Desire Untamed (Feral Warriors #1)(36)

To Kara's dismay, Zaphene was there again, though Vhyper, thankfully, was not.

The volume of the voices dropped slowly away as Lyon steered her to a single empty seat between Paenther and Jag. He held the chair out for her and she sat, wondering why he'd chosen not to sit beside her.

"Bring her to my office when she's finished eating."

Kara whirled in her seat, fighting down the need to beg him not to leave her, only to watch his long strides take him quickly from the room. Emotions pummeled her as she slowly turned around to face the table and the six men and one woman sitting there. Fear. Discomfort. And flat-out embarrassment as she eyed the beautifully groomed Zaphene, knowing she herself probably still had leaves sticking out of her hair.

Across the table, Tighe glanced up at her, and she mustered a smile for him. But no answering smile came her way. His green eyes, man eyes, were filled with disappointment as his gaze returned to his plate.

Her stomach clutched at the obvious cut, wondering why he was mad at her. The last time she'd seen him, right after the Pairing last night, he'd tried to come to her aid.

She forced herself to look at the others. The only one who met her gaze was Wulfe. And in his eyes she saw rank disapproval. Her stomach clenched, her scalp tingling as she wondered if her fear had a basis after all. Were they planning to turn on her, now?

At the other end of the table, she saw Hawke and. felt a kick of guilt for running from him... And suddenly she understood what was going on. They knew she'd tried to run away. And they were angry.

"Next time you want to escape, sugar," Jag drawled, confirming her suspicions, "come find me. I'll take you places you never dreamed of."

"Shut up, Jag," Tighe said.

Paenther reached for an empty plate and handed it to her without meeting her gaze.

"Thank you," she murmured, but got no reply. She forced herself to take a slice of ham from the platter in front of her with hands that were once more shaking. The men's silent disapproval wore on her until she could barely force a bite in her mouth, let alone swallow. They clearly blamed her for trying to leave them, as if she were some kind of spoiled brat.

She wasn't. She was just… scared. Constantly. Exhaustingly. Inexplicably.

Maybe she was going insane.

A far door swung open to a flash of pink feathers. Kara tensed as Pink entered the dining room, carrying another platter of food.

She tried not to stare at the strange bird-woman, but couldn't keep from watching surreptitiously as the woman crossed the room in her odd, bird-like gait, Kara owed the woman an apology. There wasn't anything she could do to ease the men's anger at her, but this she might be able to fix. The bird-woman set the platter on the table and turned away, without ever glancing in Kara's direction. As she headed back to the kitchen, Kara tried to rise to follow. Paenther grabbed her wrist.

Kara met his fierce, black gaze. "I… I need to apologize to her."

He stared at her, the feral claw marks raking across one hard eye. A chill skittered along her flesh.

Finally, his fingers loosened, and he released her arm. "Don't try to leave. You won't get far."

Kara's breath left her on a trembling sigh. "Believe me, I know how short my leash is."

As she stood, so did Paenther and every man at the table. At first, she thought Paenther had changed his mind. They were all going to stop her. But they didn't move toward her, merely stood.

Manners.

From wild animals. Who would have thought?

"Sit. Please. I'll be right back." She hurried toward the kitchen before she lost her nerve. Just seeing the flamingo gave her goose bumps. How much harder would it be to try to talk to her?

As Kara pushed through the swinging kitchen door, Pink looked up from filling a water pitcher, then turned back to her task, ignoring her.

Kara swallowed. "Pink?"

"Yes, Radiant?" The bird-woman's voice sounded high-pitched, though basically human. She set down the water pitcher and turned to face Kara. Her eyes.

Kara's scalp crawled. Pink's eyes were round and wide. Not human. She forced herself to meet that unblinking gaze. "I'm sorry for the way I acted yesterday, when I first saw you. I wasn't prepared. Lyon forgot to tell me there was such a thing as shape-shifters."

If there was any warmth in Pink's gaze, Kara couldn't see it. She wasn't entirely sure the bird-woman even heard her.

Kara shrugged self-consciously. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry. If there's ever anything I can do to help you, I'd be happy to." She gave the woman a wry smile. "I'm not a bad cook."

Pink said nothing, in no way acknowledging her words. Self-pity tightened Kara's throat. All her life, she'd been surrounded by people who knew her. Who liked her. She might not have been the class president or the track star or the town brain, but she'd always been well thought of. Everyone in Spearsville loved Miss MacAllister.

Even at Feral House, the men had been friendly to her. Most of them, at least. But now she'd lost even that. She had no friends here except Lyon, and though she was certain he desired her, she wasn't entirely sure even he liked her.

Blinking back her misery, Kara turned to go.

"Radiant."

Kara pressed her finger and thumb to her closed eyes, then turned back to meet Pink's unnerving gaze.