“Claim family reasons.” James pulled out a piece of paper. “Your maternal grandfather is ill and you need to care for him.”

Gabe looked at the forged papers. His maternal grandfather had died before he’d been born. “You’re kidding me, right?” He couldn’t turn in forged papers. It was against the law. He handed them back to James.

James took them. “Sure. Go ahead and explain to your bosses that you’re hunting a killer Wolf. Tell them that you’ll be gone for roughly six months, barring holidays because we’re not complete bastards, training to take up the duties of a Senate Hunter. They’ll be fine with it, right?”

Gabe groaned. He just knew he was going to get fired. “Give me the damn papers.”

The ringing of the phone woke her early that day. “Hello?”

“Sarah?”

She sat up, suddenly wide awake. “Gabe? Hi!” Sarah pushed her hair behind her ear, nervous as all hell.

The sound of the sexy sheriff’s voice was enough to have her hands shaking. She’d been waiting for his call, or expecting him to show up on her doorstep for over a week now.

The first time she’d seen the dark-haired, blue-eyed sheriff she’d rocked back on her heels, stunned.

Her mate had looked equally shocked. He’d started towards her at that Pride meeting, but then Max had called for their attention and Gabe hadn’t been available for more than a quick phone call since. The last time she’d seen him had been across Belle’s hospital bed. He’d looked so grim she hadn’t had the heart to say anything to him. He’d nodded approvingly at her before exiting the room, leaving behind a lingering warmth that had sustained her through some rough times this week.

Now that the situation with Rudy Parker was finally resolved, it was time for him to claim her.

“I need to talk to you.”

His voice was serious. “Um. Okay.” She bit her lip, thinking rapidly. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she’d only had a cup of soup for dinner the night before. “Frank’s Diner?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Oh.” She bit back her disappointment. At least he was speaking to her.

“I’m at the airport.”

What? “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s…different.”

That didn’t sound good. His voice sounded weary and strained, not surprising considering what had happened a few days ago. “Different how?”

“I’m going away for a little while.” She could hear the noises of an airport in the background and assumed it was Philadelphia International.

“Oh.”

“Sarah. You know you’re mine, right?”

Yes! “I know.” She’d known the moment she’d seen him. Everything in her had yearned towards him, but she’d understood why he’d held off on claiming her. He’d needed all of his focus to be on Sheri, not Sarah. She’d been proud of him for it.

“I can’t claim you yet. It’s complicated. I won’t be able to claim you for a while.”

Her heart sank. She’d been looking forward to having someone of her own, someone who might understand some of the strange things that had been happening to her lately. “Why not?”

“I’ve been tapped to replace a Hunter for our region.”

Pride swelled within her, along with fear. Being a Hunter was no easy job. “Oh wow. Gabe!

That’s…scary. Incredible, but really scary.”

He laughed. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Seems a rogue took one down in our area and the Senate’s decided I’m the one to replace him.”

“Is the Pride in danger?”

“No, baby. Halle is safe. He’s operating out of New York state.” The warmth in his voice went far in melting the chill that had enveloped her.

“You’ll do fine, Gabe.” She blinked. That hadn’t been what she’d wanted to say at all.

But it was the right thing to say from the relief in his tone. “I’m glad you understand, baby. This means a great deal to me, more than I thought it would when I got approached. It means when something like Parker happens again I can act without any fear of reprisals from Packs, Prides or Dens.”

She settled back down on the bed. No point in getting up early on a Saturday if there was no one she had to see and nowhere to go. “How did Adrian and Max react to this? Are they all right with it?”

“Once they got away from their mates for a few seconds they were okay with it. Max actually drove me to the airport.”

She stifled the hurt that he hadn’t asked her to drive him. “I could have taken you.”

Silence. Not good. “I couldn’t let you do that, Sarah.”

“Why not?”

“If I had been in a car with you for two hours I would never have gotten on that plane.”

The rough rasp of his voice played over her senses. It was nice to know that he wanted her just as much as…she… “Where are you?”

“Right now? Somewhere near Chicago.”

“Somewhere near Chicago. Not actually in Chicago.” Liar. She just knew he was in Chicago, not that it mattered.

He gave another rough sigh. “Sarah. Please. Tell me you understand why I’m doing this.”

She rubbed her hand over her eyes wearily. “I do understand what you’re doing, but I don’t like that you wouldn’t even see me before you left.”

“I told you why. I didn’t think it was fair to either one of us to be marked before I left. I have to have my mind in the game, not on my mate.”

That hurt. She understood, really she did, but it still hurt. “All right.”

More silence. “That’s it?”

“What do you want me to say, Gabe? I understand. I don’t agree, but I understand. What’s going to happen the first time you go on a hunt though? Are you going to regret leaving me behind then, too?”

“I’m hoping the first time I have to go on a hunt the first flush of mating will be over and we’ll be long since settled.”

She thought about that for a moment. There wasn’t anything more she could say about it. What was done was done. “When will you be back?”

She was beginning to hate those little silences. It meant she wasn’t going to like his answer. “Six months, roughly.”