Gabriel paced a small path in front of their bedroom door. “I was thinking she’d runaway and we’d never see her again.” He’d found her defiance entertaining until she vowed on her Empress’ soul not to join them. If she went back to wherever she’d been hiding before, they’d never find her. Of that he’d been certain. The predator inside him rebelled against that outcome. Neither would the man allow her to walk out of their lives without a fucking brawl. Both halves of him would fight for her. Gabriel was the same; he needed more time to acclimate to Sameya’s captivity. It was for all their best interest. When he caught her, he’d been mindless with the need to show her to whom she belonged, so he’d reacted on instinct and sank his teeth into her neck. And sucked unadulterated ambrosia into his body. Her blood was nirvana. Sameya had moaned, sealing her fate with the sound.