After an hour in bed, which was all too short, Tristan and I went down to the kitchen to scrounge some breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find Diane there with several options ready.

The kitchen mostly smelled of bacon and baking, and I took a deep whiff, which caused my stomach to grumble out its hunger.

We sat at the kitchen island on large, plush, low bar stools, and ate our heaping plates of eggs, bacon, croissants, muffins, and fruit.

Somehow, Diane had gained the knowledge that I didn’t like coffee, and she had the most delicious, warm cup of cocoa to serve me with my meal. Tristan sipped on his own cup of black coffee between huge bites of mouth-watering food.

Avery and Angelica joined us halfway through breakfast. Angelica kissed her mom on the cheek before she and Avery began heaping piles of food on their plates.

“Back in your element, I see, Diane,” Avery smiled happily as they sat on the kitchen island stools next to Tristan and me.

I looked up at Diane after I swallowed a bite of muffin, “You’re a very good cook, this is delicious!”

Diane smiled at me happily, “Cooking for people is one of my favorite things.”

A comfortable silence settled over us as we continued eating, and Diane pulled baked goods out of the oven and transferred them to cooling racks.

When satisfied, we thanked Diane for the breakfast and headed out.

There was a lot of work to do to prepare for the arrival of our new pack members. We didn’t know precisely when they were coming, but we knew some would arrive soon.

Angelica and I walked over to the detached garage with Avery and Tristan. It looked like a large warehouse on the outside, and once we stepped inside, we could see it housed over twenty cars. There were twelve pick-up trucks, a five-seater sedan, one sports car, and three SUVs of various sizes, plus the SUV limo.

Since Gabriel had turned over ownership of the ranch and all property on the ranch to us, the vehicles now belonged to us.

The garage was more beautiful and well-kept than the house I lived in with my father before we moved to the pack house. It had a thirty-foot-tall cedar plank ceiling with large metal chandeliers hanging down from the rafters. The floor was a shining, polished concrete of charcoal gray.

The walls were a stainless-steel surface with racks, workbenches, and shelves of tools and supplies. There were two stations with lifts and pits for changing oil and working on vehicles, and in the back left corner was a large office with a giant plate glass window looking out into the garage. There were two men seated at computers inside the office, and they stood when they saw us enter.

Tristan walked over to the office, and the two men shook his hand. I recognized the younger man who’d driven us from the hangar to the house the previous evening.

“I’m Tristan Martin, the new owner, and this is my wife, Jane Martin,” my mate began the introductions.

The men shook my hand and then Avery’s and Angelica’s hands as they were introduced as our business partners.

“I’m Allen, and this is Crypton,” the older man introduced.

My eyes widened at the second name and the younger man, probably used to such a reaction, grinned and shrugged, “My parents loved superheroes.”

Allen took us on a tour of the garage, and then, coming back to the office he finally said, “I’m the manager of the garage, and we have one other guy, Tony, who does the oil changes and vehicle maintenance and repairs. He works evenings and overnights.”

“Crypton here is the driver and bodyguard. If Mrs. Martin needs to go anywhere outside the ranch, he will accompany her. He’s a trained martial artist and weapons specialist with extra-human abilities.”

“What kind of abilities?” Avery asked with great interest.

“He was born of a human woman with a vampire father, which is very rare. He can see in the dark, is extremely fast, and I’ve seen him chase off a few rogues with ease. They believed Montana would be easy pickings since there weren’t any packs here until now.”

“I’m at your service, Luna,” he bowed in my direction.

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Tristan seemed satisfied. We didn’t know what to expect when meeting the ranch staff. We figured they would likely know about Gabriel being a vampire, but we didn’t know what they knew of wolves or packs. We thought we might have to ease them into it.

Allen continued, “Mr. Gabriel explained the change of ownership and the situation. Since she is the Luna of your pack and Mr. Gabriel’s feeder, everyone who works and lives here will treat her with care and the utmost respect. They will give their lives to protect her.”

Tristan smiled and dipped his head slightly as he said, “I’m grateful.”

Allen seemed surprised at his humility. Most alphas would never bow their head to anyone but the king. Tristan was a different kind of alpha. He was powerful enough to destroy almost anyone around him, but he believed in serving, protecting, and showing gratitude.

Allen cleared his throat and said, “Everyone who works here is alive today because Mr. Gabriel saved us in some way or other. If he cares for and respects you all enough to gift you the ranch, then our loyalty is yours.

“None of us employees are wolves, except for Wolfgang. However, if you allow us, we will pledge allegiance to join your pack, and continue to serve the ranch and you,” he finished his speech with a bow of his head.

Tristan looked over the three of us, mind-linking us before speaking aloud. We all nodded our agreement. This was a new pack. We got to make the rules here. There were no traditions to follow, no pack laws to uphold yet beyond the basic wolf rights assigned by the North American Pack Council.

Tristan finally looked at Allen, “My pack agrees; welcome to our family. When the next group of wolves arrives, let all the employees who want to become a part of the pack know to be there. They can take their pledges with the others.

“It’s not usual for humans and vampire hybrids to join a wolf pack. However, we have a human Luna, and Gabriel and Emma are honorary members, so we aren’t going to be a typical pack anyway.”

“Thank you, Alpha. I’m proud to serve you,” Allen bowed his head, and Crypton followed his example.

Tristan grinned, then stepped over to the largest pick-up in the garage and slapped it on top of the hood. The front of the truck was nearly as tall as him.

“Where do I get the keys to this beast?”

Crypton’s face broke into a huge smile. He reached just inside the door of the office, opening a key box hanging on the wall. He grabbed the set of keys without even looking and tossed them to Tristan.

“Thanks, man,” he said with the enthusiasm of a kid about to test a new toy.

“I’ll see you this afternoon, Jane Marie Martin,” Tristan said as he leaned over and kissed me on the mouth, causing a delicious tingle to spread down the length of my body.

When he pulled away, I sighed happily, and his chest rumbled in approval.

Avery kissed her mate, and then climbed into the vehicle with Tristan. Angelica and I watched as they drove off in the huge monster of a truck.

They were going to survey all the outbuildings on the property, including the bunkhouses and cabins built to house the ranch employees. Their goal today was to see how many buildings could be used as temporary living quarters until we were able to build enough for everyone to live comfortably.

Angelica and I would take inventory of the house and supplies and see what we needed to order.

I turned to Angelica and asked, “Are you ready?”

“At your service, Luna,” she smiled.

We waved to the men in the garage and left, walking back towards the house as I organized my ideas.

I talked to Angelica as we went.

“I’ll walk the bedrooms and other rooms of the house to see how many we can sleep in the main house.”

“I want you to inventory the linen closets and see how many full sets of sheets we have and what bed sizes they are. We also need to know how many towels we have.”

“You got it, Luna,” Angelica said pleasantly.

“Call me Jane,” I insisted.

“Ok, Jane,” she replied.

I continued my organizational thoughts aloud, “Diane is already inventorying the kitchen, and measuring the Great Room to see how many tables we can fit in it for a temporary Dining Hall. She’ll be running the kitchen at the main house for now and will continue as long as she wants.”

“Wise choice,” Angelica smiled, “She makes the best food.”

“Judging by breakfast, that’s totally believable,” I smiled back.

We got to the side door of the main house to find a middle-aged man in overalls standing there waiting for us.

“Luna Martin?” he asked.

“That’s me,” I replied, then said to Angelica, “Go ahead and get started. I’ll be in soon.”

Angelica nodded and went into the house. We both knew from Gabriel that he ran a tight ship here regarding security, so no one was likely to be on the property that shouldn’t be. Considering this, I felt comfortable talking to anyone who came looking for me by name.

The man held out his hand, and as I shook it, he said, “I’m Joshua. I run the wood shop on the ranch. We usually just repair fences and build things needed for the ranch, but Alpha Tristan called a few minutes ago and asked if any of us knew how to make furniture. There are eight of us in the wood shop, and we all know how to build furniture, so I’m here to get your orders.”

I’m sure my eyes lit up. We definitely needed Joshua.

“Thank you, Joshua. I’m happy to meet you. I was just about to walk the house now and see what we can convert into living quarters temporarily.”

He nodded and said, “I’m not familiar with any rooms in the house other than the ground floor study and common rooms, but I can walk it with you. I have my trusty measuring tape and notepad.”

He patted a couple of the pockets in his overalls.

After pulling out his notepad and a pencil, he continued, “I can write down what you need us to make as we go. We also have a storage facility near the shop where we can store any furniture you need to get out of the way to make room for beds and such.”

I thanked the goddess again for the great gift of this new home. It was turning out to be so much more than any of us realized or expected.

“Come with me, Joshua,” I smiled at him, and we went to work.