Wolves' Bane (The Order of the Wolf, #3)(25)

Chapter Twelve





Cold Shoulder


He was trying not to stare, but despite all his efforts Cal’s eyes seemed to have a will of their own. Morgan was seated quietly next to him at the grand dining table, looking like she was taking in all of the chatter going on around her, absorbing the men talking, Candy yammering. And seemingly without effort, thoroughly ignoring him.

Shit, she’s still pissed.

He lay his fork down on his plate, suddenly not hungry.

Morgan’s eyes trailed from one warrior to the next, studying each in turn as she continued to ravish her own meal. His gut clenched with frustration and jealousy. He wanted her eyes on him, just as they had been in the training room hours before.

When Andrew had stepped into the gym with her, it had taken all of his power to stay focused on the kata, to continue leading the men through their movements. He had enjoyed a lot of satisfaction from the feeling of her eyes on him while he worked out, but he was greedy for more. Every time her gaze strayed to the others in the room, he wanted to reach out and yank her face toward him and only him. She was his. He wanted her, and he needed to claim her in order to feel satiated and secure.

Bonding, it seemed, held more power than he had realized.

Cal clenched his jaw tightly when Lance turned his attention to Morgan, engaging her in a flirtatious conversation about watching them train earlier. Teasing her in a way Cal wanted to. Morgan’s face brightened with a rosy glow, and she shifted her eyes down to her plate, mumbling something about being tricked. After a hard look from Cal, Lance ceased his teasing and returned his focus to the others.

Cal’s fingers itched to touch her, even if it was just to caress her hand or pat her knee. He needed some contact—some acknowledgement to let her know that he would beat the hell out of Lance if she wanted him to, anything to avenge her, even if it was simply because she was being teased.

He jerked his fingers in her direction, slowly moving toward her hand, which loosely gripped her fork. He paused when her body tensed and her gaze darted toward him. She gave a slight shake of her head then pushed her chair out and rose.

“Thank you for dinner.” She directed her comment to Andrew. “But I think I need to go and lie down for a while. I’m feeling a little tired all of a sudden.”

Andrew smiled. “Of course, Morgan.”

Candy moaned. “Oh, but I thought we could do something fun, like play a game or watch a movie.”

Andrew turned his smile to her. “Candy, we’ll play a game with you. Leave Morgan alone. She’s had a rough few days—give her time to rest.”

Candy pouted, crossing her arms. “You guys are no fun to play with. You always hog the controllers or cheat.”

Andrew patted her hand. “Let Morgan get some sleep and tomorrow you can fetch her to start her training.” He shifted his eyes toward Morgan. “If that’s all right with you, of course.”

Morgan shrugged, her face drawn in an expression of defeat. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to do some working out.”

A snicker ran down the length of the table and Morgan narrowed her eyes at the men, clearly sensing a hidden joke. Candy was practically jumping in her chair. Everyone in the room, with the exception of Morgan, knew that working out and training were two totally different things in the Hunter world.

“Okay, I’ll come and get you bright and early and we’ll start our running.”

Morgan’s expression relaxed. “Running? Yeah, okay, I can handle that.”

Another snicker from the men, but with Cal’s hard glare down the length of the table, most looked from Morgan to their plates. He rose from his seat, intent on escorting her to her room, but she turned those lovely brown eyes on him again and frowned, raising her hand slightly as if to tell him to stay seated.

“Night all,” she said as she exited the room, not bothering to look back at him.

He slumped down in his chair and pushed his plate away.

“Candy, why don’t we go get the game board set up?” Jeremy pushed himself up from his seat. “We’ll play in teams again.”

Candy jumped from her chair. “Okay, but I don’t want to be on your team tonight, Jer. You suck and I’m tired of losing.”

The men chuckled and a few of them rose as well.

“I’m on rotation tonight for cleaning up so you’re off the hook, Candy.” Jeremy motioned to the others. “Games room, five minutes.”

The others grumbled, some nodding as they shifted out of their seats and made their way out of the dining room, leaving Cal, Andrew, Lance and Ken behind.

“So she’s still being stubborn, eh?” Ken chuckled as he stabbed another piece of his steak.

Cal raised his gaze slowly to scan the remaining men, shrugging his answer as he slumped lower in the chair.

Andrew sighed. “I thought bringing her to the training room might do the trick. Kelly always said she loved watching you guys work out…all those hard bodies.”

Lance laughed. “Well, her eyes were definitely saying something different when she was watching us running through our katas…f*ck me…”

“Lance,” Cal growled as he pushed himself forward, fist clenched on the table. “Enough.”

He snickered. “Whoa there, Cal. I’m not interested in taking your woman, even if she is begging for it.”