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

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

Two hundred and fourteen

Cassidy POVThirty Years AgoThe first thing people noticed about Alpha Kieran was his size.At nineteen, he already stood taller than most fully grown men in the territory, broad shoulders stretching through dark wool shirts tailored by people who probably charged more for one sleeve than my mother earned in a month. Even walking through the pack market felt different when he was beside me. Wolves moved out of his path instinctively. Vendors lowered their voices around him. Older men watched him with the kind of caution people reserved for storms gathering over the mountains.Kieran hated it.Or at least he pretended to.“You're glaring again,” I told him as we walked past a butcher stall dripping with strips of cured venison.“I wasn't glaring.”“You were. Mrs. Dallow nearly dropped her basket.”Kieran looked over his shoulder toward the old woman before lowering his voice near my ear. “She drops that basket every time she sees me. At this point, I think she enjoys the attention.”I

All Chapters of TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Chapter 211 - Chapter 213

Two hundred and twelve

Two hundred and thirteen

Two hundred and fourteen