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Speechless, the advisor sputters for a moment. But Mak’s expression is a stone wall, so he ultimately decides to nod, bow, and escape the room without another word of complaint.
When he’s gone, the seriousness evaporates from Mak’s face. I realize that he was amused the entire time. He chuckles to himself and sits on the edge of the desk.
“You’re quick to terrorize the staff,” he says, crossing his leg and leaning an elbow casually on the raised knee. “I prefer not to upset my advisors. Especially Havi. He’ll surely run off to complain about it to one of the council members.”
“I’m surprised,” I admit. “I thought you’d have some pushback about the divorce bit.”
“Ah, I learned that humans are serious about their divorce. The other Ka’lakka, Pakka, and his queen are pushing to change the old laws on that front, so there’s no point in clinging to tradition. Humans will keep integrating into our world, and they will not let it go.”
“But how do you feel about it?” I ask him.
“I’m more hung up on the clauses on our potential heirs…” His blue lashes flutter at me with curiosity. “Tell me, how do heirs come about in a loveless marriage, hm?”
“There are plenty of ways,” I say, forcing myself to step closer to him. I don’t want him to think he disgusts me. I shuffle within arm’s reach, but my heart doesn’t race with anxiety. “Earth was really behind on technology before Alliance intervention and even then, we were capable of in vitro fertilization. I’m totally willing to do something like that, to help ensure your line can continue. We can talk about it in the future, when we settle into this partnership.”
He cocks his head and frowns but says nothing.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I remind him.
“How do I feel about divorce? I don’t understand it. It’s not something that exists in my world. But I suppose if I’ve done something that pushes you to leave me, I’ll deserve to suffer, won’t I? If I let the fear of failure stop me from pursing what I want, I wouldn’t have gotten far in this life.”
“If I divorced you, you would accept that?” I ask him, needing that assurance. Before I sign my life away, I need to know I can escape it.
“You will always be my mate,” he says. “That might not be the answer you’re looking for, but this is about honesty, isn’t it? But because you’re mine, I will always accept your choices, even if I don’t like them. Will I accept that you see our matehood as ended? No. But I will accept your absence. I’ll let you go where you wish, so long as you agree to bring some security. You must remember that, if and when you decide to run away. You might want to end this, but it will follow you. I have enemies, and I always will. Enemies that know just how Kar’Kali matehood works.”
I hadn’t considered that. That the protection of our marriage would come with its own host of people who want to hurt him through me. But I can’t make decisions based on shadows and what-ifs.
“I don’t want you to think I’m going into this planning to leave you. I want this to work.”
“Good,” he says. “I know it isn’t easy to become mated to someone in my role. There will be times when you might wonder why the spirit brought it down on you. My mother struggled with it when she mate-bonded to my father. Our situation will be exacerbated by the interspecies matters we’ll have to deal with. Let’s be patient with one another. I want to always be in communication. Tell me everything, even when you think I won’t like it. Can you promise me that?”
My visions of an alpha male throwing a fit of possessive jealousy and wounded pride go up in smoke. Don’t tell me… he looks like an angel and acts like one too?
“I’ll promise that,” I tell him.
Ignoring the spike of anxiety it causes, I thrust my hand toward him. The gloves help me push myself. The ones I’m wearing are leather, thick enough to muffle all sensation of flesh on flesh. He stares at my hand for a beat too long, and I start to wonder whether he knows what a handshake is.
But then he grasps my palm and tentatively wiggles it up and down. His blue eyes flare with satisfaction as we shake.
“Am I doing it right?”
Why does that question sound suggestive in his mouth? My cheeks heat.
“Now, isn’t that for meeting someone? Do I have it wrong?”
“You shake hands when meeting,” I confirm. “But this is different. We made an agreement, so we shake on it. It’s a commitment.”
“To many more agreements then,” he says as he drops his hand, tucking it behind his back. I glance at the window, where the reflection gives him away. It’s balled into a fist, knuckles pressing into the desktop. Meanwhile, his expression is the picture of contentment.
“We should talk about the interspecies situation,” I say. “I told that guy—somewhat bluntly—that he’d better get used to human differences. Are there those among your people that aren’t happy that I’m the one your spirit chose?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I’m hoping that you’d be willing to carry out the traditional mating ceremony with me once we can arrange it on the surface of Kar’Kal. It’s a perfect opportunity to bring everyone together around the uniting of human and Kar’Kali. The first mating ritual to take place on our soil in centuries. The fanfare around that should cool any hotheads complaining about a human Ka’lakkori. One cannot deny the truth of our bond when I stand before them in the heat of amma’ka.”
Amma’ka—the spirit’s fever, a hormonal spike that causes a Kar’Kali male’s eyes to turn black with a feral desire for his mate.
“What’s the ceremony like?”
“It is a mating dance followed by a primal chase through the woods. Don’t worry about the chase. We need not consummate, obviously. What happens once we enter the forest is not the public’s business, after all. When Niko and Raina completed the ritual, they integrated some human traditions in, so I’m sure we can do the same for you depending on your desires. Is there something you have always dreamed of for your mating ceremony?”
