The run back to my parents' house was a long one. Matias’s camp was in Southern Maine, near the New Hampshire border, but my folks lived in downtown Portsmouth in a townhouse, and even at top speed, it was about a forty-five minute run.

But that was fine with me on a night like tonight.

I’d just been rejected by Tyler – again – but that didn’t bother me. He was putting up a good fight, but I was wearing him down. My little half-dozen flowers trick had gone over well, like I’d hoped. I’d seen the flicker in his eyes when I cracked my joke and that was a big enough victory for one night. All that mattered was that little glimmer I’d seen in his face when I’d given them to him. He was into me, he just wasn’t letting himself go there – yet.

It wasn’t his rejection that pained me, it was the fact that I could tell that if he hadn’t gone through the horrible shit he’d had to go through as part of Kade’s pack, if he hadn’t lost his son, we’d be together. I knew it.

I’d seen him first at Blue Hole, when we first met Matias and his pack. I was with Buck then, back when he thought he was Chase’s alpha. Then I’d seen Nate a couple more times at the camp, and had just started making excuses to get back whenever I could.

Now that Chase had moved in with Matias and given him two twin boys, I could visit all I wanted. Chase and I had been friends for a long time before he mated with Matias, and it gave me an excuse to come check in on Tyler. And it was the best part of my day.

His fluffy auburn hair, almost an afro, was adorable, and all I wanted was to run my hands through it, tug on it and lick his ear while I bent him over a bed, or the sink, or a table, it really didn’t matter which. And then there were his eyes.

Heterochromia. That’s what the term was, according to him. One blue eye, one green. It was like something out of a cartoon or a comic book. But it wasn’t just the aesthetic quality of his eyes that drew me in – it was the personality behind them.

There was a wound in Nate that ran deep. He’d been abused, mistreated, held captive and forced to give away his only pup to a terrible alpha, so it was only natural that he’d have some scars. But there was a strength in his vulnerability. A fire was burning down there within him, and I couldn’t help but think that Nate was one omega that could do anything if he set his mind to it.

As the lights of the city came into view, I felt myself start to grimace. My parents were loaded, and I’d grown up well, but with that kind of lifestyle came a certain set of expectations that I was getting sick of.

My father, Rich, was a real estate developer in town, and he had to maintain a wholesome, all-American image for himself and his family, which meant I always had to be well-dressed, well-spoken, shaved and groomed, and all that jazz. And I was growing tired of it.

Mom didn’t work – she didn’t have to. She spent all her time making sure the house was spick and span, my dad’s clothes were well pressed…basically maintaining our wholesome image.

Everyone at Matias’s camp kept themselves together well, but they weren’t obsessive. They weren’t aristocrats, but they also weren’t dirty hippies living in tents and never bathing. I liked being able to wear a pair of ratty old jeans and worn-out boat shoes with a loose polo that my mom would have made me throw out months ago.

I slowed at the edge of town in a field where I’d stashed some clothes. I knew how to avoid human contact while I was heading back, but there was no way any of them would miss a shaggy golden-furred wolf trotting into their city.

I took a deep breath of the chilly winter air as I shifted back to human form and felt the falling flakes melt against my warm skin.

“Goddamn,” I said to no one in particular. “What a day!”

My clothes were right where I’d left them; beneath a pine tree in a plastic trunk. A pair of leather boots, a pair of dark blue jeans, a button-up flannel and a heavy navy pea coat. I slid into them and instantly felt more like my Portsmouth self. I was no longer Tyler, the handsome shifter from Blue Hole, I was Tyler Lindquist, the son of Rich Lindquist, future world leader or whatever.

With a sigh, I crossed the street to the parking lot and found my car. It was a pricey black sedan my parents had gotten me when I graduated high school. It probably cost more than half Matias’s camp combined, and in a way, I felt guilty as I climbed inside and started the engine. Shifting into gear, I spun the tires in the fresh snow and slid out onto the road into town.

Ten minutes later, I was pulling into my parents' driveway.

“Is that my boy?” I heard my mother’s voice from the living room as I stepped through the front door.

“Hey, ma,” I called out, kicking my boots off and setting my keys on the side table.

“In here!”

I turned right and made my way into the living room to find mom on the couch with her usual glass of red wine, and my dad fixing his tie in the mirror above the fireplace.

“Thought you weren’t going to make it!” he said, eyeing me with a scolding glance.

“Make it?” I asked, and then it hit me.

Shit!

Tonight was one of dad’s important meetings with some bigwig developers from downtown. There was a fight over who would get the rights to develop a piece of property on the waterfront, and dad was pushing hard for it to be him. He’d asked me to go along with him as a sign of family solidarity.

“You shittin’ me, Tyler?” he asked, one second from being annoyed.

“Gotcha!” I cackled, forcing a smile like I’d been pulling a fast one on him. He half grinned and nodded toward the stairs.

“Get your suit on,” he told me. “We’re leaving in five.”

“Do I need a tie?”

“No. Leave that to me,” he replied.

“Right,” I said with a nod, heading up the stairs. I pulled off my shirt as I entered my room, and made my way to the walk-in closet.

Yes, I have a walk-in closet…

I had a variety of suits to choose from, most of which had been picked out for me by my parents. Black, blue and gray and various shades along that spectrum. They all bored the Hell out of me. For a while I’d thought about swiping dad’s credit card and getting myself a bright pink one with some red shoes, just as a subtle act of rebellion. Tonight would have been a great night to sport something like that.

But, as always, I slipped into a navy blue suit and an off-white shirt underneath, leaving the top button open, and stepped into a pair of brown loafers. I was back downstairs almost instantly to find my dad eyeing his watch.

“Four minutes and fifteen seconds,” he announced. “Just made it.”

“Uh huh,” I groaned, making my way to the couch to give my mom a kiss goodbye. “Night, mom.”

“Goodnight, honey!” She said with a smile, setting aside her book. “Have a good time!”

“Uh huh,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“All right, bud,” my dad called from the door. “Let’s get going.”