CHAPTER20
Gunner’s fatherraised his beer in toast. A celebration was due, as Gunner had finally shifted and was ready to take his spot as Alpha in the Brickman pack. It was his destiny. He had been rallying toward this one, very clear thing since he was a small child.
So why do I feel so empty?
But it was pointless. He knew the answer.
Because she was gone.
His mate.
The Keeper of the Wolves.
Hecate.
Sweet cheeks.
It had been five days.
Five days since he’d listened to Cody, since he’d met Cate. Since the ritual had worked and set his caged spirit free.
Five days since he’d felt the utter bliss of making love to his mate.
Nothing felt right without her.
She’d shut him out, and locked the door. He couldn’t understand why.
Did she not feel the mate bond between them as he did?
Surely, she had.
So why does she reject me?
Even as his father made his speech, as he walked around the field in which they’d planned his Succession Party, he thought of her.
He needed to find her.
Gunner wandered around the field by himself, taking in the sight of the forest and the trees. When his gaze settled on a man in a dark suit and a brunette with far too much cheer for a Sunday afternoon, he was about to turn heel. He didn’t need to see happy couples.
Not now.
But the man called his name.
“Gunner! Is that you?”
Gunner stopped as the man and woman approached him. He was certain he had never seen this man before, dressed in his fine Italian suit, dark hair and eyes, but something about his voice sounded familiar. The woman with chestnut hair and bright blue eyes looked back at him with curiosity.
He did not know these people; he was sure of it. So how did they know him?
“I’m sorry, I—”
“He doesn’t know who we are, H. He was unconscious, remember?” The woman rolled her eyes, her lips pulling up in the corners into a smile.
Who are these people?
“Unconscious…”
“Forgive my manners, yeah… I guess you wouldn’t remember us.” The man smiled.