Gifted

Chapter 28 - Hunter

My brother and I arrived at the Du-Ponte residence; couldn't say I was impressed. Definitely gave off a creepy vibe, and I couldn't picture Sage growing up here.

As we approached the entrance a greeter asked our names before steering us towards the erected marquee at the side of the house.

Zander walked beside me silently whilst assessing his surroundings. The tension in his shoulders was clear and he was quiet—too fucking quiet.  In fact, he had said little all the way down here in the car.

"What's running through that head of yours?" I had to ask because my brother always played his cards close to his chest. He would never change.   Pissed me off if I was being honest.

He ignored me, reaching inside his pocket to pull out his phone. "Just gonna text Gunner, making sure he's here. I sent him a message earlier, don't have a good feeling about tonight," he said.

Fuck!   Wasn't sure why that left me on the edge.  Well that wasn't entirely accurate.

I had this picture in my head. Gunner would take a hard look at Sage and this time put two and two together and deduce she might be this mystery wolf he's tracking.

Would he?  Nah, he'd never seen her wolf or those amazing blue eyes of hers. I was just being paranoid.

Park it.  It's not her.

But my brothers' words came from the back of my mind—the rumours.   The rumours about Sage being different somehow... Fuck!  Exhaling a large breath through my nose, I chewed the inside of my cheek.

No! Quit it. It wasn't her.  She wouldn't hurt a fly or lower herself to mix with half of these wankers.

"I need you focused Hunter."

His gravelly voice dragged me from my thoughts. Glancing sideward, his eyes weren't on me but looking down at his phone. "You listening?" he said.

"What the fuck that's supposed to mean?" I growled.

"I don't know what's going on with you, but I know somethings going through that thick head of yours.  But park it Hunter.  I need your head in the game."

Cheeky bastard.   But he was right, my head was only on Sage. "You don't need to be worrying about where my heads at brother." My tone was abrupt, as I was getting a little fucked off with his big brother routine.  You wouldn't think I ran the UK operations perfectly well—by myself.

He shoved his phone back to his inside jacket pocket. "Gunner's here."

"Right." I grunted.  Shoving all thoughts aside, we entered the marquee. And low and behold, thinking of wankers from moments ago, I spotted Barry pretty boy Lyons eyeing me up as we walked in. He looked away pretty sharpish when he saw me looking at him, my lip curled.

That's right sunshine, look away. Prick.

Looking around sizing up the situation, both me and Zander declined the offered refreshments, this wasn't a social visit.

It wasn't an exaggeration when Zander stated Du-ponte had invited the packs. I could see quite a few Alphas and their Beta's along with mates in the crowd of faces. Most of them acknowledged me and looked surprised when they noticed my brother with me.

"Where did you say for Gunner to meet?" I kept my voice low.

"I didn't. Told him to keep himself in the background and hold back just in case he's needed."

Phew, that made me feel a little better. Glancing around the room again, I kept my eyes sharp, looking for Sage. Spotting another face in the distance, she turned as if she knew I was watching. Waving her hand, she picked up a glass of champagne from a passing server and headed our way, swishing her hand in the direction of anyone who tried to stop her walking towards us. She was practically beaming as she approached, eyeing my brother.