The solution to this is to hope the specialists from the North can help with Evangeline’s case.”

Nadia scoffed. “She’s tried so many treatments. She won’t trust anyone new easily. She’s terrified of dying alone.”

Later that night I tried Evangeline’s door. It was locked.

I knocked softly. “Eva?”

Silence.

“Please. I know you’re angry. But we need to talk.”

“Go away, Cameron,” she said from the other side. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

I stood there with my hand against the door for a moment, feeling the barrier between us. Then I walked to my

room.

I expected to lie awake for hours, instead I fell asleep.

I dreamed of Lisa beneath me, flushed and breathless. Her scent surrounded me.

“Please,” she whispered. “Cameron.”

I pushed into her and felt her body tighten around me.

“Gonna breed you,” I heard myself say. “Fill you up.”

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“Yes,” she cried. “Yours.”

My knot swelled and locked us together.

I woke suddenly, breathing hard, my cock straining against my boxers.

Shame hit immediately.

My mate slept alone down the hall, and even in my sleep, my body reached for Lisa.mEven unconscious, I chose. her.

I lay back against the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

I was a piece of shit.

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