Mount Apikuni logistics

"Thinking is not the same as knowing," Peregrine sagely opined, glancing off into the distance before his eyes sharply cut back to Fox's face. "I like you... a lot. I want you to be with me. But I'm also asking for your loyalty. If you come to the plateau, that cuts your ties with the creek permanently. You should be sure before you make any final decisions, for your sake, my sake and the sake of anyone else that may be affected by your choice. That's all I'm saying."

"And don't forget," he continued after a pause, "that I do not come without my own baggage. There are three kids and likely an inexplicably angry ex-wife in the picture. And though I'd love to offer you my open Beta female position—seeing as the Alpha female rank's already occupied by my good and worthy friend—I'm not sure how anybody would react to that. I'd at least like to consult with my pack before I thrust strange, unproven leadership upon them, even if their Alpha vouches for you."

There they were, the cards laid out on the table. Peregrine found himself gazing at the nearby mountain for a beat before once again returning his dusky blue-gray eyes to Fox's pretty face. "It's a lot to consider, especially all at once. And then..." He appeared to be about to say something else, to be on the verge of giving voice to a thought that had just popped into his head, but he trailed off instead.

It was Lasher who'd popped into his head. Nobody knew about Peregrine's romantic relationship with the other male and he liked it that way. Yet if Fox was possibly about to turn her entire life upside down to come home with him, then that meant he would either need to drop Lasher or tell her about him (cheating was not an option). The first option made him feel horrible; he adored the male, even if he couldn't show it openly. Yet the latter option was difficult to swallow as well. Surely Fox would be put out at best and repulsed at worst when she discovered her lover already had a lover, another man at that.

Peregrine found himself dryly musing over whether offering to share Lasher with her would sway her, especially considering how much he knew Fox loved male attention...