David, Avery’s driver, took us to the Cooleyville Benz dealership. It was his last day with Avery, and she wasn’t looking forward to losing his supportive presence.

I wasn’t thrilled with the whole trip for many reasons. I had no desire to receive a car from an ancient vampire I’d only met twice, but my father had insisted on accepting the gift to avoid offense. Personally, I think my father just wanted a new luxury vehicle for himself.

As we made our way through the town to the car’s showroom, I looked over at Avery sitting on the other side of the back seat.

She was fiddling nervously with her bag. She was generally a laid-back kind of person, and I sensed she was uncomfortable.

“Are you afraid?” I asked her.

She smiled at me sheepishly, “A little bit. I’ve never met a real vampire before.”

I nodded thoughtfully.

“I can remember being intimidated my first time, too. Most of the time, when I meet a vampire, they have business with my father. Gabriel is different. He only makes a neighborly visit to our pack every few years.”

Avery turned her head to gaze out the window, “What do you know about him?”

“He has property to the north of our pack and has lived there for several generations of my family’s Alphas. He’s over a thousand years old.”

Avery turned to look at me, her eyes widening at the surprising information.

“How is that possible? I didn’t think anyone on earth was that old,” she proclaimed.

I shrugged, “I’ve heard rumors that there are two vampires even older than him, but he is considered an ancient one. He comes to visit the pack every decade. His purpose is to renew his acquaintance with the sitting Alpha. I’ve met him twice. He’s polite but reserved. To my father, the most important thing is that he’s very wealthy.”

“Both of our families are wealthy, so it’s not surprising that an ancient vampire would be, too,” she answered.

I shook my head, explaining, “He’s not wealthy like our packs are wealthy. He’s wealthy like he probably has more money than anyone on this side of the world.”

“That explains the extravagant gift,” she chuckled.

The driver turned to speak back to us, “We’ve arrived,” he stated as he pulled into the parking lot of the dealership.

I knew this place didn’t usually open until 10 am, but I guess a guy like Gabriel could have it to himself any time he pleased - open or not.

Gabriel waited for us in front of the heavy glass doors. His regal posture was visible, and his powerful aura could be felt, even from inside the car. He was standing perfectly still in that eerie way only vampires could accomplish, and I felt a slight shiver up my spine.

I’d never considered much about Gabriel in terms of his power or lethality before, but seeing him from Avery’s perspective, I understood why she might be afraid.

David pulled up directly in front of the doors and got out to open Avery’s door for her. I let myself out.

As I stepped out of the car, a familiar and delicious aroma reached my nose. I took a deep breath and had to stop myself from moaning.

I met Gabriel’s eyes, and then mine widened in surprise at the kind smile he was flashing me. Of course. Jane had been thrown into the northern forest - Gabriel’s forest.

Jane was here.

He nodded to me and gestured towards the doors.

Racing inside, I followed my nose to a back office where here scent was the strongest, and I flung open the door. Jane was sitting on the edge of a desk.

She was smiling at me as tears spilled over her lashes and ran down her cheeks.

I strode across the room in two steps to wrap my arms around her, kissing the tears from her face. Unable to restrain myself anymore, I captured her lips with my own. Placing my hand behind her head, I held her still as I crushed my mouth against hers in a salty, passionate, desperate kiss. Our first.

Sucking her lower lip into my mouth, I moved my hands underneath her thighs and pulled her legs around my waist. Her arms slid up around my neck as she kissed me back, parting her lips to allow my demanding tongue entry.

Emotions magnified by our forced separation, we kissed with all the love, passion, and longing we’d suffered alone these past weeks. Her fingers weaved into the back of my hair, igniting a delicious fire in every place our bodies touched. I moaned into her mouth as her tongue pushed back against mine, sating the void of starvation.

Finally unable to breathe, we reluctantly pulled away from our kiss but kept our bodies pressed together. My arms wrapped around her waist tightly, crushing her against my chest. She didn’t seem to mind.

Her enormous smile likely mirrored my own.

I spoke with great affection, “Jane, you’re ok. I’ve been driven crazy not knowing where you were. What happened? You haven’t suffered too much?”

Gabriel cleared his throat from the doorway behind me, “While I’d love to let you both catch up, we don’t have much time. Your father expects you and Avery to return by noon, and you have some choices to make.”

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Gabriel entered the room, followed by Avery and a blonde woman who I didn’t know, that looked to be in her thirties. I looked at Jane, raising my eyebrow in question, and she smiled up at me with a shrug.

I released Jane, and she set unwrapped her legs from my waist, placing her feet on the floor. She stayed pressed against me, shifting her arms to circle my waist.

I wasn’t letting go of her. When Gabriel gestured for us all to be seated, I sat in the nearest chair, pulling Jane onto my lap. I buried my nose in the curve of her neck and breathed in deeply. It was heaven holding her so close, pulling her against my chest. We hadn’t been able to experience this amount of closeness until now, and my wolf was practically howling with joy inside my head.

Finally, I turned my attention back to Gabriel and inquired, “What choices?”

The golden-haired woman who followed Gabriel into the room, closed the door and leaned against it. David didn’t enter the room, but I could still scent him in the hallway outside the door.

Avery sat next to Jane and I and Gabriel leaned against the desk Jane had previously sat on.

Jane stiffened slightly as she observed Avery from under her lashes. I rubbed my hand up and down her leg to soothe her.

Gabriel made the introduction, “Jane, this is Avery, who Alpha Martin intended for Tristan.”

Jane frowned at Avery then, but I stroked her hair gently while Avery spoke first in a friendly manner.

“Hi Jane, I’ve heard a lot about you. You don’t have to worry about me. I have a mate, too; she’s back at my pack, waiting for us to figure out a plan,” Avery explained patiently.

Jane visibly relaxed in my arms again and smiled apologetically, “It’s nice to meet you, Avery.”

Gabriel continued introductions, gesturing towards the woman leaning against the door, “This is Emma, my right-hand person.”

Emma nodded at me and Avery but kept silent.

Gabriel continued, “It’s best if you just listen and don’t reply out loud as it will save time. I can read your minds, so I’ll answer any questions you have aloud for everyone to hear.”

He looked around the room until all of us had nodded our agreement.

“I’ve devised an outrageous plan that will work for everyone to be with their own mates if you choose it. It will be difficult, and there may be a small war, but everyone will have their mates.”

Gabriel paused momentarily to smile at me, having read my eager response, “Yep. I’m in.”

He held up a hand to gain our attention before proceeding, “The alternative is to continue with whatever plan Tristan had to carry on a mating relationship with Avery until your father dies, and you can come to get Jane. If you choose the second one, Jane will be safe with me as my contracted feeder until you come for her.”

He continued, “But if you mate with Avery, I will have to take Jane far away, or it could kill her. She will feel every touch you and Avery share between you, and it will be physically painful for her and Avery’s true mate, as well.”

He paused to listen to our comments and questions telepathically, then nodded, “Option one, it is.”

Gabriel explained, “My plan involves everyone leaving with us now. We’ll get on my plane and fly to my one-million-acre ranch in Montana. Avery can also notify her mate to meet us at the airstrip.”

He turned to face Avery, “It will be your driver’s job to get back to your pack and notify your mate’s bloodline to head to Montana, so they don’t face the retribution of your father.”

Filling us in on the details, he informed us, “There are no wolf packs in Montana and your fathers don’t have allies in that part of the country. I will gift the entire ranch to Tristan and Jane. Tristan can form his own pack with himself as Alpha.”

“In exchange for a lifetime feeder contract with Jane, you may take ownership of the land and the financial trust accounts that fund the care and operations of the ranch. She will provide me blood for feeding, and I will provide my blood to her and her family to keep you all healthy for life. I will remain living on the ranch while Tristan and Jane live, and then Emma and I will leave once you are gone.”

Gabriel fell silent briefly, then turned his head to Avery and gestured for her to speak.

Avery nodded and spoke her conditions to me, “I agree to the plan if I can be your Beta. Since the pack will start out consisting primarily of my mate’s family, I think you will need that to initially establish your authority. Her family won’t accept me as Alpha because my mate is also a woman, and we won’t be able to produce pups. However, having their family member and her mate as betas will make the transition smoother for everyone.”

“How many in your mate’s bloodline will have to flee in order to escape your father’s wrath?” I asked her curiously.

“Angelica’s family is approximately five hundred in total and makes up nearly half of my father’s entire pack,” she answered.

My eyes widened in surprise, “Can your driver notify them all? Will he be willing?”

Gabriel turned his face towards the wall which separated them from David the drive, then smiled, “He is loyal to Avery. And apparently, he is her mate’s father. He agrees.”

Everyone fell silent briefly, and then Gabriel looked me in the eyes, responding to my chief concern, “The war, yes. It’s not likely that your fathers will let this kind of betrayal go. They’ll probably come to find you to discipline you harshly. If you want to defend your pack and land, you’ll have to fight them.”

I let this sink in. The burden shifted down heavily onto my shoulders. Could I really ask all these wolves, new to our pack, to stand with us and fight two powerful alphas?

Many lives would likely be lost so that we could be with our mates. It was difficult to weigh the cost of something the four of us desperately needed and wanted against the lives of so many.

Looking up into Gabriel’s eyes, I found him staring back at me with a new expression. It was respect.

His tone was reassuring, “Emma and I will assist as much as we can, and it could potentially lower the risk to your pack, but we will likely be sanctioned by the vampire council. The only excuse that will be acceptable to them is that we gave you the land and funds in exchange for the feeder contract, and when your fathers come, we will say we were protecting my feeder. Vampires don’t tolerate threats to their feeders in the same manner that wolves don’t tolerate threats to their pups.”

The feeder contract worried me, and all sorts of horrifying images flashed in my mind as I squeezed Jane tighter against me.

Gabriel looked me in the eye and said, “Wrist, no aphrodisiac.”

Jane giggled and I glanced over at her sheepishly.

Gabriel grinned, “Any other questions? Do we agree to my plan, then? Will Avery’s mate’s family be willing to relocate and fight?”

David answered aloud through the door, “I think the majority of them will be willing. There have been a lot of unfair and extreme punishments dealt out by the current Alpha that were completely unnecessary. As he ages, he’s struggling to assert his authority to hang onto his position. If Avery had been a man, he would already be dead, and she would be the Alpha. The threats he made against our family because of Avery and Angelica’s mate connection has left many of us feeling angry and dissatisfied and even offended, to be honest.”

“Tristan?” Gabriel waited for my final answer.

I knew what needed to be done.

“I am very grateful for your offer, and as long as Jane is ok with what you are asking of her, I am ready to go whenever you are,” I answered resolutely.

Jane smiled up at me, and the beauty of it took my breath away.

“I already signed the contract this morning before you arrived,” she said.

I kissed her with all my heart.