Page 23 of Rescued By Her Guardian

“Taking away the mating conditions,” Calix said. He rose to his feet and shook Knox’s hand. “Congratulations.”

He nodded at Ivy and stepped back to allow the others to congratulate them.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Calix asked Maverick and Chase.

“We were there when they met,” Chase said.

“Fuckers. You’re supposed to share this kind of tea with me, I’m the second!”

“I put them under orders not to share,” Knox said. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

Theo gave him an incredulous look. “You weren’t thinking of leaving, were you? You’re the best alpha we’ve had in decades, and the leap is thriving under your leadership.”

“Changing the laws is a big deal,” he pointed out. “But I did consider it. If Ivy didn’t want to come live here, I would have moved to Northernmost.”

“Wildwood Crossing is a great town,” Eddie said. “Everyone is friendly, it’s a leave-your-door-unlocked sort of town. Plus, you’re the alpha female. Our females haven’t had an alpha female for ages. It’s about damn time.”

“Thank you all so much for the warm welcome.” She shivered at the word “warm” and Knox put his arm around her.

“Speaking of warm, let’s go inside and get something to eat. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

They moved to the porch and Maverick grabbed the door for them. She stepped into a large kitchen. Knox turned on the overhead light as they stamped the snow from their boots. They disrobed from their winter gear which Chase put away in a hall closet, and walked through the house to a large office which had a floor to ceiling built in bookshelf that was full of books.

“Welcome to the alpha’s office, sweetheart,” Knox said.

“What a library!” she said.

“You can browse my books anytime, and I’ll make room for you.”

“Don’t I get my own office?” she teased.

He growled and pulled her close. “I thought we could work together.”

“You say work like you don’t really mean work.”

He wiggled his brows.

Someone cleared their throat. “If you’re done molesting each other, we’ve got some laws to change. Respectfully,” Calix said.

She giggled, her cheeks heating.

“I’ll never be done,” Knox whispered.

“Me either.”

Knox hadn’t doubted that the elders and highest-ranked males would support him and welcome Ivy into the leap. It was even more evident that they were thrilled for him by the gracious way they included her in their conversations as they discussed the laws and bringing the news to the leap.

The mates of the elders, Grace and Natalie, had brought food for them and whisked Ivy into the kitchen to get to know her before she returned to the discussion of the laws.

In reality, they were only changing two laws: that a leap member could mate whoever they chose, regardless of whether they were a shifter or not, without facing exile, and that non-shifting mates would be considered part of the leap once the mating had occurred.

“Let’s convene the leap together in the meeting hall at six p.m. and make sure everyone knows it’s mandatory,” Knox said.

“I’ll send out a text,” John said. “And we’ll send the enforcers around to ensure everyone is aware.”

“What are enforcers?” Ivy asked.

“Guards,” Knox answered, putting an arm around her shoulders. “In fact, let’s bring all the enforcers here first, and we’ll do a formal announcement, then send them out to make sure everyone sees the text and shows up.”

---