Wolves' Bane (The Order of the Wolf, #3)(44)

Could it?

Doubt crashed through me once again.

Why would he leave me alone after what we did last night? How could he bear to be apart from me when I’m craving him so badly that I can hardly think straight?

I pulled my brush through my hair and tied it up into a ponytail then left the room. He had something really important to take care of, that’s all. You’ll go down to breakfast and find him sitting in his seat, eating like a pig. My stomach yowled at the thought and I smiled. Food, it seemed, was something else I craved.

The kitchen was quiet when I entered and there were no smells of delicious breakfast foods being enjoyed. I peered into the dining room, but no one was there either. I caught sight of the clock. Ten, shit. I’d slept all morning. No wonder no one was around. I’d missed my run with Candy as well. Double shit.

My stomach growled again, and I glanced around the countertop, my gaze landing on the loaf of bread that lay next to the toaster. Perfect. I quickly popped two pieces in, then busied myself by searching the cupboards for something to put on the toast. A few minutes later, and I had two nicely gobbed-up pieces of toast and peanut butter in front of me, as well as a tall glass of milk. Delicious. I licked my lips, then took a bite, savoring the flavors of an old favorite.

“There you are.” Candy peeked in from the kitchen’s side door. “I thought you’d sleep all day.”

I smiled then took another bite. “I slept in,” I said through the chunk of food.

Candy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, you missed the run and you’re due for your training session.” She plopped down on the other side of the island and snagged the second piece of my toast. “Lance is downstairs waiting for you.”

I choked down the food in my mouth and frowned. “Lance? Isn’t Cal down there too?”

Candy licked some peanut butter off her finger. “Why would Cal be down there?”

My frown deepened. “Well, because, we…um…we…” I laid my piece of toast on the plate. “Never mind, I’ll go down and talk to Lance.”

Candy mumbled something unintelligible as she shoved the last of my breakfast into her mouth.

True to Candy’s word, Lance was in the training room waiting for me, and Cal was nowhere in sight.

“So, you’ve finally decided to wake up,” Lance teased, as he gave a few quick punches to one of the bags. “I thought I’d have to go up there and drag you out of bed.” He gave me one of his playboy smiles. “Not that I’d mind doing that.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, the sudden constricted feeling making me worry that I was having a heart attack or something. “Where’s Cal?”

Lance arched an eyebrow in my direction, all signs of his smile gone. “He’s out.”

I frowned. “He’s out. Where has he gone?”

Lance shrugged, a frown matching mine etched on his face. He gave another hit to the bag. “Don’t know. Didn’t ask. He said he had something to do and told me to train with you today.”

I moved so that I could face him and laid my hand on the bag to stop it from swaying. “What?”

Lance sighed as he dropped his hands to his sides. “He said he wouldn’t be around today, but that he wanted you to train. Are you up for it? You had a rough day yesterday.”

I eyed him for a moment longer, holding his gaze in a steady lock. “Was he angry or something?”

Lance’s frown deepened, but he shook his head then moved over to a line of shelves and pulled down a towel to wipe the sweat from his face.

I followed him. “Lance, just tell me, did I do something wrong? Is he mad at me?” My gut twisted at the thought. What if he didn’t feel the same things I felt? What if the bond didn’t take completely?

Lance lowered the towel and sighed again. His eyes were soft and filled with pity as he laid a hand on my shoulder. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong.” He tossed the towel into a laundry basket behind him and planted one of his charming smiles on his face. “Now, how about we get those muscles working a little. I can see that you’ve got some changes going on.” He swept his gaze over my body, his smile turning wicked. “The bonding has done you well. You should find today to be a great, full-body workout.”

I forced myself to smile back, pushing my negative thoughts down. If Lance said everything was okay, then everything must be okay. If the bonding was obvious to him, then it must have worked. Cal wouldn’t leave me without a good reason. My feeling of doom eased away as I followed Lance to a couple of mean-looking weight training machines.

“Hop on, sweetheart, let’s see how much you can lift.”

“No, your arm’s gotta come around here.” Lance grunted as he swung his leg forward, wedging it between mine and pinned me once again to the mat. The full weight of his body squished the air right out of my lungs.

“Oof,” I managed as he twisted my arm around and held me in place.

“And that, my dear, is how it’s done.” His breath cut across my ear sending a shiver down my spine. “Easy.”

A heartbeat passed, his hard body pressed against me, his musky smell invading my nose, and I gulped.

“I could tickle you right now and you wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it… Are you ticklish, Morgan?” He was teasing, his tone light, as it had been on and off throughout our training day, but still, with his body on mine I suddenly felt a little odd—like we were doing something we shouldn’t.