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They talked more about their families: the polar bears and the owls, her work at her family’s restaurant, and his work with the Guardians. She would be welcomed as a mated member of his clan, but the Parliament was owl-only, mated or not, and that changed some things about their options for the future.
“The truth is,” he said, kissing the top of her head as she lay against him, “we can’t really go anywhere until Christmas Day, after Santa is safely back. So there’s no rush to figure things out right now.”
“We only have two options, though,” she said with a yawn. “We stay here, or we stay with your family.”
“Yeah,” he said. “What do you think your parents will say when they’re able to reach out?”
“They’ll be happy but sad. Happy I found you and I’m safe, but sad that you’re not an owl. I think the owl-only exclusion is kind of silly, honestly, but I think part of me always knew I might end up with a mate who isn’t an owl. I don’t care what your beast is, truthfully. I’m just glad you’re mine.”
She tilted her face to his and he kissed her, finding her sweet, soft lips perfectly kissable and tempting.
“I’m glad you’re mine too.”
Eventually, they were both hungry enough to venture out to the cafeteria again. They stopped at the market first and she picked out a stack of clothes, which the elves who ran the shop offered to deliver to the apartment while they ate dinner.
After they filled their trays with plates of chicken parm and saucy pasta, he spotted Hunter and his tooth fairy mate, Pixie, at one of the tables, along with Orin, the polar bear who’d replaced Winter and Hunter’s cousin Storm with the Guardians after Storm found his human mate, Seren.
“Hey, guys,” Winter said. “This is my mate, True. She’s a snowy owl.” He introduced everyone, and Pixie stood and came around the table to hug her.
“Oh! We’re cousins-in-law! I love that. Welcome to the family.”
“Thank you,” True said, smiling broadly.
Pixie returned to her seat. “You’re going to love it here. Everyone is so sweet.”
“Do you guys live up here full time?” she asked.
“Yes,” Pixie said. “My territory is up here at the top of the world, gathering teeth. We decided to stay here until we have kids and they’re old enough to need to be around bears their own age.”
“Unless they’re tooth fairies,” Hunter said. “Then we’ll spend more time on the island. Which is warm as hell since it’s tropical. I miss it during the winters up here.”
“I bet,” True said with a chuckle.
“So you really fell out of the sky?” Orin asked.
“News travels fast, I guess,” True said, glancing at Winter, who grinned.
“Everyone would hear about an owl getting caught in the storm,” he said. “It’s pretty extraordinary. Plus, you’re my mate. Frost may be an ass, but he apparently was helping fate bring us together.”
“I was thinking the same thing earlier,” she said.
The doors to the cafeteria burst open and several security team elves raced by. Winter’s hackles rose.
“What the hell is going on?” Hunter asked.
Another few elves came into the cafeteria. Orin flagged Royce, who came over.
“Everything okay?” Hunter asked. “Do you guys need us?”
“No, we’ve got it,” Royce said, waving on the others with him. “A warlock, drained of magic, was found outside the perimeter.”
“Shit,” Winter said. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. Frostbitten but alive. He said he got nabbed by Frost when he was gathering supplies for a Solstice celebration.”
“That’s the third drained magical person we’ve found outside the perimeter in the last week,” Hunter said with a growl.
“Frost’s getting bolder,” Royce said, shaking his head. “If we need extra hands for patrols, I’ll reach out to you guys, but otherwise stick to your schedules.”
