All Chapters of TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Cameron POVFourteen hours earlierEvangeline’s breathing rasped against my chest. Each wheeze scraped through the quiet hospital room and chipped away at the hope I kept trying to rebuild.I had spent months telling myself she was getting better.She wasn’t.Her illness came in waves. She would recover just enough to make me believe the worst had passed, then the sickness dragged her under again.I no longer knew which was worse.Watching someone remain sick foreve or watching them improve, only to slip closer to death every time.Something else had begun to bother me.Whenever I held her, my wolf reacted.Not with the hunger or pull a mate should inspire.With resistance.It pushed at me to step away. To stop touching her.I crushed the instinct every time.Maybe the bond was strained because she was sick. Maybe the sickness itself was interfering with the connection.I had no answer.But one thing stayed constant. She was my mate.nAnd she needed me.Four years of loving her, protect

Lisa POVI sat in the back seat while Franklin drove, my hands folded in my lap like a child being brought home from school.The hospital disappeared behind us, but I could still feel Evangeline’s cold fingers wrapped around mine.She had called me sister.I stared through the window as the city slid past. Cars, storefronts, pedestrians. None of it registered. My thoughts dragged through a thick fog.What had just happened in that room?Evangeline’s voice kept circling in my head.I wish I could carry his child myself. I’m sorry you have to go through this.She had been kind.Too kind.And I felt like a thief sitting in the back of this car.Like my presence in that room had violated something sacred between them.Cameron hadn’t looked at me.Not once.But I had seen the way he looked at her.That kind of devotion didn’t belong in the real world. It was raw, desperate, the kind of love that made everything else feel small and unnecessary.Franklin’s voice broke through my thoughts.“Ar

Lisa POVSleep never really came.The sky outside my window stayed dark for hours, the grounds below quiet and empty. I stayed in my room until mid-morning, but eventually the walls began to press in on me. Sitting there any longer felt impossible.I left the room and wandered through the mansion, taking hallways I hadn’t explored yet. Most of the doors were closed. A few stood open, revealing quiet sitting rooms, a music room with a massive piano, and a library lined floor to ceiling with books.At the end of a long corridor I found a balcony overlooking an interior courtyard.Stone pavers covered the ground below. A fountain stood in the center, water spilling into a circular basin. In one corner someone had set up training equipment: punching bags, weights, sparring mats.I lowered myself into one of the wrought-iron chairs and stared down into the courtyard, trying to keep my mind empty.My phone buzzed.Sasha.Soooo… has the big bad wolf touched you yet?I stared at the message be

Lisa POVThe cars started arriving around noon.Cameron’s jeep pulled up first. He stepped out and walked around to the passenger side. When he opened the door, Evangeline emerged slowly.She wore a soft cream-colored dress that made her platinum hair glow against the sunlight. Even from my second-floor window I could see how carefully Cameron supported her, one arm steady around her waist as she found her footing.More cars pulled up behind them.Women in elegant dresses hurried forward.“Welcome home, Luna!”“We missed you so much!”Evangeline lifted her hand in a small wave, smiling while Cameron kept his arm around her, holding most of her weight.They disappeared into the mansion.The celebration began almost immediately.Music drifted upward through the vents. Laughter followed. Glasses clinked together. Someone raised a toast.“To our Luna! May she grow stronger every day!”Cheers erupted.I stayed in my room.The smell of food drifted upstairs, rich enough to make my stomach ti

Lisa POVCameron stood in the hallway, tall and broad-shouldered, his dark eyes resting on me with a distant look.I stood there blocking the doorway, forgetting how to move while he simply waited. The silence stretched long enough for embarrassment to settle in.“I’m sorry,” I said, stepping aside and pulling the door wider.He walked past me without speaking. His presence settled into the room immediately as he glanced around, the way someone looks at a task they’ve been putting off and finally have to finish. I shut the door behind him and turned to face him.I reached for the tie of my robe. The knot loosened under my fingers and the fabric slipped from my shoulders before sliding to the floor. Next came the lingerie. I unhooked the bra and let it drop, then pushed the underwear down my legs and stepped out of it. When I straightened again, I stood completely exposed and forced myself to keep my arms at my sides.Cameron looked at me. The glance passed quickly enough that someone