Chapter 7

Knox and Ivy meandered into the kitchen after midnight since they'd made love through dinner and then some, before dozing off and both waking to rumbling stomachs.

He'd donned his jeans and she'd put on a long shirt and nothing else, which he loved. And he also loved that she'd pulled her pretty blonde and pink-tipped hair into a ponytail so he could see the healed mark on her neck.

He rested his hand on her neck and grazed the mark with his thumb, which made her shiver.

"I like it," she said. She leaned over and kissed him. "It makes me feel really connected to you."

"Me too. I think that's the point of the marking, it unites in a primal way."

He helped make sandwiches, although he could admit his helping was more being in the way as she bustled around the small but well stocked kitchen.

"I don't eat in the cafeteria very often," she said, "just when my dad and brother want to get together. I've always liked cooking, but it's just for me. There's a little specialty grocer in New York that I like to visit and get unique items to cook with."

"Like what?"

"I've got vanilla from Madagascar, some beautiful herbs from France, and I've even got some Kobe steaks in the freezer. I buy whatever catches my eye."

"That's pretty neat," he said. "I can grill, but that's about it."

"Even breakfast?"

"Hell yes, I have one of those big griddles at my home in Wildwood Crossing, and I routinely make breakfast on it when I have morning meetings."

She sliced both sandwiches in half and set them on plates. As she added chips to his and carrot sticks to hers, she looked at him curiously.

"What kind of morning meetings? I don't even know what you did before you came here. We…skipped a lot of chatting."

He pulled out her chair and pushed her gently in, then took the chair opposite. They were in a nook in the kitchen at a small round table with three chairs and a miniature poinsettia plant in the center with white and pink leaves.

"Do you have a nice view from that big window in the great room?" he asked.

She narrowed her gaze. "You're changing the subject. You didn't tell me what you do for a living. Are you a spy or something? Oh! Are you a criminal?" She put a hand to her chest like she was a damsel in an old movie.

"You went from spy to criminal in two seconds!" he said with a laugh. "I'm neither. I just wanted to have some easy conversation while we were eating, then we can really talk."

"You say the word talk and it sounds like you mean sex."

"Are you complaining?"

"I might, if it means you're keeping things from me. I want us to be honest with each other, don't you?"

"Yes, absolutely. After we eat, sweetheart?"

"Okay, so long as you don't go distracting me with your talented fingers."

He drummed said fingers on the table. "I will try to control myself."

She giggled and her eyes danced. Damn, he was falling for her fast.

"As far as the view goes," she said with a dramatic sigh, "when it's light out, it's pretty much just a flat and boring landscape. Some of the apartments can see the Northern Lights which is neat, but after a while even that loses its allure. I think it's one of the downfalls of living in such a magical place."

"It becomes mundane," he said with a nod.

"Yep."

He smiled at her. Damn, she was so beautiful.

They talked about their families, but there wasn't much for him to share. His parents had passed away before he became alpha, and he didn't have any siblings or even extended family, as his parents had both been only children. But he did have friends in the leap and people he trusted, like his high ranked males. Ivy's mom had passed away a few years earlier, but she had her dad and brother.

He remembered meeting Alder, who was on the security team, but he hadn't met her dad.

They finished the meal and cleaned up the kitchen, then he followed her into the great room, where they crashed on the couch together, snuggled close and watching the electric fireplace's faux flames dance.

He stared at the fake fire for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.

"Before I tell you everything, I want you to know that I wasn't intending to keep anything from you, and I haven't had enough time to really think about what my next steps will be."

She peered up at him from where she was nestled in his arms. "Okay."

He inhaled and then said, "I'm alpha of the snow leopard leap."

"I didn't have mate an alpha on my bingo card," she said.

He chuckled. "You're adorable." He kissed her nose.

"Why didn't you tell me right away? And don't say you got distracted by me, either."

"I won't, even though I did. But I let myself get distracted because I'm still processing everything. It's not a big deal per se, there are shifters who mate humans and other supernaturals like elves and witches all the time. But the problem is that in my leap, the laws state that only shifters can belong in the leap. If a member chooses to mate a magical person or human, they have to choose exile."

"Exile sounds bad."

"It's not great. It means they're treated as if they're dead by their family and friends. Or they could always choose to not mate their non-shifter mate and stay in the leap."

"Has that happened?"

"It did, a year ago, to a male in my leap. She was human."

He seemed to lose himself in his thoughts, so she let him have the silence. She couldn't believe that her mate was an alpha. But, of course, he was. He had a natural air of authority that was more than just being a Guardian. She didn't care that he was alpha, but she didn't want him to lose his friends and people just because she wasn't a shifter.

"What are your possible next steps?" she asked. She turned in his arms and faced him, leaning against the couch and capturing both his hands with hers. She couldn't stop touching him. It was like her whole being was tuned to him, her skin humming with his nearness.

He gave her hands a squeeze. "We're mates, so that's not changing. I certainly wouldn't walk away from you for anything. So the remaining choice is to choose exile and leave the leap."

He stopped talking, his gaze drifting to the side and not holding hers.

"Or?" she prompted after a long moment of silence.

"Or I change the laws."

"You can do that?"

"I'm the alpha."

"Sure, but aren't laws immutable?" There were laws that couldn't be changed for elves and magical beings, surely there were some for shifters as well.

"Not with shifters. Or at least not with leopards. The alpha is the be-all, end-all of laws. I can change what I want as it pleases me, and if people don't like it, they can leave."

"Couldn't they overthrow you?"

A low snarl rippled from his chest and his upper lip curled. "They could try."

"Well, for stocking's sake, Knox, I don't want someone to try to take you out because we're mates."

The snarl ebbed and he sighed, letting go of her hands and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. "No one will come after me. The ranking system for my people means that if someone did want to take me out of power, they would have to fight their way up from their position, and someone might be able to take one or two males out, but not enough to get to me." He dropped his hands and leaned close. She could pick up his scent and it wrapped around her. "I'm of a mind to keep you with me for the next eighty or so years, Ivy. So the laws will change, and you'll be my alpha female."

"Eighty years, is that all?" she asked with a laugh.

He nodded. "The question is, sweetheart, whether you're okay with living in Kentucky or if you need me to step down from my position, choose exile, and join you here."

Oh tinsel.