Todos os capítulos de TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Capítulo 181 - Capítulo 190

Lisa POVI sat at the dining table, picking at a knot in the wood, but my hearing was tuned to the next room. My mother had insisted I stay put until Alpha Kieran and Dr. Harry finished their talk. She didn't want the stress of their conversation to weigh on me, but the silence was doing a better job of that.Nadia paced the length of the kitchen floor, her boots thudding against the tile. She didn't even look at the empty chairs. She raked her nails through her hair and spun on her heel, walking as if she were trying to outrun a ghost.My mother hovered near her, reaching out but not quite touching her shoulder.“Nothing is going to happen to your brother,” she said. “Alpha Kieran and the doctor are going to figure this out.”“That’s the script everyone is reading from,” Nadia snapped. She stopped and looked at the wall. “‘Nothing will happen’ while he sits in that house, refusing to believe he's drowning. Look where that lie has gotten us.”I pressed my palm against the curve of my

Lisa POVThe drive into Silver Creek felt long. I spent most of it half asleep with my forehead against the window while headlights cut through empty roads and pine trees.Every time I woke up, my back hurt worse. The baby sat low enough to make any position miserable, and I was too tired to keep pretending I was fine.Nobody talked much. Mom sat beside me in silence. Alpha Kieran drove. I was trying hard to decide whether I trusted him or the fact that my mother trusted him.He lowered his window a few inches hours ago to stay awake. Every now and then, Mom asked if I needed water. Every now and then, Kieran checked the mirrors too long. That bothered me more than anything else. People only checked mirrors like that when they expected trouble behind them.By the time we crossed into Silver Creek territory, the sky had started turning gray. The entrance checkpoint looked more military than residential. Two guards came to the car right away, recognized Kieran, then stepped back without

Evangeline POVThe summons came at dusk with no explanation or delay. That alone told me I was in trouble.Tonight wasn't a general assembly but a direct summon, which meant failure.By the time my car passed through the final checkpoint road, my hands had gone cold against the steering wheel.The building sat ordinary among the rest. I parked in the parking lot, stayed in my car to give myself as much breathing room as possible, and got out.My stomach twisted harder. The front entrance stood open already. Two women crossed the corridor ahead of me. Neither acknowledged me.I kept walking. The lower chamber entrance sat beneath the east wing behind a carved wooden door. One operative stood beside it waiting for me. She opened the door without speaking.Cold air hit me immediately. The chamber below was already prepared.Candles lined the walls. Grey fabric covered the stone floor beneath ritual markings I recognized immediately from Dominion preparation rites.But there was more adde

Lisa POVThe study door sat partly open when I walked past it. I stopped after hearing James complain from inside.“I still don’t understand what I’m supposed to be looking for.”“You’re looking for overlap,” Harry replied.They didn’t notice me walking in. Papers covered the entire study table. Medical scans, prescription records, handwritten notes, and thick binders lay scattered everywhere.Harry looked wrecked like he was surviving on caffeine and no sleep. He sat in the middle of the mess wearing thin glasses I had never seen before. James sat across from him with folders spread open and frustration written all over his face.Harry tapped one of the papers with his pen.“Look at the dates.”James bent over the file.“Now compare them to Kieran’s medication changes during the year before his wife died.”James flipped through several pages and stopped. Harry reached across the table, grabbed another folder and pushed it toward him. James scanned the paperwork.“Similar patterns.”I

Evangeline POVBy morning, Cameron came looking for me himself. I heard him enter my sitting room while a maid arranged my outfit for the day. “You can leave us,” Cameron told her. The maid nodded and disappeared through the side door. I stayed seated on the couch and pretended to read. Cameron crossed the room.“How are you feeling?”The concern in his voice irritated me now. “I’m okay.”“You barely slept.”He sat across from me.“What happened last night?”I looked up from the book.“You don’t remember?”“Parts of it.”That meant the compounds worked deeply enough to blur sections of the episode.Good.“You had a nightmare,” I said. “Then another episode afterward.”Cameron frowned.“I remember feeling strange.”“You scared me.”He looked down at his hands.“I’m sorry.”“You kept apologizing last night too. About Lisa, were you fucking her in your sleep?”Guilt spread across his face exactly the way I needed.“I…I didn’t mean to hurt you.”“I know.”“I don’t understand why this k