Gifted

Chapter Nineteen - Hunter

Never in all my years could I remember being up this early on a Sunday, it was barely past nine.

Looking up, the early morning sun did nothing to relax the inner turmoil that was swimming around my guts. Normally, I loved Sundays; it was the only day of the week where I relaxed, sleeping in till noon and later in the evening I would let him out and go running and hunting in the woods. 

But not today. No, this morning I was sitting outside with a mug of strong coffee in one hand and in my other was my mobile phone. Staring at it, in the hope it would ring.

Well, I'll correct that, hoping Sage would call or message me. Again I had to question who the fuck was I turning into?

But I already knew the answer to that question.

I had been up half the night, checking my phone like some fucking lovesick teenager and I didn't like it. This feeling of not knowing what the fuck was going on was unsettling.  And on top of that - I had never sat around waiting for a woman to call me... Ever!

But here I was. Sat staring at the phone in my hand, willing it to fucking ring.  I'm fucking pussy-whipped.

Activating my phone... again, I re-read her last message. She was heading out to see her grandfather and would call me after her meeting with him. I thought it was strange she used the word 'meeting' as I had never had meetings with my family – visits, yeah but a meeting? That sounded official, cold almost... odd  maybe?  But definitely weird.

That had been yesterday, and she still hadn't called or messaged me. I had texted her again last night before I went to bed.

My gut churned, as I pushed down this feeling of doubt that swirled around my insides.

Was she okay? Was the problem she needed to sort out related to her grandfather – Charles Du-Ponte? The one Ruth seemed pretty freaked out about yesterday. And the same reason my brother was flying back across the Atlantic for, as we speak.

What if it was, and he didn't approve of our relationship? Would she end what we had only just started? I felt sick, something was off, something didn't feel right.

Taking a drink of my coffee I swallowed down the sick stomach churning doubt and tried to put everything into perspective – which was fucking hard, as I'd never been in this position before.  Which wasn't surprising as I hadn't gone past two dates with the same woman.

Sage was the first woman ever  that I wanted something more with, a relationship.

Re-la-tion-ship. The word sounded foreign in my head. I had never had a relationship, so I had nothing to compare it with. I'd never wanted one before and although I didn't understand it – the pull I felt towards her was undeniable, every inch of me craved her and not just sexually, I had meant it when I told her I wanted all of her, the whole fucking package.

My wolf grumbled.  Yeah, I know mate, me too.

My head shot up from my phone as I heard the chair opposite me being dragged on the concrete floor. It was Gunner.

"Mornin' boss," he said as he sat his bulking frame down.

How the fuck he got in the house was beyond me – but I wasn't shocked. He also had a mug of something hot in his hand.  Help yourself mate, why don't you?

"Gunner," I said, putting my phone back down on the table, face down.

He rested his left foot on his right knee, blowing over the top of his drink before he slurped it, noisily. Fucking hell, who had dragged him up? Pigs had more manners, his mother must be so proud.