TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 9

Nine

Alpha Cameron descended the steps. He wasn’t in a hurry. Every movement seemed authoritative.

When he stopped a few steps from me, the words I’d rehearsed for three hours stuck in my throat. I kept my chin down, staring at the dark leather of his boots as looking into his eyes felt like taking on a challenge I wasn’t yet ready to meet.

“You’re late,” he said. He addressed Franklin, but his gaze never left the top of my head.

“Traffic jam at the border, Alpha. My apologies,” Franklin replied. His voice had lost the casual warmth he’d displayed in the car.

The woman standing next to Cameron stepped forward. She wore a fitted gray dress that matched the stone of the mansion. Her eyes were identical to her brother’s: piercing and lacking tenderness.

“You’ll be staying here in the east wing. A staff member will bring your meals to your living room. You may use the communal dining room if you wish, but I suggest you avoid the main rooms of the house for the first few weeks. We need some time for the group dynamic to settle in. Do you have any questions?”

I had about a hundred. But seeing her stiff posture, I didn’t dare ask anything.

I shook my head.

“Good.”

Cameron turned her back on me and looked at Franklin. “Escort her to her quarters. She needs to report to the temple tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. I want the initial blessing completed before noon.”

He turned and went back up the stairs without another word. He disappeared behind the front doors as if I were a package that had arrived safely and been logged into a register.

Franklin let out a long sigh beside me. “Well,” he said. “It went as planned.”

I let out a ragged breath. “Show me my gilded cage.”

He laughed.

I followed him up the stairs. The entrance to the mansion was even more intimidating from the inside. High ceilings stretched toward a crystal chandelier that cast crisp patterns on the marble floor. Huge portraits of previous Alphas adorned the walls. Their eyes seemed to follow me as I walked down the corridor.

“The east wing is behind these doors,” Franklin said, pointing to carved oak panels.

We walked down a corridor where all the doors were tightly shut. The house lacked the usual clutter of a home. No shoes lying around, no half drunk coffee cups, no television on. It was like a museum dedicated to a lineage that knew nothing of relaxation.

Franklin stopped in front of the last door and pushed it open. The suite was larger than three of my rooms back home. A sitting area occupied the first room, furnished with velvet sofas and a desk. Tall, draped windows flooded the floor with the afternoon light. Beyond an archway was the bedroom.

The bed stood in the center of the room. It was an enormous four–poster bed made of dark wood, draped in deep blue fabric. It was large enough for four people to sleep comfortably without touching.

I felt nauseous. This was where the contract would be executed.

This was my workspace.

Franklin placed my two suitcases next to a wardrobe.

“Dinner is served at 7:00 p.m.,” he said. “If you need anything, use the phone on the desk. Dial zero for the main kitchen or the house manager.

“Thank you, Franklin.” I meant it. He was the only person in this territory who had ever treated me like a human being.

He lingered for a moment by the door, his hand on the brass handle. He looked as if he wanted to say something encouraging, but he only gave a brief nod.

“Get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

The door clicked shut. The silence of the house enveloped me. Standing in the middle of the rug, I thought back to Cameron’s chilling inspection. That man would have sex with me eventually. He would use me to give me an heir, and if the deal went according to plan, he would return to this room night after night until his mission was complete.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes still fixed on the portrait. “It’s a palace, Sasha. I have a living room and a bed the size of a boat.”

“And the Alpha? Did you see him?”

“He’s cold. And Sasha… I found a portrait of his mate.”

“Let me see!”

I switched the call to video and pointed the camera at the painting. Sasha remained silent for a long moment, I heard her catch her breath.

“Lisa,” she whispered. “It’s Evangeline.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Luna, Catherine’s daughter! Kade’s older sister. I hear she has health complications and can’t have children. She’s been with Cameron for over four years.”

My mouth gaped wide.

It was Luna Catherine who had insisted I become the ideal candidate.

She had convinced me I was the best. She had seen my father decline and my mother go blind, and she was the one who had entrusted me with this contract,

She hadn’t chosen me for my reliability. She had chosen me because I was the daughter of a powerless Omega and an indifferent father. If something went wrong, if the Alpha Lycan broke me, no one in the world would dare stand up to her and demand justice.

I was the perfect solution to her daughter’s problem.

The thought sickened me.