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high road and not let her bait him, he’d instead swallow that bait and beg like a dog seeking a treat every damn time. He didn’t know what it was about her that caused fire to stir within him. If it wasn’t the heat of attraction, it was the blaze of infuriation. Either way, she burned him.
    “There better be something good to eat here. I haven’t eaten all day,” she grumbled as she walked beside him.
    “You’ve been asleep all day. Hard to eat when you’re not awake.”
    “Hard to stay awake when you’re being drugged.”
    Jack groaned as they rounded the corner and came up to the dining room door. He pushed it open, but this time, there was no laughter to die down, only soft murmurs that immediately ceased. He walked up to the table where everyone had gathered, knowing he wore a somber look on his face.
    The feeling was too deeply ingrained to hide right now.
    “I’d like you all to meet Lillian Caldwell.”
    “We met her yesterday when you were showing her around,” Rob said softly to him and then looked at Lillian. “It’s nice to see you again.”
    “Hmph.” She looked away, not meeting anybody’s stares.
    Jack sighed. “Right. Um, Lilly, this is Krista, Ariel, and Mikaela.”
    Her eyes cut to him. “Lilli an .” Then she looked at the women. “Are you all prisoners of the cat people, too? I say we rise against them and break free.”
    Mikaela frowned at her. “You’re part of this family now, too. We’re all alike.”
    “Oh, right.” Lillian turned to Jack with mock excitement. “Hey, love muffin, can we get T-shirts that say Thing One and Thing Two? You get to be number two, shit ball.”
    Toby busted out laughing. “I’m gonna like her.”
    Krista elbowed him, but Toby wasn’t the only one who found Jack’s miserable life humorous. Josh and Rob both had their mouths pressed in thin lines, but the dancing in their eyes and the slight shaking of their shoulders gave away their need to join Toby.
    Thomas cleared his throat. “Jeffery has already set the table. We felt it’d be best to have dinner already waiting.”
    Mikaela smiled. “What he’s really saying is that he’s quickly learned not to keep the pregnant woman waiting for food.”
    She turned and headed to the other side of the table. Josh stayed on this side, and Mikaela took the seat across from him. Rob left a seat empty next to Josh. Ariel sat across from her mate. Krista sat next to Ariel, and Toby sat next to Rob. So the women were all sitting across from the men, leaving a spot for Jack and Lillian to sit next to Josh and Mikaela.
    Jack walked Lillian around the table, and she huffed as she fell onto her chair. He tried pushing her up to the table once she’d seated herself, but she whipped her head around and glared at him. He lifted his hands in surrender and walked to his seat.
    Everybody passed food around, and he kept glancing up to watch her. She took a little bit of everything, but he wasn’t sure if it was because she was really hungry or if she was just being polite, though that was not a word he’d typically use to describe her.
    “So, Josh, how did things go today on the northern side of the estate?” Thomas asked as he cut his brisket.
    Josh’s eyes slid to Mikaela before he picked up his fork and answered, “Good, good. Should finish up in a couple of weeks.”
    Jack looked at Mikaela. She was scarfing down her diner. Then he looked at the other women. They were still fixing their plates. His other brothers sat patiently by, waiting. He groaned. He’d forgotten about the need for a male to let his mate start eating before he ate. It was something that had been ingrained in them, but not something Jack had to experience before.
    Until now.
    He looked at his fork and picked it up. Maybe he wouldn’t have to wait. It wasn’t as though he was in love with her or anything. As he held his fork, he felt sweat bead his brow as a nauseous feeling engulfed him. As the seconds ticked by, the feeling got