Chosen One (Forever Evermore #6)(121)

King Collins muttered a quiet curse. “Yes, I was the culprit who stole your coffee this morning.” The middle finger was raised. “It hurt like hell, too, when I spilled half of it.” The wolf huffed quietly a few times…like he was laughing, and King Collins muttered another curse, then decided ignoring him was best, staring over him at the movie.

The wolf huffed a few more times, apparently still laughing, but a moment later, he dropped low onto his stomach. I held perfectly still as navy blue eyes flicked toward me. I really wanted to pick my feet up off the floor as he started to inch toward me bit by bit, extremely careful, pausing every once in a while as I eyed him with caution and uneasiness and, possibly, with remnants of fear, from our previous meeting, knowing full well, yes, Cain was still running the show, but his wolf definitely had a strong foot hold in his shifted form.

He stopped inching closer once his nose touched the tip of my bare toe. No sniffing. No moving. Just lay perfectly still.

I eyed him closely, curling my toes into the carpet, ready to jump away if he pounced…but he only continued to lie there, navy blue eyes peering up at me quietly, his huffing breathing fanning over my feet.

I waited, watching him.

Waited even longer, knowing full well how cunning a wolf could be, my previous foster parent, Philip Masterson, having taught me well enough how brutal they were, not to mention, an enormous, frightening as fuck one like Cain.

Time stretched on into minutes.

Minutes lulled into a half hour.

King Collins even nudged Cain’s flank at one point when I didn’t move for the popcorn he tried to hand me, seeing where my guarded gaze was glued.

But, he still didn’t move.

So, I continued scrutinizing him.

A half hour turned into an hour…and that was when he twitched…sniffing me slowly, just the barest twitching of his nose against my toes, the action almost tickling, except for…there were all those teeth hiding. Instinctively, I jerked my feet back against the couch. He froze again. Watching. Silently…until his eyes closed…and he fell asleep, his wolf snoring softly.

Exhaling slowly, grandly, I closed my eyes, my body relaxing on the couch, head falling back on the cushion, and reached blindly for the bowl of popcorn on my King’s lap, grabbing it, and putting it on my own. Stuffing my mouth with a handful, the smell driving me crazy for the past half hour, practically ready for a nap now after that tense damn hour of a stare off between…I froze, trying not to scream, eyes flying wide open when I felt the brush of fur against my hand holding the bowl…and damn near choked on my popcorn, seeing Cain’s enormous body raised, standing fully in front of me…with his head in the bowl of popcorn on my lap, studying its contents, his tongue peeking out—no teeth showing—as he caught a few pieces, and ate them quietly, only for his tongue to peek back out, catch a few more with the flick, munching those just as silently.

I swallowed heavily, the popcorn going down cuttingly, but I still moved my hand from under his jaw very warily and gently. He stopped eating, and dunked his head…and started tipping the bowl toward me. Instinctively, I grabbed it, but froze again, when his body moved forward, pressing his furry, warm chest against my knees…and dipped his head to start eating from the bowl quietly, his face rubbing against my hands his head was so large.

King Collins did a double take from the movie, staring down at Cain, muttering, “Seriously?” He wiggled the bowl. “There’s going to be drool all over the popcorn!”

Navy blue flicked up for the first time, and I was pretty sure he glared at him, but he stayed silent, only flicking his tongue out to grab more…no drool showing whatsoever, and thank God, no teeth, either. In fact, when King Collins glanced away in irritation, Cain shifted his big head, using his snout to push my hand into the bowl….then rested his chin on the edge…his gaze darting up to mine for the first time since he had hijacked my bowl…and after pretending to sleep.

Cautiously, I took a few pieces—all dry, and raised them to my mouth, eating them slowly, only to have to grab the bowl again when he once more started tipping it. My eyes narrowed the barest bit, that action definitely not an accident. I waited…and watched as he nudged my hand into the bowl, watched me as I ate…only to start to tip it again when I didn’t reach for more. His head started to gradually move back from the glass rounded edge, to ever so slowly and gently lower to my legs…where, as long as I continued eating, he didn’t try to tip the bowl, sniffing me covertly, just a slight wiggling of his nose against my bare skin—my pajama shorts ending higher on my thighs, moving down over my knees, huffing every once and a while…only to lift and steal more popcorn.

Unbidden, my lips twitched.

He didn’t miss it, either. His rounded ears twitched. Even though he was staring into the bowl, trying to get more, he was using all of his senses right now…as he tried to make me not fear him. It had taken awhile for me to understand, but that was what he was doing. Possibly even why he hadn’t wanted to shift around me, knowing I would after our match at the manor. Why he had started sniffing the others first, saving me for last, pretended to sleep, then ate from my own bowl, not showing his scary teeth.

I reached down into the bowl around his snout, slowly lifting a few pieces of popcorn into my hand, cupping them, and holding them under his nose…a silent peace offering, me saying I was sorry for being such an idiot…because I knew his wolf didn’t hate me…well, no more than the man did, anyway. He instantly pressed on me more firmly, huffing softly, and I felt his tongue flick out, taking the popcorn from my hand, again eating them silently, his own brand of saying he wasn’t upset with me.