“I’d have to leave Halle.” Gabe was surprised the words even left his mouth. He couldn’t seriously be considering this.

Could he?

“Halle would be your hometown, your base of operations. And really? Being a Hunter doesn’t affect your standing in your Pride, other than you haveto go when the call to hunt goes out. If that’s an issue with your Alpha, and I don’t think it will be, then you might have problems.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question.” He opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. “Why me?”

“Can I have a Coke?” Gabe handed James one. “Thanks. Do you remember when you tried to shoot out the tires on Parker’s car? When you figured out it was an RF jammer that was keeping Ms.

Montgomery’s call from reaching Dr. Giordano? And when you got the Pride together to make sure Parker and his rogues didn’t get away?”

Gabe blinked, shocked. How the hell did this man know all that? “Yeah. It happened only two days ago.” Two long, exhausting days ago. Gabe yawned, not caring how James took it. He was fucking tired.

James took a long drink from the can. “Damn, that hits the spot. You started barking orders and the Wolves and the Pumas followed them.”

“So?” He belatedly twisted the cap off his beer and tossed it onto the counter.

The look James was giving him was full of amusement. “Do you think the Wolves would have listened to you if you’d merely been Marshal’s Second? A Puma Marshal’s Second?”

The bottle paused halfway to his lips. He’d sent one of the Wolves to check Max’s car and sure enough they’d found a radio frequency jammer. They were highly illegal, but not impossible to make, especially for a man who’d studied electrical engineering the way Rudy Parker had. Rudy had used it to keep Sheri from contacting Adrian, convincing her that he had Adrian and luring her out of the house. The Pack Alpha, Rick, had been shot trying to protect her. Gabe had tried to stop them, but it was too late. His shot missed the getaway car’s back tire and Sheri had been kidnapped.

The rogue Wolves were dead now, killed by Rick and his Pack Marshal, Ben Malone. Gabe had just finished disposing of the evidence. He was bone weary and not in any mood to deal with this shit. “I repeat. So?”

“Son, you were acting as a Hunter.”

Gabe snorted and took a swig of his beer. “I was not.”

“I think I know a fellow Hunter when I see one. Only a Hunter could make someone outside his species obey a direct order and only when hunting Rogues.”

Gabe pointed at James with the beer bottle. “That’s not true. An Alpha could make someone obey using their power.”

James shrugged. “An Alpha’s power is… different.” He toyed with the tab on top of the can. “How did you know to look for the RF jammer?”

“Logic. The cell phones of all of the men were on, but not a single call got through. There had to be a reason.”

“But an RF jammer? That’s pretty specific.”

Gabe shrugged. He was beginning to get irritated. “Look, I just knew, okay?”

James smiled at him like a proud papa. “Exactly.”

Gabe rubbed the glass bottle across his forehead. He was getting a headache. “This makes no sense.

Either you’re part of the hierarchy or you’re not. I’m Second. That means I’m part of the hierarchy.”

James chuckled. “Is that all? Of course you’re Halle’s Second! That won’t change.”

“How could it not? You said I’d be gone for six months and when I came back I’d be a Hunter.” And probably out of a job, damn it. He loved being sheriff.

“How many rogues do you think actually exist?”

“As many as there are criminals.”

This time it was James who looked confused.

“The majority of the populace is law-abiding citizens. A percentage of them are not. Some places have more, some less. It would be the same with rogue shifters.” He took another swig of beer and headed back into the living room. “Some of them are like the local college kids, looking for a good, illicit time.

Some of them are stone-cold killers who need to be taken down.”

“Daniel was taken down by a killer.”

Gabe stopped. He set the beer carefully on the coffee table. He felt on edge, just like he did when he saw a really bad case cross his desk. Fuck. In the background the video game’s music began playing again. “How?”

James picked up the remote and sat on the sofa, starting the game back up. “Want to find out?”

Yes. Damn it, yes, he did. “What about Sarah?”

James smiled. “She’s your mate, Gabe. She’ll still be here when we’re done.”

Gabe relaxed. It meant holding off on claiming his woman, but the urge to, well, hunt was on him. “Could this guy be a threat to Halle?”

James shook his head. “He’s been killing up by Yonkers.”

“New York? ” He’d have to go to New York?

“That will be part of your territory.”

Hell. New York City alone probably needed a Hunter. “How many Hunters are in this region?”

“Including you? Three. And your territory includes Pennsylvania, New York state and New Jersey.”

Well hell. Add one for Atlantic City. “So I get everything that’s not New York City and Atlantic City?”

James pointed at him and crowed. “Ha! Gotcha.”

Gabe realized how he’d phrased that and groaned. “Fuck.” He picked up his beer and finished it. “Let me at least claim my mate.”

James raised one eyebrow. “Do you really want to do that to her? Claim her and leave her for six months?” He shook his head. “Better you leave her unclaimed, for now. The mate dreams will be hell, but trust me, boy. You’ll want time when you claim her.” His grin turned heated. “Don’t you want to be able to love on her until you’re done, rather than bite her and run?”

Gabe thought of all the things he wanted to do to Sarah. The way he’d tie her to the bed, wrists bound to the headboard, eyes blindfolded. The spankings he wanted to administer to those lily-white ass cheeks, watching them turn red under his hand. He longed to feel her mouth on him, to taste her essence until he was glutted.

“I’ll need to ask for a leave of absence.”