All Chapters of TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

CameronI walked out of the alpha meeting seething. The other alphas had leaned over the table and thrown insults at each other. I stayed quiet because none of it touched my territory.Alpha Gregory, a stubborn old bastard, noticed this when they brought up expanding the trade route through my territory. He shut it down and said it was the same mistake my father made and I was repeating his failure.His words kept scraping through my head. I stayed calm in the room. Now I wished I had thrown something back at him. He was the one who kept borrowing from everyone, drifting from territory to territory with his hand out like he deserved it.That’s why I skipped the usual post-meeting drinks. I drove straight home and went into my study. It was almost midnight. I hadn’t slept properly in days.Nadia pushed the door open, night mask on, wine glass in her hand.“Cameron, you keep this up and you’re going to crash.”I pushed my chair back and pressed my fingers into my temples. Light from the

“How much longer are they going to keep us waiting?” James asked.We were at the family court, waiting for the elders inside the chamber. More than two hours had passed. James paced the hallway while I sat on the bench. Even with the doors closed, their authority pressed into the air.The presiding judge was Elder Logan, a man who had married and divorced four times. Either Alpha Marcus or Luna Catherine would sit beside him as ruling authority. No one needed to warn me about bias. I was a woman. Richard was a man. I was an Omega. He was a Beta.If they had let me walk away without judging me, that would have worried me more.Elder Rita stepped out of the chamber and stopped in front of me.“Susan, you look well.”She belonged to the kind of women who taught obedience as virtue; give your husband what he wants, never deny him, even when it costs you. Her gaze moved over my dress, measuring it without asking.I wore a tailored purple dress that matched the frames of my new glasses. The

CameronThe room smelled of antiseptic and plastic tubing from the machines we brought home weeks ago.Evangeline lay propped against the pillows with the blanket pulled tight across her chest. Afternoon light slipped through the blinds and cut across the bed in narrow bands. Nadia sat beside her with her hands folded in her lap. I stayed near the foot of the bed.“Eva, you can’t keep refusing treatment and still be upset when nothing improves.”She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together.“You don’t get it, do you? It hurts too much to go through another treatment that ends the same way. Another test. Another doctor saying they’re hopeful, then nothing changes. I’m tired of sitting in those rooms while people study me like I’m a bloody puzzle.”She tightened her grip on the blanket. I watched the fabric twist under her grip. I used to think it meant fear. Now I wondered if it meant she had already made a decision and the rest of us hadn’t caught up.The specialists had asked fo

NadiaI got home close to eight.The maids were clearing the dining table when I walked in. One of them asked what I wanted for dinner.“Don’t bother,” I said. “I’m heading out later.”They nodded and went back to cleaning.I went upstairs, already thinking about the club. I needed a bath, a fresh face of makeup, and something better than the dress I had worn all day.Cash first.I opened my purse and stuffed a few bills inside, then went into the bathroom.Hot water helped clear my head. I stayed in the tub longer than I meant to. By the time I finished and wrapped myself in a robe, the house had gone quiet.I stood at the mirror and fixed my makeup.That was when I heard voices outside my bedroom door.Two women.One of them was Evangeline.The other voice sounded older.Curiosity pushed me toward the door. I opened it just enough to look through the gap.Evangeline stood in the hallway with a woman I had never seen before.The woman looked old enough to be someone’s grandmother. He

Lisa POVMy body felt tight with nerves about seeing the baby inside me for the first time.I still refused to attach any maternal thoughts to it. The child was not mine. Saying my baby would be stupid.Even so, the words kept forming in my head.For someone who had never imagined becoming a mother, the small changes in my body already felt overwhelming. My stomach felt strange every morning. I got tired faster. Even my sense of smell had turned against me.If things already felt this different after a few weeks, what would the rest of the pregnancy look like?What would happen when the baby was born?I had to remind myself again.This pregnancy was contractual. I had agreed to it for a reason. For my mother. For James. For my future.“You’re welcome,” the clinic staff said when I greeted her and handed over my appointment card.She glanced at the screen, then typed something into the computer.Cameron had texted the night before that he would meet me here.He was not here yet.The lo