Gabe hung up the parka and pulled off his snow-encrusted boots, leaving them on the mat by the door.

It had become routine in the last three months. James hated wet floors. The last time Gabe had forgotten to leave his boots on the mat he’d found them in his bed, snow and all.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Max. “Hey, Max.”

“Gabe! How’s it going out in the Montana wilderness?”

“Fucking cold. How’re things in Halle?” How’s Sarah?

“Fucking cold.”

Gabe snorted. “I’m learning some new tracking techniques.” He’d need them in the winter months in New York. He’d be heading there soon with James to spend a couple of weeks. So far he’d been all over the territory he’d be protecting, learning the land in a way only a solitary shifter could. He’d never know it as well as a native, but he’d be able to track the different terrains he’d be dealing with. He’d met the other two Hunters, a young Fox named Desiree Holt and an older Coyote named Edmund Graves.

Both had interesting insights into the areas where they lived. Desiree lived in New Jersey; Graves lived in New York City. Gabe had been surprised when he heard that. Coyotes and Wolves didn’t get along very well. To learn there was a Coyote Pack that close to Rick’s Wolves had startled him. Afterwards James had taken him back to his home in Montana to learn what he called “ real snow tracking”.

Gabe’s responsibility would mostly be to the Pennsylvania area, but he’d be called to assist the others whenever needed and vice versa. With luck he’d never need to.

Daniel, the Hunter who’d been killed, had also been a Fox and a friend of Desiree’s. She’d been instrumental in bringing the rogue who’d killed him to justice.

“I even have the secret handshake now.” The amused snort from the kitchen let him know James could hear everything. “I can call in the other Hunters if someone like Rudy ever shows his snout in Halle again.” The growl from the other room reminded him of his place. “Or anywhere else in Pennsylvania.”

“Good. Adrian and Sheri want you to call them, by the way.”

“Will do.” He didn’t know them well enough to miss them yet, but he and Adrian had developed a rapport that would only grow stronger with time. Before too long he expected his relationship with Adrian would be similar to the one Max shared with Simon, his Beta.

“And Emma says bring her back something, but make sure it doesn’t have antlers or fur.”

Gabe laughed. Emma was a riot. “Taken care of.” He’d already packed a Kachina doll for the Curana in his luggage for when he returned to Halle. He’d picked it up in Arizona, the current seat of the Senate.

“How’s Sarah?”

Max sighed. “I’m not sure. She knows what you’re doing, but I think she’d feel better if you’d call her and talk to her.”

“I have.” Many times. Sarah understood what he was doing but was hurt when he wouldn’t tell her where he was. He couldn’t, by shifter law, tell her where he was while he was in Arizona. The Senate’s compound was highly restricted. Only those on Senate business were allowed in or out. Sarah wouldn’t have been able to be with him there even if she knew where it was. Knowing that had eased some of it, but her frustration was slowly building. He could hear it in her voice every time he spoke to her.

Then he’d been sent to help hunt down the rogue in New York. He hadn’t been able to call until the man was captured and brought to justice. He’d proven to himself that he really did have what it took to be a Hunter. The pride he’d felt at his accomplishment had spilled over when he’d gotten hold of his mate afterwards. Even so, he’d kept to what James had told him, calling Sarah only after he’d left the area. If he’d seen her he’d have claimed her. After all these months of mate dreams nothing would have stopped him.

The one time he’d managed to get an entire week in Halle she hadn’t even been there. She’d made other plans for the holidays, assuming that he’d be too busy to make the trip to Halle. They’d both been upset by that. If he’d known she’d make other plans he would have told her a lot sooner that he was coming to visit. Hell, who was he kidding? He’d had every intention of marking her ass before an hour in Halle had passed. But he’d decided to surprise her, and instead the surprise was on him when she wasn’t even there.

As for James’s house, the Bear had refused to allow her to come, saying that she’d be a major distraction for Gabe, who was still in training. He’d compared it to boot camp, saying wives weren’t allowed until after it was over.

But boot camp only lasted eight weeks, a complaint James had waved off. And to be honest, he was usually too exhausted to do more than eat or sleep. James was working him harder than he’d ever worked before. They’d spent days out in the snow, tracking different shifter volunteers from the Senate.

He could track Fox, Coyote, Wolf and Puma now. In fact they’d just come back from one such excursion. The only ones they hadn’t practiced with were Lion, Tiger, Lynx and Jaguar, but James assured him they were up next.

It killed Gabe to tell Sarah that, no, she couldn’t come visit. She’d been answering her phone less and less, and he’d taken to calling less and less. When they did manage to get in contact with one another their conversations tended to end in stony silence. The only thing that eased his mind was his rapidly growing friendship with the little red-haired waitress from Frank’s Diner. The Fox had offered to keep an eye on his mate in exchange for his help in moving her family to Halle. She’d become a good friend, almost the little sister he’d never had. She was bubbly and happy most of the time, and loved the work she was doing just as much as he did.

But the mate dreams were killing him. Killing. Him. If she was willing to do half of what he dreamed of he’d be one happy cat.

Hell, even if she never chose to allow him to indulge his darker side he’d be one happy cat. Still, he hoped to talk her into a few things. Watching her come in his dreams, tied to his bed, blindfolded and begging, couldn’t compare to seeing it for real.

“I’ll call her tonight. I promise.” And she’d better answer. He was tired of talking to a machine.

Sarah Parker heard the phone ring and ran for it. One of the bags of groceries slipped, spilling soda all over her floor. “Damn.” She’d have to wait a day to drink that.