then glanced back up to see if Gabriel had heard anything from his friends. The wide smile on the man’s
face told him he had.
“Hey! That’s my phone!” he heard Rebecca exclaim.
“Ashby?” Ashby quickly brought the phone back to his ear, it was Aleks.
“Yes, Alpha?” he asked.
“Everything OK?” Aleks asked, his voice sounding concerned.
“Yes, everything is fine,” Ashby said as he watched Gabriel smile and nod.
“Good, we’ll let people know the parlor is closed for the weekend. Be safe.” Then Ashby heard a click
and the call ended. He would find a way to thank Aleks later. He turned off his phone and looked back up
to Gabriel.
“So you, umm, heard?” he asked and wanted to slap his forehead. Of course he had heard.
“You seem more nervous knowing I am your mate than when we were strangers getting to know one
another over the phone,” Gabriel said, walking around the perimeter of the room circling Ashby.
“But I didn’t know you were my mate then. After our rescue my nose was broken. When we came back
here to drop off the vans I couldn’t smell you,” Ashby said, turning his body to watch Gabriel walk around
the room.
“Maybe vampires and shifters have different ideas of what mates are. For vampires, finding your mate
is the ultimate gift. It’s the knowledge that you’ll never be alone again, that Fate has provided you with a
friend and partner,” Gabriel said, coming to a stop watching Ashby intently who was nodding his agreement
emphatically.
“It’s the same for shifters. For shifters mates come first.” He saw that nearly every muscle in Gabriel’s
body was drawn tight. He could see the tension surrounding the man.
“Then treat me as the friend that I’ve become in talking to you every day. I don’t want to be the prince
to my mate. Just Gabriel,” he said with a silent plea in his eyes.
Ashby’s eyes softened. He had been so wrapped up in his own insecurities, feeling like he wasn’t good
enough, that he never thought how his hesitation could be perceived by his mate.
“Maybe if we talked as if we were on the phone?” Ashby suggested. Gabriel nodded.
“We could do that. Would you like something to eat? I could fix dessert.” Gabriel motioned to the small
kitchen.
“Sure, that sounds great.” Ashby smiled brightly and he could see Gabriel relax a fraction.
“I had Roman go out and buy green apples” Gabriel said, walking into the kitchen and heading to the
refrigerator. Ashby smiled.
“You remembered. They are my favorite,” Ashby said, following him into the kitchen and taking a seat
on the barstool across the counter from where Gabriel stood with two apples, a knife and a cutting board.
Very slowly and deliberately Gabriel began to peel each apple as if each movement was an effort in keeping
control.
“I bet you never imagined your mate as a fox-shifting ice cream parlor owner,” Ashby said, with a self-
deprecating laugh. The knife stilled and Gabriel looked up sharply.
“Every night when I lie down to rest, I wonder if I’ve done enough good that day to outweigh the
wrongs I have done to keep my people safe and every night I wonder if there is enough good left in me to
deserve a mate. Over the thousands of years I’ve endured, I have imagined my mate in a myriad of
different ways, each variation better than the one before. But nothing my mind has conjured in all of those
millennia could compare to the beauty and strength in you. Your sheer physical beauty is only outshone by
your amazingly kind heart and pure soul. No matter how much longer I have left on this earth, I know that I
will never do anything to deserve the gift of you,” Gabriel said, making sure he kept Ashby’s gaze so that he
could see the truth in his eyes.
Ashby couldn’t stop the tears. In an instant Gabriel was around the counter and cupping Ashby’s face in
his large hands. He carefully wiped away the tears before replacing each one with a gentle kiss.
“I have carried the weight of an entire race on my shoulders for so long, I don’t know if I can be the
mate you deserve. I had nearly given up my soul before I smelled your blood in that van the morning after
you were rescued. The tiny ray of hope that you were my mate has kept me going these past few months.”
Gabriel leaned forward and buried his face his Ashby’s neck, their bodies locked in a powerful embrace.
Ashby could feel slight tremors go through Gabriel’s body as the man held on to him as if his very life
depended on it.
“Ashby, sweet Ashby, what has fate done tying you to a monster like me?” Gabriel said into his neck.