Gabriel and his attorney, Mr. Edward Larson, met with me in the ground floor study. The paperwork was straightforward and to the point.

The whole of Gabriel’s one-million-acre ranch in Montana was being turned over to Jane and me, along with a trust fund that maintained the ranch containing more than fifteen billion dollars.

In return, the contract listed compensation as “life-giving services provided by Jane Marie Brown, ref. contract between Jane Marie Brown and Gabriel Michael Francisco.”

I wanted to be upstairs marking Jane, but I knew this was an important step that had to be done before Angelica’s family arrived in the next few days. Pack business before pleasure, as it were.

Two hours later, the paperwork was signed, witnessed, and legal. We all shook hands, and Mr. Larson took his leave.

Gabriel turned to me then, “I need to press upon you the urgency of marking Jane tonight. There is only enough fresh blood here for Emma, and it will be a couple of days before my buyer can arrange some. I will need to feed from her tomorrow, and I won’t be able to do so within 12-18 hours of you marking her.”

This surprised me. I had no knowledge of such a complication.

“What would happen if you did?”

“Wolf bites can kill a vampire, and an Alpha bite is stronger than most. The venom that is used to mark a mate is stronger still. I am more than one thousand years old so it wouldn’t kill me, since a vampire gains strength with age, but it could make me ill for several days. I must remain fit and alert should your father or Avery’s discover our whereabouts more quickly than we hope.”

I nodded, “Jane and I agreed to mark and mate tonight, anyway. I’ll mark her before midnight, then you should be able to feed safely tomorrow afternoon.”

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“Thank you,” Gabriel replied.

“No need to thank me. After everything you’ve done for us, we’re grateful. You gave us a way to be together, and that’s more valuable than anything else,” I assured him.

“It wasn’t much. I have more wealth and property than I will be able to use in my own lifetime, which is indefinite.”

Gabriel looked hesitant and then continued, “Tristan, I need to warn you. Your wolf. He isn’t going to like the feeding process.”

I searched his anxious expression, considering carefully before saying, “It’s true that wolves don’t like other men touching their mates, but this is a unique situation in which my wolf has given no signs of protest.”

“That may be true, but it will be different when I go to feed. Seeing me bite into her vein and her losing blood, even though it won’t be painful to her, and I won’t take more than a pint, instinctually, your wolf might feel that I’m a threat to her. He may react strongly. Over time, when we’ve all been together much longer, your wolf will recognize that I’m not a threat. But in the early days, you may find it difficult to control if he doesn’t trust me.”

I let my eyes glaze over and went to my wolf while speaking aloud so Gabriel could hear, “Onan? Do you understand what Gabriel’s concern is?”

Instead of answering me, my Alpha wolf came forth, changing my eyes into embers of gold, to speak to Gabriel.

“You’re no threat to my mate. You saved her life. She would be dead without you,” Onan spoke out in his intense, gravelly voice to Gabriel, staring him in the eye.

Gabriel appeared surprised when he heard the name of Tristan’s wolf.

“Onan? That’s a unique name,” he stated curiously.

Onan grinned at Gabriel as if he held a secret and Gabriel was fishing for the answer, but there was no reply.

I internally prompted Onan to tell me what he was hiding, but he wouldn’t explain.

Upon realizing that the information was not forthcoming, Gabriel bowed his head slightly to my wolf, “Forgive me for underestimating you, Onan. I thank you for your understanding.”

My wolf was satisfied by Gabriel’s respectful reply and faded back into his comfortable den.

“Are we good?” I asked him, eager to get back to Jane.

Gabriel chuckled and gestured towards the door, “Enjoy your evening.”