All Chapters of TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Cameron I woke up gasping, my cock so hard it was painful. The dream lingered in vivid detail. I could still feel her around me and hear her voice saying my name. I lay there in the dark, breathing hard, trying to orient myself. Evangeline was beside me, sleeping peacefully. Her platinum hair spread across the pillow. My mate. Not Lisa. Evangeline. But my body didn’t seem to understand that. I was harder than I’d been in years, aching with need, and it was all directed at a woman who wasn’t in this bed. I needed to fix this. I needed to prove to myself that the mate bond was still the most important thing in my life. I turned onto my side and looked at Evangeline. She was beautiful. She was mine. I could make this work. 

CAMERON Twenty Years Ago I was nine years old when I realized my stepmother hated me. Not disliked. Not resented. Hated. She made it clear in a thousand small ways. The way she “forgot” to have the kitchen prepare my meals. The way she assigned me the worst chores and the smallest room in the massive estate. But mostly, she made it clear through her silence. My father, the great leader everyone respected, was rarely home. He spent his time managing pack business, traveling to other territories, doing everything except being a parent. Which left me and Nadia alone with her. Nadia and I shared the same dark hair and sharp features we’d inherited from our birth mother, a woman neither of us had ever met. Our stepmother liked to remind us of that. 

LisaCameron moved before I could process what was happening.He grabbed the bastard who'd pinned me and hauled him up by the throat. His hands clawed at Cameron's grip, trying to pry those fingers loose."Alpha—" he choked out. "Please—"Cameron's fist connected with his face. I heard bones break. Blood sprayed across the dirt, across Cameron's chest, across my arms where I was still crouched on the ground.He threw the man to the ground. The man curled into himself, whimpering.The other hunters hadn't run. They'd shifted back to human form and were standing a careful distance away, hands raised in surrender.She ran into neutral territory alone," one of them said, desperation creeping into his voice. "She didn't identify herself. She had no protection. We thought she was a rogue. This is neutral land. By law, she was—""I don't give a fuck about the law." Cameron's eyes were still gold, still blazing with barely controlled rage. "You touched her. You pinned her down. You were goin

Cameron I spent the rest of the day with Evangeline.She was in bed when I arrived, propped up against a mountain of pillows, reading a book she immediately set aside when she saw me."Cameron." Her face lit up. "I wasn't expecting you.""I wanted to see you." I sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand. "How are you feeling?""Better." She smiled. "The new medication seems to be helping. Dr. Beauty says my vitals are more stable than they've been in weeks.""That's good.""It is." She squeezed my hand. "Maybe we're turning a corner. Maybe I'm not dying after all."The hope in her voice made my chest tight."Maybe," I said.We sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Then I noticed the untouched tray of food on her bedside table."You haven't eaten."Evangeline's smile faltered. "I'm not very hungry.""You need to eat, Eva. You're too thin already.""I know, But food doesn't appeal to me lately. Everything tastes strange.""Please." I picked up the tray and held it out to her. "F

Lisa"They won't let you visit," I said to Sasha. "Sorry babes. I tried.""Are you fucking kidding me?" Sasha's voice came through sharp and furious. "They won't let me? Who the fuck do they think they are?""They're Lycans. And I'm here for a job.” "That's bullshit.""I know."She was quiet for a moment. I could hear her breathing hard, trying to calm down."Are you okay?" she asked finally. "Really okay?""I'm fine.""Lisa—""I am," I insisted. "It's just complicated."The words started spilling out before I could stop them."Cameron is confusing me. One minute he's cold and distant and treating me like I'm nothing. The next he's—" I stopped, my face burning even though she couldn't see me."The next he's what?""We had sex in the woods," I blurted out. "Not scheduled. He found me when I went for a run and almost got assaulted by rogues, and he saved me, and then we just—we did it right there. On the ground."Sasha made a strangled sound. "Holy shit, Lisa.""And he kissed me." My v