TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 7

Seven

Lisa POV

I stared at the text message until the letters seemed to blur against the dark background.

Lisa Hartwell. You have been selected.

My father was still talking, his mouth moving in an endless cycle of justifications, but the sound had faded to a distant echo.

The reality of the message hit me.

“Lisa?”

My mother’s hand brushed against my arm. Her fingers were cold. I looked up and realized that silence had fallen over the room.

“I’ve been selected,” I said. My voice sounded like it belonged to someone else.

“Selected?” My father asked. “You mean the Lycan? Is it already decided?”

I didn’t respond. I watched his face tighten, the fine lines of agitation around his eyes.

He stepped into the entryway, leaving his mistress to linger by the screen door. The surprise on his face quickly turned sharper.

“Lisa, listen to me. This isn’t a game,” he said curtly. He reached out as if to grab my shoulder, but I stepped back. “I know this sum might seem like a fortune to a girl your age, but you’re blinded by greed.”

TH

“Look at yourself,” he continued, his voice rising “You don’t have Alpha blood. Your mother is an Omega. You have no legitimacy. Don’t delude yourself into thinking you can handle a man like Alpha Cameron.”

He sounded bitter.

“A man like that will tear you to pieces. He’ll break you and leave you in a worse state than you are now. What if he changes his mind along the way? What if he uses you, then finds some excuse to cancel the contract without paying a cent? What will happen when you come back? Pregnant, swollen, without a dime, and unwanted? What will happen when no man in this territory will want you because of this humiliation? You’ll be an outcast.”

“Then it’s a good thing I have enough money so don’t have to worry about what they think,” I replied and looked him straight in the eye. “I’ll have my own house. I’ll have my own life. And I’ll never have to ask you for anything again

His face went dark red and mottled. He reached out and grabbed my arm, his into my flesh through my dress.

fingers digging

“Lisa, you’re still my daughter. You’re young and naive. Even if this works out, you’ll always need my guidance. We can handle this together. I can take care of the legal aspects of the payments.”

“Let go of me.”

The words cut him off. He stared at me, surprised by the coldness of my expression. He loosened his grip and withdrew his hand. I looked down at my sleeve and smoothed the creased fabric.

“I see,” he said. He let out a jerky laugh. “Is money all you care about now? Then go ahead. Waste your life trying to prove you can survive without me. We’ll see where five hundred thousand tokens get you when you’re on your own.”

He turned his gaze to my mother. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? You’ve spent years turning my children against me. Now you’ve made Lisa a martyr just so you can play the victim in your own pathetic story.”

“Look at yourself in a mirror if you want to see who wrote this story, Richard,” my mother said.

He looked back and forth between us, his chest heaving.

“When it all falls apart,” he told me, “don’t come crying to me.”

He turned toward the stairs, gesturing for his mistress to follow him.

“And just so I’m clear, I’m seeing Alpha Marcus tonight. I’m a member of that pack council. He oversees the selections, and I will make it known that I strongly oppose them. I can still challenge the validity of the contract.”

He strode up the stairs. The woman followed him like a shadow.

Tears dripped down my mother’s cheeks. James stood by the counter.

“You both need to calm down,” I said. “We’re leaving this house. Immediately.”

They both turned to face me. The anger in James’s eyes gave way to a kind of blank confusion.

“Luna Catherine supports this plan,” I continued mentally counting the steps to stay focused. “She’ll find you a place to sleep tonight. As soon as the first installment from the Silver Creek accounts clears tomorrow, I’m buying you a house. A real one. With a title deed in your name, Mom.”

My mother let out a groan and covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders trembled. I moved closer and took her in my arms, resting her head against my chin. I wiped the dampness from her skin with my thumb, My own hands trembled, but I maintained light contact.

“So this is serious,” she whispered against my shoulder, “It’s really happening.”

James let out a ragged sigh. He looked up at the ceiling, then at me. “We should get to Alpha’s anyone,”

My mother stepped forward, leaning on the stair railing. “Kade, are you really giving my daughter a life? Or are you just trying to keep her from leaving the territory?”

“Maybe,” I said, adjusting the strap of my bag. “But it’s my mistake.”

I walked past him, my shoulder almost brushing his arm. I didn’t turn around to see his reaction.

Luna Catherine’s office was thick with the scent of cedar oil. My father stood near the desk. He spoke so fast the words tumbled out. i

“She’s desperate, Luna,” he insisted. “She’s reacting to a passing family feud. You have to reject her application before it becomes a public scandal.”

“I’ve already been selected,” I said.

My father turned abruptly. Luna Catherine remained seated. She looked at me, then back at my father.

“Let’s sit down and talk like adults,” she said “Susan, please. Tell me what happened.”

My mother sat down in the chair next to me. Her voice was weak, breaking as she described my father’s infidelity.

She spoke of the plan to move us to the pack welfare. As she spoke, Luna Catherine’s face shifted to cold disgust.

“Did you really bring that woman into your home, Richard?” Luna Catherine asked. She didn’t wait for his answer. “And now you’re in my office berating your daughter for trying to get out of the mess you created?”

My father opened his mouth, his chest swelling with the urge to defend himself, but she raised her hand.

“Lisa is of age according to all the laws of this pack,” Catherine declared, “Your objections are recorded, but you have no legal right to demand the retraction of a signed decision. The Lycan Alpha has made his choice.”

She turned her chair toward me. The light from the desk lamp illuminated her silver hair. “I will ensure your mother’s safety. I am placing her in social housing unit, under my personal supervision, until the transition is complete.”

My stomach clenched. Those words weighed heavily on me. Social housing was precisely what my father had brandished as a threat. It meant communal kitchens and thin walls.

Luna Catherine noticed my shoulders slump. “Your mother will have private accommodation. You’ll receive the first payment of the contract as soon as you submit your body. With those

ent of the con

Seven tokens, you can rent a suitable house for your family. I won’t offer you anything more. Otherwise, the board will accuse me of interfering in personal matters.”

understand,” I said. I looked at my father. He was staring at the floor. He looked smaller in the dim light of the office.