"Snap out of it Hunter!" Zander shook me.

"What? Fuck! What just happened?" My brother stood looking at me like I'd gone crazy, and it took me a moment to figure out where I was. And as if a sledgehammer smashed into my chest, I remembered. "Sage?" I twisted around, my eyes darting around to find her, only to see people still lying all over the floor.

"She's gone," said Zander, eyeing me carefully.

"What she just left? With him?" I recalled her being stood here—with him. "When?" I turned towards the exit again, fucking pointless as I'd scanned it a second ago.

Zander dragged my attention back. "We have to get out of here Hunter, before they wake up."

I nodded, that was one thing we could agree on. "Yeah, let's go, I'm right behind you," I said looking at Victor lying on the floor, peaceful almost.

And the prick still had a smug smile on his face even as he lay unconscious.

It was so tempting to wipe that smug look from his face, kick the shit out of him and vent some of my pent-up frustration of having seen him touch her. And although I could be a bastard at the best of times —I wasn't a coward. I liked my targets wide awake when I kicked the shit out of them, looked them in the eyes.

As we headed out, stepping around the bodies lying on the ground, I felt some guilt. No matter that they thought I'd killed their pack members, I was supposed to look out for them. It was my responsibility. "You sure they're gonna be okay?"

Zander flicked his head. "Yeah, just sleeping, I checked. But I don't intend on being here when they wake."

"What, even that one?" I pointed to the one that had collapsed screaming in the middle of whatever the fuck happened in here.

"She has a pulse, albeit a weak one. But we can't worry about any of them. We can only help them if we find out what's going on here, put this right."

More guilt.

"I know what you're thinking, but they were ready to take us down, Hunter."

He was right.

We reached the exit almost slamming into Pearl, who looked around us frantically. "My god, what the hell happened here?" she asked, holding her hand to her forehead.

Her cheeks were flushed pink and mascara streaked under both eyes. "Where have you been hiding?" I asked, wondering why she hadn't been inside with the others.

"Uh-oh, I woke up in my grandfather's study, and to answer your question, I don't know what I was doing there, but I'm guessing all the alcohol had something to do with it." She raised a finger planting it squarely on her lips. "Oh, I remember being in here and then you outside kicking the shit out of Victor—which was nicely done by the way." A smile kicked up at the corner of her mouth. "Where's Sage? She's okay... right?"

"Was this anything to do with Sage?" interrupted Zander, pointing to the bodies.

"Are they okay?" she asked, a wobble in her voice.

"Something knocked them out—cold," said Zander.

Pearl's eyes widened before looking down, fiddling with the material of her dress. I watched her swallow as the pulse in her neck throbbed. I knew the next words from her mouth would be a lie. "No, I don't—"

"If you can't tell me the truth, don't lie to me either, yeah?" I said.

She looked directly at me. Point made.

I continued. "And she left, with somebody I've never seen before. I think she called him—" I tried to remember the name, clicking my fingers. "Silas... or Sylar, I think?"

Pearl's mouth dropped open.

A flicker of recognition flashed in her eyes. "You know this Silas or Sylar or whatever the fuck he's called—don't you? And before you feed me some bull-shit story. Don't! I want the fucking truth, yeah?"

I swallowed the fire seed of anger, but my tone clearly said. Don't fucking mess with me. and I didn't give a rat's arse who I upset. Right now, I needed answers.

Her expression gave away her thoughts. Nervous, she didn't want to tell me.

"Pearl!" a growl left my lips.

"Fine. I don't know him—Sylar." She shook her head. "But I know of him," she said.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? "I'm gonna need more than that Pearl, explain."

Pearl's face became serious all the way from her eyes to her mouth, she took no pleasure in her next words or tried to mask them.

"Sage has dreams, and Sylar is in those dreams. She's been having them for a while now."

That crushed me. Sage dreamt about another man? That was worse than Victor. I had seen her reaction when Victor had held her hand and pulled her closer. She had wanted to be anywhere but stood there with him.

But this felt different.

A howling cry ripped through my head. I couldn't focus on his worries. Pushing him aside, my head ran through their interaction.

She had held his...Sylar's hand without hesitation and the way she looked at him.

Fuck!

My fingers curled into fists and the tension built up behind my eyes, the image of him touching her cheek replayed inside my brain in vivid colour no less.

He knew her intimately. I felt sick as if my guts were being ripped open by a pack of hungry wolves. "What does he mean to her?"

Pearl hesitated. "I can't answer that Hunter, you need to ask her."

Well, I would love to ask her if I knew where the fuck she was.

Zander interrupted the tornado of thoughts running rampant.

"Hunter, we need to be leaving. Now! We don't have time for this shit." He was becoming agitated.

I resisted grinding my teeth. He was right. "Walk with me, Pearl." Not wanting to leave her here, although I wasn't sure if she would come with us.

She bit her bottom lip, thinking about it, before nodding and followed me and my brother. As we walked my muscles felt heavier. I hated not knowing, the uncertainty.

I've always been in control, but this—I couldn't control. Not since losing my dad had I felt lost and chaotic. My brain's a ball of tangled yarn and the parts that are untangled—my feelings for her; the rest was a fucking mess.

And I don't like mess. It seemed endless like being in the dark and not being able to find the fucking light switch. What does he mean to her?

My wolf grumbled again. Don't start, not now. I told him and I could sense his frustration with me.

"Tell me what you do know about him, Pearl." A glutton for punishment; I had to know... like I needed air to fucking breathe.

Dropping her head, her eyes followed the ground as we walked. "I don't know Hunter, like I already told you, she dreams about him. She's never met him in the flesh. I didn't honestly believe he was real, and I don't think Sage did either."

My gut told me she wasn't lying. Strangely, I found some comfort in her words.

But where the fuck did that leave us?

She had been afraid earlier, and my instincts told me she hadn't wanted to leave me. She was forced to leave me.

And that had to mean something, right?

Pearl stroked my arm. "Sage wants to be with your Hunter, she's willing to disappoint our grandfather, go against his wishes—for you. But that's all I can tell you."

I let out a sigh. Only one way to fix this. Find her.

As we approached the car, Gunner was propping himself up, leaning against the door. "Did you see Sage leave with a bloke?" Something inside me snapped a growl rumbled through my chest.

"Yeah boss, I saw him arrive and then leave with that assistant of yours. The fit one with the nice arse." He smirked at me.

Prick!

"Fuck." I had no way of knowing where she would go. Gunner distracted me, pulling out his phone and waving it in front of me.

"What?"

Gunner stood upright. "Minute I clapped eyes on him, something was off, thought he might be a rogue, and with what went down in there." He pointed towards the marquee. "I figured you would be interested, so planted a tracker on his car. I've got tabs on him boss."

My face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, I could have kissed him. "You're a fucking genius, anyone ever told you that?"

He grinned at me with his usual psychotic escaped patient expression. "It's been said."

I turned to Zander. "Your place is closest; can we head to yours? Get changed, and then I'm heading out to find her."

His eyes narrowed. "We can discuss this on the way home," was all he said, opening the driver's door.

I nodded. "Track them, Gunner, and text me when you have their location. And get me a name. Did you get his car registration?" He looked at me like I'd asked a stupid question—which I had.

"Waiting on our Met contact. I will know everything about him in the next couple of hours."

"Good." It earned me a little relief.

I would find her and get to the bottom of what the fuck had happened here today and make sure she never left me again. I would protect her. Fix whatever her problems were. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her.

Mine, my wolf chipped in.

"Pearl, you're coming with me." It wasn't a question.

She shook her head. "I'll go with the big guy." She pointed at Gunner. Admittedly I was stunned. Nobody ever wanted to be alone with Gunner.

Gunner's eyebrow lifted as his top lip quirked before shrugging. "Whatever," he mumbled.

Not ideal, but I didn't have time to argue. "Okay, but no talking to her, yeah? I can't have her running again Pearl, you hear me? You stay with Gunner, out of sight. Yeah?"

She nodded.

>>>

Zander put his foot to the floor as we sped away from the shit show, leaving behind nothing but a trail of dust.

He was quiet—too fucking quiet.

I preferred it when he was nagging me or even yelling at me, rather than his silence, which reminded me of Dad too fucking much for a start.

Staring out the window my thoughts kept returning to her, it's an ongoing loop—always her.

I didn't have a clue what had occurred in that marquee.

Focus.

I had to get my shit together.

Firstly, track her down and get her to trust me, to tell me what the hell happened back there. And secondly, find out once and for all if she feels the same for me as I feel for her.

Fucking hell—If she feels the same for me.

A cold sweat washed over me and my stomach bottomed.

I'm back to the same fucking question.

What if she didn't feel the same? What if this Sylar person was her mate? I mean, why the fuck would she be dreaming about him?

What if all this is my imagination and wishful thinking she's my mate?

There I go again, my inner dialogue, he's not my fucking friend.

I couldn't think that. Every inch, every fucking fibre in my body told me she's mine—we're meant to be together.

I shifted my gaze to Zander, nibbling the skin on my lip. I had a question for him, but I hesitated.

Just fucking ask him! "How did you know?"

"Know what? You need to be a little more specific," said Zander.

"That she was the one... Andrea, I mean. That you and her are—" I stopped, shifting in my seat, it was awkward me asking him this, we rarely shared our personal shit.

His eyes remained fixed on the road, but I saw his shoulders tense as his jaw flexed before relaxing. He cleared his throat. "From the second we met, no person before her existed, and I couldn't breathe without her. Even now, with us being on different continents, feels like I'm missing an arm or something."

He turned to glance at me.

Jesus, my mouth dropped open. Never heard him be so upfront, was honestly expecting him to tell me to 'fuck off' and focus on more important things. I nodded.

"You just know Hunter," he said and turned his attention back to the road.

Uncomfortable, I returned my gaze out the window. He was right. I knew.

"We need to talk about what happened back there. That was some—" he stopped. He's as confused as me.

He continued. "I think Sage—."

I interrupted. "Stop right there Zander, I don't want to hear it." My jaw clenched as tight as an elastic band.

"We can't not talk about it, Hunter. From where I was standing it looked like she did something to everyone in that room—I felt something and don't tell me you didn't."

I knew what he was hinting at, and while it sounded batshit crazy, he wasn't wrong.

He continued. "And Du-Ponte, he wants us gone. That's as fucking clear as day. And he's trying to pin all these pack deaths on you...on us. We need to get this shit sorted and now. Before you run off trying to find her."

I disagreed. "You're wrong. She's the key to all this. Don't ask me how I know, but I do and if we find her, we get our answers." Point made.

Watching his knuckles whiten on the steering wheel, his silence was telling, but I didn't need any words to hear the cogs in his brain working overtime. I waited.

"Listen." He sighed. "I'm aware what you think you feel for her Hunter, but I need you to park whatever feelings you have for her to one side. I need your head in the game and you can't let those get in the way, yeah? This is strictly business."

Clasping my hands briefly, my posture rigid. I forced myself to relax.

Fuck! A burst of flashing coloured spots distorted my vision, followed by nausea. A crushing pain to the left side of my head and the back of my eyes stung. It was always the same and the last thing I needed.

Perfect. Just what I need, a fucking migraine."Drive faster Zander."