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Twenty-One

Author: Luxie
last update publish date: 2026-01-20 19:38:54
LISA POV

I tried to sleep and managed an hour of restless half-consciousness before giving up. I lay in the dark staring at the ceiling, listening to the silence of the mansion and waiting for news about Evangeline. Someone should have told me something by now. Whether she was stable. Whether Cameron had stayed at the hospital. Whether tonight was over.

But the hallway outside my room stayed quiet.

I lay there wondering if the universe had granted me a reprieve.

Then an engine rumbled outside.

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  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Two hundred and seventeen

    Cassidy POV“I didn’t ask for this, Cass.”Headlights drifted past the ice cream parlor window, smearing white and red across the glass. I kept my eyes on the street while Kieran’s words settled between us.His eyes darted over my face, searching. His hand hovered near mine, then dropped back to the table. He kept speaking, his voice rough and uneven in a way I had never heard before.“I didn't want any of this to happen right now?”I finally looked down at the pregnancy test sitting beside my napkin. I thought my life had changed because I was carrying his child.Now it felt like the entire future had cracked open underneath me.“You were never going to tell me,” I said.Kieran shook his head. “That’s not true.”“You only told me because I’m pregnant.”His eyes broke from mine and slid toward the window before returning.“I…I needed time.”My heart pounded.Time.Time to decide whether he still wanted me? Time to figure out how to leave me? Time to stand beside Vanessa long enough fo

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Two hundred and sixteen

    Cassidy POVKieran's silence had begun to eat away at me. At first, I told myself he was busy. His installation preparations swallowed most of his schedule, and people constantly needed something from him. Plus, there were meetings and training sessions to become Alpha, those dreadful strategy meetings with older Alphas who still spoke to him like he was a boy playing dress-up in his father's position.Still, after two days without properly hearing from him, the silence started pressing against my nerves.Kieran always showed up at the restaurant because he “missed my face,” and he would narrate his day like I had personally asked for every detail.Now everything felt strained.When he finally came around, he acted exactly the way he always had, which somehow made the distance feel worse.He still kissed me and held my hand while walking me through crowded streets, and wrapped an arm around my waist whenever other men looked too long in my direction. The gestures were all there, but s

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Two hundred and fifteen

    I woke up the next morning with nausea, and I first blamed the heavy dinner from the night before. But by midday on Sunday, my stomach twisted whenever I smelled food. Even my mother, who usually didn’t notice things, told me I looked pale.“I’m fine,” I said, but I wasn’t.I couldn’t even go welcome Vanessa properly when she arrived. She had to come meet me at the small restaurant near the market while I sat there trying not to throw up into my juice glass.“You look terrible,” she said, reaching across the table to wipe sweat from my forehead with her thumb.“I said I’m fine.”“You sure you’re not pregnant?”My heart skipped so hard it hurt.“I can’t be pregnant. Kieran and I use protection.”Vanessa gave me a look over the rim of her glass. “Cassidy, based on everything you’ve told me, you two climb all over each other whenever you get the chance. There had to be at least one time you got careless.”Heat rushed into my face as memory slammed into me.The backseat of Kieran’s car tw

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Two hundred and fourteen

    Cassidy's POVThirty years agoHot oil, chilli, and heat pressed against my skin as I stirred the pots of broth. Even knowing Kieran was coming to pick me up did nothing for my mood.My mom hunched over the counter, grating vegetables at machine speed, then snapped her fingers at me.“Why are you slacking, Cassidy? There are more people to feed at the counter.”“I’m trying, Mom,” I mumbled, rubbing my hands on my apron as I picked up a tray. She didn’t hear me over the hiss of meat frying in the giant pan beside her.Men called for more soup before finishing what they already had, and I moved between their tables balancing bowls against my wrists. Some of them, like the idiot who had just walked in, talked to me too much, asking when I planned to marry and pointing out that my hips were getting wider.“You’ll make some man very happy one day,” he said with a laugh thickened by alcohol.I smiled tightly, collected his empty plate and I moved past two men loudly discussing the upcoming i

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Two hundred and thirteen

    Cassidy POVThe silence in the driveway hung heavy. George's gaze bounced between Kieran and me. I looked past his car toward the edge of the property, where the scent of freshly cut grass drifted across the lawn from somewhere beyond the hedges. A lawnmower engine sputtered and died in the distance, leaving only the sound of wind rustling through the pine needles.“Cass, please stay,” George said, breaking the silence. He reached out to rub the sleeve of my leather jacket before dropping his hand back to his side. “You can see the girl is in danger. And Cameron's already deteriorating.”I let out a laugh that tightened my throat, my fingers gripping the leather strap of my duffel bag. “Interesting. So now I'm useful again.”George looked caught between a grimace and a deadpan smile. Kieran remained silent, his large frame cast in the long shadows of the late afternoon sun. One of the guards stood near the stone wall with a cigarette between his fingers, smoke curling past his face wh

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Two hundred and twelve

    The room sank into silence, everyone likely overwhelmed by their own thoughts. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out. The number flashed across the screen.Cameron’s name hit me like a shove. Heat climbed behind my eyes.“Cameron is calling,” I said quietly.My mom’s eyes snapped to Alpha Kieran, who nodded.A knot twisted low in my stomach.“I can't pick it up.”“You have to, Lisa. We need evidence. Answer it and record the call. Put it on speaker.”“Kieran, she's barely holding herself together,” my mother said.“I know,” he replied, softer this time. “But this matters.”Across the room, Cassidy lounged by the far window beside George. Her attention stayed on the driveway outside, but her shoulders held tight, every muscle braced around the conversation drifting through the room.I answered just before the ringing stopped, my thumb sliding across the screen. Cameron’s breathing filled the speaker first.“Lisa.”My knees nearly gave out at the sound of his voice. He sounded

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Forty-eight

    Franklin POVCameron thought I had feelings for Lisa.The idea was almost funny. Not because Lisa wasn’t likable. She was beautiful, kind, and stronger than she gave herself credit for. Under different circumstances, maybe I could have developed feelings for her.But that wasn’t what was happening.

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Forty-Six

    Cameron POVI hated social gatherings.The politics, the posturing, the endless performance. Making small talk with people who were only friendly because they wanted something, while the weight of everyone’s expectations pressed down on me. Hosting them at my own estate made it worse.The ball was i

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Forty-Five

    LISA POVMy heart gave that stupid skip when he looked at me.Cameron didn’t move. He stood on the stairs with one hand on the railing, watching me with the kind of focus that made my skin prickle.I gave him a short nod, the same acknowledgment I would give any authority figure, and started toward

  • TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS    Forty-Four

    LISA POVI stood outside my bedroom door at five forty-five in the morning, already dressed in running gear, seriously considering backing out of the pack run Franklin had invited me to. It had seemed like a good idea yesterday, something to fill my days with besides waiting for Cameron.Now the rea

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