All Chapters of TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Chapter 361 - Chapter 370

Isabella POVIt was clear that Wesley and Charlie weren't speaking.They sat at the same table, answered when someone addressed them, and behaved well enough that nobody older seemed to notice anything was wrong. I was relieved they had enough sense not to turn their argument into a family spectacle.Charlie had been stupid. There was no denying that. But I had also seen enough of him to know that he loved Wesley. Barbara had found the part of him that wanted to protect people and used it against him.Still, I understood why Wesley was hurt. If his relationship with Barbara had been real, could he have looked Charlie in the eye after learning that he had slept with her? Could he have stood beside him and pretended nothing had happened?I didn't think so.Across the table, Luna Lisa caught my eye. She made a small gesture toward the doorway.I leaned toward Wesley. "I'm going to use the restroom."He nodded without looking away from his conversation with Anita. I left the dining room a

Wesley POVIsabella stood before me with tears in her eyes. I stared at Joanna, waiting for the punchline.She had to be joking.There was no way she could say something like that with a straight face and expect me to take her seriously.I looked at Mom, then Dad, then Anita and Grandma Cassidy.Surely someone would laugh. Anita had a terrible sense of humor when she wanted to torment me, and this was exactly the kind of thing she would pull.Nobody laughed.That was when I started to worry.My gaze settled on Dad. He wore a small smile, the kind he used when he knew I was struggling to understand something and had decided, for reasons known only to him, that patience was the appropriate response."I know this is a lot to take in, Wesley," he said. "But it's true."I laughed again. It came out sharp and empty. There was nothing funny left in it."You're telling me Isabella is my mate?"No one answered. They acted as if silence was confirmation now.I turned toward Isabella."Is this

Isabella POV "So you're really Barbara's sister?"I exhaled. "Yes.""How did none of us know?"I didn't need to explain everything. Emma knew enough to understand why the truth had been kept from me."What are they doing about it now? Your father and his wife, I mean.""I haven't thought much about them."That was true. Wesley had taken up so much space in my mind that there hadn't been much room left for anyone else. But I remembered what had happened between Charlie and Barbara, and suddenly curiosity offered me a way to keep my thoughts away from Wesley for a little longer."Can I ask you something?""Anything.""What happened between you and Charlie?"Emma sighed."Charlie and I were close. Very close. It was like the relationship Wesley has with Anita. We grew up around each other, went to the same school, and spent so much time together that I never questioned what he meant to me. Then I got older and realized I didn't see him as my brother anymore. I started thinking I liked h

Isabella POVEmma wandered toward the windows and looked around the room. “So this is where the Daughters stay? It feels nothing like the parts of the estate I’d seen before.”“Part of it,” Luna Lisa said.Emma turned slowly, taking in the wooden panels and the women moving through the adjoining rooms. She was referring to the guards dragging injured wolves through corridors, or the rooms where Wesley had spent years being restrained while people tried to reach the part of him that kept slipping away. This side of the house felt lived in. Women moved between rooms, absorbed in ordinary tasks, and for a moment it was almost possible to forget what happened elsewhere on the estate.My preparations were just as ordinary. There were no strange instructions or elaborate procedures. They wanted my body rested, my mind clear, and my wolf responsive before the marking. I had to eat properly, drink enough water, and sleep. More than anything, they wanted my wolf to meet Wesley without fear or

Isabella POVSleep had finally found me at the chapter house, and when I woke, my mind felt clearer than it had in days. The few hours of rest had given my thoughts enough space to settle, even if they had not made any of them disappear. I got out of bed and walked toward the railing overlooking the lower floor, resting my hands against the wood as I watched the Daughters move through the house.There was something strange about seeing them like this. Some had cases connected to Meridian, some had been brought here because of things they had survived, and others simply lived within the community. Their stories were not written across their faces, yet sometimes a person carried enough grief in the way they moved that you found yourself wondering what had happened to them. Near one of the pillars, a woman sat with her head bowed, crying quietly into her hands. No one approached her or asked questions. Perhaps the Daughters had learned that sometimes people needed company without convers