LOGINShare
Fifty-Three
publish date:
2026-01-31 16:07:15
Latest chapter
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two hundred and sixty six
Lisa POVThe days crawled by, and I didn't know what to do with myself. Cameron was with the Daughters. The rituals had begun, and nobody would tell us how they were going. Every morning I woke expecting news, and every night I lay awake wondering whether he was still alive.We hadn't heard anything from Kieran or Franklin. Cassidy and Joanna never came either, although women moved in and out of the safe house to check on us while guards stayed posted outside. That was the only change. People passed through the warehouse all day, but nobody stopped to tell us anything.Sometimes my mother would ask the women, hoping for something more, and they always gave the same answer."The rituals are still going on.""I'm afraid, Mom," I said as she pulled me against her.She kissed my forehead."Well, I'm trying not to be," she said. "You're the one making me nervous.""Don't blame me. It's so spooky. I can't imagine anything good coming out of it.""If we keep expecting the worst, how is that
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two hundred and sixty five
Cameron POVCassidy excused herself and left with Evangeline, leaving me wondering what was supposed to happen next.Franklin and Nadia tried to keep things normal. They kept me talking, as though conversation alone could stop my mind from running."Do you think she's truly sorry?" Nadia asked.Franklin scoffed. "She can be sorry, but we're not buying it. We're not encouraging any closeness after this. Too much has happened.""I still hope she finds some kind of meaning in her life," Nadia said. "I can't imagine living after killing my own mother.""Maybe living with it is punishment enough."The woman who had welcomed us into the building returned."We're ready for you."Franklin took the lead while Nadia slipped her hand into mine and gave it a squeeze."I can't wait to have you back."My throat tightened. I couldn't answer.The second floor looked disappointingly ordinary. It could have passed for any hospital. White walls. Closed doors. Nurses walked past without paying us any att
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two hundred and sixty four
Cameron POVNadia screamed and clapped, unable to contain herself. Franklin sat opposite me with a grin that refused to leave his face, as though we'd finally stumbled onto the answer after groping around in the dark."I can't believe this," Nadia said. "The answers were right there in our hands, and we didn't even have to break into a sweat. Well, except Cameron who had to suffer through all of this."Franklin laughed. "I thought we'd have to survive an apocalypse just to get you out of this mess."Their excitement never reached me.They kept talking, throwing jokes back and forth while I rolled my pen between my fingers. Nadia stopped smiling. She exchanged a glance with Franklin. I'd seen that look before. Ever since Dominion came into our lives, silence always made people wonder whether it had found another way in."What's eating you?" Franklin asked. "If this is about Lisa..."He stopped when I looked up."Oh," Nadia murmured. "It is about her.""You all owe me an explanation,"
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two hundred and sixty three
Evangeline POV Lisa walked away without looking back, and I stayed where I was, watching her reflection disappear through the glass until the door closed behind her.Two guards stepped in behind me. Cassidy came in from outside and motioned for me to follow. Neither of us spoke as she led me into another room. The guards removed my restraints but remained close enough to intervene if I tried anything.Several middle-aged women sat around a mahogany table, speaking quietly among themselves. They acknowledged my presence with nothing more than a glance before returning to their discussion.They let me stand there.I bit the inside of my lip and swallowed against the knot in my throat.One of them turned to Cassidy."How did Lisa respond?"Cassidy shrugged."She doesn't believe her. She thinks she's acting out of desperation. She said if Meridian had never turned against her, she'd still be trying to destroy her."Quiet murmurs moved around the table."She doesn't want blood on her hand
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two hundred and sixty two
Evangeline POVThe days had blurred together until I no longer knew who I was, what I felt, or how to keep my thoughts from slipping away.Even though the rational part of me knew my mother had chosen to sacrifice me instead of saving me, I still wished it hadn't been by my hands. If I could turn back time, I would.The guilt stayed with me, and no amount of justification made it easier to carry.Cassidy, the woman I was supposed to kill, had taken me to an ordinary house. That surprised me. After everything she'd said about Meridian coming for me, I expected hidden bunkers, armed guards, and rituals carved into every wall. Instead, I'd spent two nights in a normal home.Even stranger, nobody whispered inside my head. The only thing destroying me was what I'd done.Now I was about to stand before Lisa, confess everything, and ask for forgiveness.The woman I used to be would've laughed at the idea. She would've dismissed Lisa as nothing more than a cheap surrogate, mocked her to her f
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two hundred and sixty one
Lisa POVThe hours crawled by, and I'd never felt more restless than I did after Joanna's visit. I couldn't bring myself to imagine seeing Evangeline again.I hadn't realized how deep the damage ran until now. The memories came all at once, like somebody had thrown open a door I'd fought to keep shut.Her calling me her sister, agreeing to make me her surrogate through natural conception, the guilt that followed, the attraction I never wanted to feel toward Cameron, finding out she wasn't who I thought she was, running from one safe house to another, almost losing the baby and my own life because someone poisoned me.Every road seemed to lead back to the day I signed that surrogacy contract. And now they expected me to sit there and listen to her confession, as though hearing her side could undo any of it.They'd spent so much time protecting my body that they'd forgotten what this had done to my mind. I wasn't even convinced I'd make it through childbirth without someone trying to co
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two
The wooden floor of the community center felt cold beneath my sandals.“I’ll volunteer.”A girl in the back row let out a loud snort. Beside me, Sasha’s hand clamped onto my wrist, her fingers digging into my skin to pull me back down. I did not look at her. I knew that if I met her eyes, the logic
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS Two hundred and three
Lisa“What’s wrong with him?” I whispered to my mom as we watched Alpha Kieran stare into the distance from the terrace.“I don’t know. He’s been this way since he returned. Perhaps he received bad news.”My heart skipped. “You know you don’t have to hide anything from me. If this is about Cameron,
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS One hundred and sixty three
Lisa POVMy father stood across the lane between two stalls, half-turned, speaking to someone I didn’t recognize.He looked… reduced. The broad presence I remembered had thinned into something quieter. His clothes hung differently. His face had lines I didn’t remember him having.I told myself to t
TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS One
My father was screwing his secretary when I pushed his office door open. Wet slaps and grunts filled the room as he drove into her against the desk.My mother had spent three hours over the stove, squinting at a recipe she had memorized years ago. She packed my father's lunch and made me promise to
You may also like
Alpha Leo and the Heart of Fire
Moonlight Muse850.2K viewsThe Alpha King's Slave
Bj passions744.6K viewsMated To Big Brother-in-law
AlisTae933.0K viewsAlpha Reid
C.J. Primer720.1K viewsReborn As The Omega They Killed
Wildrooster134 viewsRejected and Pregnant I Fled The Pack
ANNIETROUP1769 viewsHis Contractual Luna: Bought by the Beast
Mischief 52 viewsA THOUSAND GOOD-BYES
Echo's heart11 views
