One salty tear wound down her cheek to fall against his. “Where are you?”
He lifted his head. Sorrow filled her face, his heart nearly ripping in two at the sight. “Sarah.
Baby.”
Gabe woke up sweating and horny as all hell. He started to whip the sleeping bag open but remembered in time that he was in a tent in the middle of a snowy field.
Fuck.
If it wasn’t for the fact that so far he
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loved what he was doing, this job would suck. Part of him wished he’d told James to fuck off and claimed Sarah the way he’d wanted to. The other part knew James was probably right, that it would have been ten times worse to taste Sarah and leave her behind.
He punched his pillow and prayed he’d be able to sleep without any more dreams. James snored beside him, loud enough to rattle the insulated cloth.
If I get back to sleep at all.
After about twenty minutes he gave up. Stripping quickly, he unzipped the tent and slipped out into the night. It was fucking cold, but it wouldn’t be for much longer. Shivering, he zipped the tent back up and made sure it was secure before he shifted and allowed his Puma out to run.
His paws dug into the snow, the cold air rushing past his whiskers. It felt glorious to let his Puma out without the presence of the Bear who was training him. He’d have to go back all too soon, but for now he’d allow the night air to wash the dreams of his Sarah away.
Gabe shivered and pulled off his parka. Damn, this last hunting lesson had been harsh. He wasn’t certain he’d ever feel his toes again. “I’m going to call Max, let him know how things are going.”
James waved, hanging up his cowboy hat and heading towards the kitchen of his three-bedroom cabin.
He’d promised Gabe a nice thick stew in return for learning snow tracking.
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
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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.
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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.
“Hi, this is Sarah. Leave a message after the beep.”
Beep
.
“Sarah, it’s Gabe.” A resigned sigh gusted out of the speaker. “Call me.”
Sarah grabbed the receiver. “Hello!” But he’d already hung up. “Double damn.” He’d sounded so tired.
She dialed him back, but his line was busy. She left a message, hoping he’d call her back that night, but knowing that he wouldn’t. He never did.
She knew what he was doing was important. She wasn’t selfish enough to keep him from that. But why couldn’t he have mated her
before
he left? Things would have been so much easier. For one thing the fact that she got to hear more about what was going on in his life from fucking Chloe Williams, aka Super Waitress, wouldn’t bother her quite so much. He managed to talk to the redhead way more than he did Sarah, and it was really beginning to bug the shit out of her.
What
really
sucked was the fact that he’d managed to get home for Christmas. Unfortunately Sarah hadn’t known he was coming, so she’d made plans to visit her family in Florida. She’d left the day before Gabe arrived in Halle, much to their mutual annoyance.
She heard he’d spent a nice time with Chloe. He’d bought the other woman a pretty little charm bracelet with tiny cats and foxes on it. Sarah had to hold back a growl every time she saw it. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d struck up a friendship with Jim Woods she’d have lost her mind long ago.
The handsome veterinarian was a lifeline for her. They went everywhere together, had a good time together. He knew all about her love for Gabe and accepted the fact that he’d never get any further than friendship, so the tension that usually came with a new relationship wasn’t even there. He was funny, he
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was kind to animals, and he’d grown up in the area so he knew almost everyone. They had a blast together. He was even Emma’s ex-boyfriend, but somehow he’d managed to make friends with Max, something Sarah hadn’t thought possible considering how territorial the Alpha was towards his mate.
She’d met him at Max and Emma’s, in fact. He’d been there when she’d gone over to discuss a new development with Max, something that had scared the crap out of her at the time. She hadn’t understood what was happening to her at first, but Max had managed to help her sort out what was wrong, and Emma had introduced her to Jim.
But Jim wasn’t Gabe. He never could be. And she was missing her mate more and more with each passing day. The mate dreams were shocking, explicit, and left her damp and wrung out. The marks on her body were a constant reminder of what awaited her once Gabe got over his training and came home to claim her.
If
he claimed her. She was slowly beginning to have doubts about that. He’d spent an
awful
lot of time talking to another woman for Sarah to feel upbeat about their future mating.
She tried one more time to call Gabe back, but got his voicemail. “Gabe, it’s Sarah. I was bringing in groceries and missed your call. Call me back, okay? I have something to tell you.” She sighed, grabbing the mop out of the closet. “I miss you.” She hung up and began to clean up the spilled cola.
“So will Gabe be back in time for the wedding?” Jim picked up his French fry and dipped it in some ketchup.
“I have no idea. I haven’t spoken to him in about two weeks.” Her nerves were completely frazzled. The last time she’d heard his voice had been on her answering machine. He’d never called her back, never heard her news.
This long-distance crap really sucked. If it wasn’t for the fact that she
knew
he was alive she’d be much more upset. Not that she wasn’t thinking of killing him when she finally did get hold of him.
“Tell you what, if he’s not back in time we can go together.”
She smiled at Jim. God, he was so nice. Jim Woods felt…sweet. Safe. Like a man you could rely on no matter what. But deep down, there was a small spark of mischief in him that would be irresistible to the right woman, and a core of strength that would shock anyone who took him at face value. All of that was wrapped up in a package that screamed all-American hometown boy-next-door. Blond and hazel-eyed, he stood a full head taller than she. He wasn’t as broad-shouldered as Gabe, his legs not as muscular, but his grin was engaging in ways not even Gabe could manage. He was a treat to all of her senses. If she hadn’t been so hung up on her mate she’d have made a move on him a long time ago. “Wouldn’t you rather bring a
real
date?”
His expression was charming and open, but that little mischievous spark danced in his eyes. “Think of the fun we could have!” He shrugged. “Besides, you know I’m not interested in dating right now.”
Liar.
She had a good idea of exactly who he’d like to be dating, and it wasn’t her. “You should ask her out.” It would certainly make Sarah feel better if he asked out the woman he really wanted.
He made a face. “She’s too young for me.”
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She tried not to eye the bouncing red ponytail of Chloe Williams. “She’s not
that
young.”
“She’s twenty-two.”
“Yup. And you’re an ancient, wrinkled mess.”
He almost choked on his French fry.
A new iced tea landed in front of her. “Can I get you anything else?”
Sarah held back her sigh. For some reason Chloe seemed to be pissed at her today. “Nope. Thanks.”
“Oh hey, I heard from Gabe last night. He said to tell you hello.”
Sarah gritted her teeth. “Thanks.” The sympathy in Jim’s gaze was almost too much to bear. “That will be all, Chloe.”