Page 19 of Rescued By Her Guardian

“If you change the laws,” she said, her voice slow like she was measuring every word and thinking through as she spoke, “then we won’t live here.”

“Right.”

“If you don’t change the laws, we do, though. You lose your leap and your alpha position, but we stay here.”

“Yep.”

“I don’t know, Knox. What do you want to do?”

He shrugged. “I could make a case for both scenarios. I don’t want to take you from your family and it’s clear you love yourjob. I could live anywhere with you, frankly. But it’s a big deal no matter which way we go.”

“I don’t want either of us to lose anything,” she said. She brushed a lock of hair from her face and let out a sigh. “I suppose that’s irrational.”

“Someone has to lose something,” he said. “But we get each other and for me, it’s worth whatever the cost. You were worth the wait, Ivy. I wouldn’t trade you for being alpha for anything.”

“I’d rather be with you than live here without you.”

He leaned in and kissed her. “I wouldn’t let you go anyway, sweetheart. You’re well and truly stuck with me.”

Her sweet smile made him feel like a king.

“When do you need to decide?”

“Weneed to figure things out sooner rather than later. Maverick and Chase know and while they’ll keep things quiet, I don’t want to keep a lid on this longer than necessary. Let’s sleep on it and see how we feel in the morning.”

“Sleep?” she straddled him swiftly and he chuckled as he leaned back into the couch, grasping her hips and pulling her against him.

“Eventually.”

She planted her hands on the couch on either side of his head and leaned in, giving a slow lick to the bottom of his mouth. “You’re the sexiest guy I’ve ever met. I can’t believe you’re my mate. I feel like I won the lottery.”

She ground herself against him and his senses lit up. “You’re an angel, the most perfect, sensual, beautiful female I’ve ever laid eyes on. If anyone won the lottery, it was this alpha cat.”

Her nails scraped against his neck as she brought him to her mouth for a kiss that rocked his world.

The situation with his leap was forgotten in a flurry of clothes, roaming hands, and cries of pleasure.

He’d worry about things tomorrow.

They had time.

Not much, but some.

The following day passed quickly as Knox and Ivy spent time making love, talking, and eventually meeting her brother and father for dinner. Her family was great. Her brother immediately vouched for Knox, which he appreciated, and her father gave thehurt my daughter and diespeech, which Knox appreciated. He liked that her family had her back.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Marcus said, “but don’t leopards prefer shifters in the leap as opposed to magical or human mates?”

“Yes,” Knox said.

“Shit, really?” Alder said. “What are you going to do?”

He glanced at Ivy and she gave him an encouraging smile.

“I’m taking Ivy to Wildwood Crossing tomorrow morning to meet with the high ranked males. I’m going to change the laws to allow anyone to mate with anyone they choose, whether they’re a shifter, human, or magical person. I’ll join her to me as my alpha female in front of the leap, and we’ll start the new year off with an open mating policy.”

“Wow, really?” Alder asked, looking at Ivy. “You’re just going to walk away from the only place you’ve ever lived just like that?”

“Notjust like that,” Ivy said. “We’ve been talking about it since yesterday. It’s an important decision and neither of us went into it lightly.”

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