All Chapters of TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Chapter 241 - Chapter 250

Lisa POVJoanna had asked for my expected delivery date. She explained that over the next few months, I would spend designated nights at the chapter house. The closer I got to giving birth, the more often they would ask me to stay because they were watching for opportunities.Over the next few days, the chapter house slowly revealed itself to me.It wasn't only a shelter. It was evidence. Preparation.The Daughters didn't treat every case the same because the Meridian didn't destroy every life the same way. They studied the damage, adapted to it, and built their response around it.The house ran on routines that felt ordinary until I looked closer.A board near the entrance listed rules instead of welcomes.Never reveal another sister's location.No visitors after curfew.No private contact with a partner still under Meridian influence while staying in the house.Older women who didn't bother greeting newcomers claimed the front porch every evening. They watched me come and go with di

Cameron POV The pack run reminded me that I was still an Alpha. Wolves spread across the training grounds before disappearing into the forest, where dominant ones tested each other through races and tactical maneuvers while younger wolves struggled to control their speed. I stayed close enough to guide them without running at my full speed. An Alpha did not need to prove he was the fastest every morning; the forest already knew who led it, and my howl rolled through the trees only when the pack needed direction.By the time we returned to the pack house, Franklin stayed nearby, watching for another episode. None came. I felt useful instead of broken, meaning the fools who had started whispering after my recent absences had nothing to criticize this morning.Inside, I stood beneath a hot shower until the scent of damp earth and sweat disappeared down the drain. Washing the forest away meant leaving the Alpha outside, and by the time I pulled on a T-shirt and sweatpants, I had become j

Lisa POV My heart slammed against my ribs.Tell Cassidy Cameron was here and I couldn't make it to the chapter house... or sneak out and hope he never noticed.If I told her, she'd think I was choosing Cameron over them and that I couldn't function without him. If I slipped out instead, Cameron might notice and ask questions. Sooner or later, he'd find out about the chapter house.I couldn't let that happen.He was downstairs with Alpha Kieran when I pulled out my phone and sent Cassidy a message.Cameron showed up out of nowhere. He's staying the night, so I can't make it to the chapter house.Her reply came almost immediately.Stay home.I stared at the message until another notification lit up my screen.Don't give him a reason to notice anything different. Your job tonight is to act exactly as you always would.I let out a relieved sigh and slipped my phone into my pocket, then I headed downstairs.Alpha Kieran looked up as I walked in. He cleared his throat. "Cameron will stay i

Lisa POV Six days laterJoanna took my phone and spread the image apart with her fingers. Kade's messages filled the screen. He'd sent photos of a carved bone key. It matched the kind of key that should've opened the strange door in his mother's room.It hadn't.Joanna read his latest messages where he informed me his mother had barely been home and the maid said she'd started leaving at strange hours.Cassidy and I watched Joanna study the photos and scroll through the messages."Any clue what that is?" Cassidy asked when a hum escaped Joanna's lips.Joanna lifted a finger without looking up."Has he spoken with his sister?" She asked me."She insists she's fine."Joanna kept reading, then she handed the phone back."What do you think?" I asked."Another thread."She slid a stack of photocopied pages across the table."Cameron's beta has logged every hallucination Cameron reported. Dates, times and estimated duration. The attacks are becoming less frequent.""Could it be a blood anc

Evangeline POV The silence from everyone, including my handler, unsettled me. The Meridian had lost faith in my ability to bring Cameron to Dominion, but that had never stopped them from dragging me into meetings held in different locations at odd hours of the night. Now days had passed without a single message.I reached out to my handler myself. We sat across from each other in the coffee shop where we usually met. I slid a folder across the table, every report from the last seven days arranged inside."We're making progress," I said with a smile. "His episodes are getting worse. He depends on me again."She didn't touch the folder.I glanced at it, then back at her."His sister and friends think he's getting better, but he isn't."She kept staring at me."I've also noticed...""Stop."Her voice stayed flat."The Meridian doesn't measure effort. It measures results.""I know.""Do you?" She raised a brow. "Months have passed. Your target is still resisting, and you're sitting here