TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 71

Seventy-One

Lisa

I hadn’t seen Cameron in four days. I told myself I didn’t care and that this was better.

I was lying.

By the third day, I asked Franklin.

“He’s at the specialist hospital with Evangeline. They’re running more tests and trying a new treatment.”

“Oh. When is he coming back?”

“Not sure. A few days, maybe longer.”

The house felt wrong without Cameron, which didn’t make sense because he was one person in a place built for dozens. Still, his absence made everything feel empty, like the walls were waiting for him.

The last thing I’d said to him after sex replayed in my head no matter how hard I tried to shove it away. I hope this gets me pregnant so you can focus on your family.

I’d told myself it was practical, but it had landed like a dismissal, and I’d watched him shut down in real time.

Now he was gone, and I was stuck with the silence and the consequences.

My mother asked about him during one of my visits.

She was doing well. Her vision was improving

“Where’s Alpha Cameron?” she asked. “I wanted to thank him again.

“He’s busy with pack matters.’

“Too busy to visit?”

“He doesn’t owe you visits, Mom. He’s already done enough.”

She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, gently, “Did something happen between you two?”

“No. He’s with Evangeline. That’s where he should be.”

My mother reached for my hand and squeezed it. “You’re allowed to feel things, even when they’re messy.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s fine,” she said, still holding my hand. “But I’m here.”

I spent most of my time at the hospital or the nursery after that, anywhere that kept me out of the main house and out of my head.

The nursery helped. The kids wanted stories, snacks, and someone to push the swings.

Simple, honest things.

I was starting to think of it as the blues. I didn’t want to admit I missed Cameron, because saying it out loud would mean I’d let things go too far. Somewhere along the way, this stopped feeling like a job and turned into something else, and I couldn’t afford that.

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So I didn’t call him or text him or reach out in any way.

+15 Bonus

I told myself it was about boundaries and self-respect, about not chasing a man who already belonged to someone else, but the truth was simpler.

I was scared.

If I called and he didn’t answer, that would hurt. If he did answer and sounded distant, that might hurt more, because then I’d know it was already over.

Not knowing felt safer, even if it meant dragging myself through each day.

The one good thing was watching Franklin and Cora. 1

Franklin had taken over her debt situation and used his position to dig into the trafficking ring, leaning on the right people until it collapsed. Anyone who’d been involved scattered fast, and no one was touching Cora or her daughter again.

Cora told me at the nursery, her eyes wet and bright all at once.

“He did it, Lisa,” she said. “Franklin shut it all down, the people who held my debt are gone, and he paid everything off. All of it. I’m free.”

I hugged her. “I’m so happy for you.’

She pulled back and wiped her face. “I don’t even know how to thank him. No one’s ever done something like this for me, and he didn’t hesitate.”

“He cares about you.”

“I know,” she said, smiling in a way that felt new. “And I think I care about him too, not just the fake dating thing.”

“Then tell him.”

“What if it ruins things? What if he only did this because of Nadia, and I was just convenient?”

“Cora, look at me,” I said, waiting until she did. “Franklin doesn’t do anything halfway. He didn’t do all this because you were convenient. He did it because he cares.”

She thought about it, then nodded. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I am.”

We stopped for dinner at a small place near the edge of pack land. Nothing fancy, just burgers and fries and easy conversation.

Franklin was different around Cora. He smiled more, laughed more, and touched her hand without thinking. Cora looked lighter, like she could finally breathe.

I watched them and felt genuinely happy, which was a relief after days of feeling low.

“You’re staring,” Cora said, grinning.

“I’m observing. Happy for you, both of you.”

Franklin snorted. “You better not get funny ideas.”

I called Sasha, my best friend.

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Seventy On

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She picked up on the second ring. “I was starting to feel neglected.”

“You’re impossible to forget,” I said. “You’d haunt me.”

“Good. Now tell me what’s going on.”

I told her everything.

“You’ve mentioned Cora and Franklin five tirnes in two minutes.”

I laughed. “Relax. You’re still my best friend.”

“Good, because I was ready to fight them.”

“I think I might be pregnant.”

She went quiet. “Seriously?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling.”

“Have you taken a test?”

“Not yet. I’m scared. What if I’m not pregnant? What if I can’t get pregnant 1?”

“You’ll figure something out. You always do.”

“I’d have to work,” I said. “Get a normal job, maybe in a nursery. The kids like me, and Dorothy says I’m good with them.”

She laughed. “You, working with kids?”

“I have more patience for them than adults.”

We talked until I felt less heavy, not happy, just steadier.

I lay in bed afterward with one hand on my stomach.

I didn’t know if there was anything there yet, but my body felt different, tired in a way sleep didn’t fix, sore in places that hadn’t been before.

It could have been stress or wishful thinking. Or it could have been real.

If I was pregnant, I’d have to tell Cameron. I’d have to face the end of this, the part where I gave birth, handed over the baby, and left Silver Creek for good.

My chest tightened at the thought, but this was always temporary. I’d known that from the start.

I just hadn’t expected it to hurt like this.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, and dreamed of things that were never meant to be mine.

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